Semi-rigid airship

Semi-rigid construction is lighter-weight than the outer framework of a rigid airship, while it allows greater loading than a non-rigid type.

In early airships which relied on nets, fabric bands, or complicated systems of rope rigging to unite the lifting envelope with the other parts of the ship, semi-rigid construction was able to achieve improvements in weight, aerodynamic, and structural performance.

As in non-rigid airships, the hull's aerodynamic shape is maintained by an overpressure of the gas inside and light framework at the nose and tail.

An early successful example is the Groß-Basenach design made by Major Hans Groß from the Luftschiffer-Bataillon Nr.

Umberto Nobile, later General and director, was its most well-known member, and he designed and flew several semi-rigid airships, including the Norge and Italia, for his overflights of the North Pole, and the W6 OSOAVIAKhIM, for the Soviet Union's airship program.

Cargolifter Joey was a small semi-rigid experimental airship produced to test the design.

Internal structure of semi-rigid airship
Italian explorer Umberto Nobile crossed the North Pole in his semi-rigid airship Norge in 1926.