Steam Power in the Skies!

Hello Friends!

The hallmark of steampunk, if not toppers and goggles, is the airship. Such a romantic piece of history with so many fantastic dreams attached. What I would like to talk about is the history, a bit of science and engineering, and the different types. Commonly called a dirigible, or luftschiff in the German, it goes back to the 1600s when the first hot air balloons arose. As engineering produced different designs, and the search for powered flight continued, the aerostatic design gave way to the elongated envelopes, tail fins, and directly attached gondolas. The tethered balloons would be relegated to recreation, where the new style was the future. There were three major types that developed: Non-rigid, or blimp, semi-rigid, and rigid (later to become generically known by the German trademark Zeppelin).

You're probably asking for some timelines at this point. At the end of the 1700s the elongated balloon, still tethered to a lower seating platform, saw some hand powered flights via propellers or wings, but it wasn't until 1851 that designs for true powered flight made an appearance at the Great Exhibition, and in 1852 Henri Giffard made the first steam powered flight, for 27 km. In 1872 the first coal-gas powered combustion engine flew in Vienna by Paul Haenlein. It wouldn't be until 1883, more than a decade later, that an electric powered flight would be made, by Gaston Tissandier. A year later, the first fully powered and controllable flight was made by the French Military, piloted by Charles Renard and Arthur Constantin Krebs. The end of the 1800s saw more developments in electric and combustion engine powered airships, but 1900 and the next 4 decades saw the greatest refinement, and, ultimately, the demise of the great sky platform.

It was July of 1900 that saw the launch of the first Zeppelin. Count von Zeppelin began research and experimentation with rigid airships in the 1890s, and his designs became so successful and popular that has name and trademark bacame synonymous with the rigid airship. At the same time, the French were perfecting the semi-rigid designs, headed by Henri Julliot. Many other engineers made contributions in the first decade of the twentieth century, leading up to the first (unsuccessful) attempt at a transatlantic crossing in 1910. It was not long before military applications became apparent.

The Italians first used the dirigible for reconnaissance in 1912, but The Great War saw the first full scale use as scouts and bombers. However, by 1915 their use was in decline as accuracy became an apparent issue. Though they were beyond standard ballistic range, and their design made anti-aircraft damage trivial (holes had little effect on the operation of the craft, including buoyancy) the weather and height proved difficult conditions for success. Then came the invention of incendiary bullets, which proved deadly to the hydrogen filled ships. Their remaining limited use against submarines, and on small, short range missions eventually led them to being replaced entirely by airplanes which proved much more valuable to military purpose.

From the end of the war, and into the 1940s the airships saw great popularity in civilian use, including, finally, transatlantic transport (with the first double transatlantic flight being made in 1919, and 1926 saw the first airship over the north pole.) Military operations, post war, were still searching for a proper use, and saw the construction of several more ships, but they were eventually phased out, except by the Americans in WWII who found one last use for them against submarines. Unfortunately, the 1930s saw several high profile accidents (including the famous Hindenburg explosion of 1937) and by 1947 the general use of the dirigible became obsolete, with niche use continuing into the present for publicity and transport mostly. A few notable moments include the first global circumnavigation by the German Graf Zeppelin (the largest Zeppelin to possibly be built in their facilities, and it also had an enormous safety/success record of 1.6million km without passenger injury) and the 1923 USS Shenandoah, the first dirigible to use helium (still a precious rare gas at the time) instead of hydrogen. The advent of helium would prove insufficient to bring back the popularity of the flying balloons, and before the half century could hit it was a bygone convention.

