The Airships

Almost as big as a battleship yet lighter than air, giant airships remain the largest flying objects ever built. In 3 enthralling episodes, 'The Airships' reveals the dynamic role these remarkable flying machines played in history, in peacetime and in war. Steeped in the dramas of international politcal intrigue, it is a saga of extraodinary man and nations in a quest to dominate the skies. Airships pioneered aerial bombing; made the first around-the-world passenger flight; carried explorers to the North Pole; established the first aerial passenger services between Europe, New York, and South America; became flying aircraft carriers in the US Navy. The Hindenburg disaster all but destroyed their credibility. But today, more airships are flying than ever before, designed and built by a new breed of aviation pioneers. Craft designed to rival satellitesin the stratophere, to transport enormous cargoes, and to act as surveilance and communication platforms herald a new age for the airships.