A couple of notes on the three major types of airship before we close. The older of the three, the non-rigid, is commonly called a blimp (a word of uncertain origin) and has no supporting structure for the gas envelope. There is the semi-rigid ship which typically sports a fixed keel, allowing for larger gas envelopes, and heavier payloads. Finally is the rigid airship, commonly known as the Zeppelin, introduced by Count von Zeppelin 1900, which had a fully ribbed frame, allowing for the largest, and most complex of gas envelope systems, able to carry more sophisticated engines, and much larger payloads. The size and simplicity of blimps allow for cheap production and have found continued small use throughout, but in the 1900s America and Germany pursued the rigid ship, while many countries (including France and Italy) focused on the semi-rigid variety. Eventually, Zeppelins took precedence, and the semi-rigid phased out. One thing they all have in common is a fixed gondola, aft fins, and internal gas envelopes. Of course, they all vary in degrees of complexity based on the refinement of the model, but as a general rule, the more rigid, and larger the dirigible, the more complex its design.

Well, my dear friends, this brings us to a close. The magnificent airship of steampunk legend is an appropriate fixture, if not a little ahead of its time. It boasts all the majesty one could wish for, and with a little imagination, it is capable of so much more. Until next time, good journey!

First Fiction!

Hello Dear Friends!


I have been granted an opportunity to share with you some original steampunk fiction!  This will be an ongoing, periodically updated story, the duration and outcome of which only the author knows.  So, without further ado, I proudly present to you the first installment of "The Whistlock" by Phillip Roberts.

"The Whistlock"
This: Meet The Admiral

      Ah! The open skies. Never has there been such a feeling of freedom as when you first set foot upon your ship... Your ship, not any ship, mind you! Your ship with your crew and your commission! And this particular vessel which I have the pleasure of calling my ship is named The Whistlock.
      I have been on ships most of my life, covering every job imaginable. During my first stint in a military force I was on The Cloudburster, where I worked my way up from Small Armsman to Chief Gunner. When hired by the gaudy merchant ship Goldwings, I was first an Assistant Logsman, and eventually a Navigator's Secondly. I later was hired into the crew of Fartrekker, a terrible ship, as a Turnsman -- I made my way to Engineer's Secondly on that blasted vessel, on which surviving may be my greatest accomplishment. Some time later, I came across The Whistlock.
      I managed to make off with it when a ship I was working on, The Tinbear, was brutally shot down. I needed a ship to make good my escape, so with what remained of The Tinbear's bloodied and battered crew members, we overthrew the guards and skeleton crew of The Whistlock. We were ultimately successful in our capturing of the vessel, and in securing further means for our escape. The Whistlock did, however, sustain particularly heavy damage in the process, and I've been paying for it in no small way ever since.
      As I have not yet introduced myself, and yet you already know so much about my history, I feel it is inconsequential to be just now giving you my name. I suppose you will learn it if you need it, and I suppose that you won't if you do not. For the time being, it is enough to know I am ranked not as a Captain, but as Admiral. The reason for that, as with my name, is something you will either figure out or come across, but it is not truly an important issue at this junction of time. What is important is that I have my own ship manned by an extremely talented and capable crew.
      The acquisition of my ship cost more than a dozen rich and poor souls, and more than a few kegs of explosives, but The Whistlock has this year alone made open more horizons than any full fleet has in the past decade. This is no small feat, as you will come to find out just how difficult it is to keep afloat a vessel that is not properly endorsed by any one company or military force. Still, our adventures are rich, as are their spoils! So long as the skies hold their mysteries, I will be able to maintain this pace.
      "Admiral! The crushpod jammed, causing the leakbarrel to back-up and now the powder-sift is emptying! The estimate is 83% chance against making land to our destination in time to safely set down."
      I have just been informed by Engineer Tillett that my last assumption was incorrect. Fuel is no longer being processed, and we are unlikely to make land at our destination in time for repairs, which will indeed make our pace difficult to maintain. Landing in the waters below and manually powering our naval propulsion engines is the only sensible option. However...
      "If we land within these waters, Admiral, we are certain to be attacked by the Caleuche." My navigator, Jarvis, took the thoughts from my mind and the words from my mouth before either were fully formed.
"Well, Jarvis, just how large of an attack would we be expecting?" Jarvis is the finest navigator I have ever come across. I have come to realize that if it is between the grid lines of a map, he knows all there is to know about the area. Still, he's an odd one, to no short end!
      "Admiral, this area is noted for heavy aggression and a high disappearance rate, as applied up to entire fleets. It may well be that this is a military point of interest for the Caleuche. I would strongly urge we do whatever we must to remain afloat. There is a mountain town 98 miles from here at 96.12-ac/153.66-eq."
"Jarvis, isn't that Christone? When I first brought it up as a point to resupply when plotting our original route, you yourself said that they are not the type to help strangers! You attested that we'd be fired upon as soon as we were within range..."
      "But, sir!..." Jarvis said, cutting into my speech. He did not often attempt to interrupt others. However, to that end, I was not one to often allow others to interrupt myself.
      "...and," I continued, "that's if we can even make it there! We've handled the Aquarats before, we can do it again." I finished the statement with an assuring nod. It is quite true that it would indeed not be the first time we've had to hold off the Caleuche forces while making an emergency water landing for repairs. Ah, repairs! I suppose I should see how long we will be holding the enemy off, at that. "Engineer Tiller!"
      "Yes, Admiral," Tiller said dutifully as he straightened his stance a bit.
      "If we land in the waters below, how long would it take your team of engineers to get us up and running?"
      Jarvis attempted to say something, but Tiller hurried his statement first, and with a slightly elevated volume. "No more than two hours, Admiral," he assured me.
      I smiled at this. "Excellent! We've held sieges off far longer, and without casualty. Make word to your team th--..." and then I was interrupted, again!
     "Admiral," Jarvis shouted, "you don't understand! We will be overwhelmed within mere seconds of touching down! I beg you to take our chances at Christone! By blood and thunder, if worse comes to worse, we can barrage their town and requisition what we need for our own use!" He finished his statement with the look of a man pleading for his life, which was not something which was normally in his character.
      The mention of such a superior force was a bit worrying, but not enough to dissuade me. What was a shock, and put my mind at a bit of distress, was his recommendation to invade a civilian (albeit personally militarized) mining town. Jarvis was not one to cause local unrest where civilian towns were considered.
      In the past, Jarvis has actively plotted us through combat zones of Caleuche sky-controlled territory. In the end, we turned up richer for the looting, but that was not his intent on plotting us through the hostile zones. It was later revealed the route was planned just to avoid disrupting a string of small mining communities. He defended his decision by stating that our appearance would cause civil disputes for them should we be seen flying too close to any one town. Instead of risking political dispute with the area, his recommendation caused us to engage in bloody warfare with the Caleuche's sky patrols.
      And yet here we are, Jarvis trying desperately to avoid a fight, even at the cost of murder, piracy, and a small-scale invasion of an innocent mining community... Could it really be that the waters beneath us were that terrifyingly bad? I was suddenly given over to the idea of listening to my navigator.
      "Right. Tiller, can we make it the next hundred miles to Christone?"
     Tiller looked agitated, but nodded in a stubborn, reluctant way. "It's possible, but I'll be putting the engineering crew at risk to do so. The machinery is extremely volatile and very dangerous to operate manually while in its current state. I would highly recommend against this course of action, Admiral."
    Jarvis turned to him. "Engineer Tiller, it is either that, or we will all be wiped out. Not just put at risk, but exterminated. I think you all fail to grasp the severity of where we have found ourselves." He wiped the sweat off of his cold forehead.
     I threw my arms up and grinned at the seriousness of this occasion. "Nope! Got it: land and die; fly and live. Engineer Tiller, I have the fullest confidence in you and your team's capabilities. Mr. Jarvis, accompany Engineer Tiller and help him accurately adjust our manual propulsion systems to get us to our destination as quickly as possible. On your way, now! I will fetch Mr. Tobman and ready our communications array to signal Christone for a peaceful arrival. Failing that approach, I'll alert Mr. Gadbi to prepare for the possibility of the coming assault."
      Ah, what fun and excitement the open skies do hold!

Next: The Invasion of Christone