This article by Alan L. Morse originally appeared in the February 1984 issue of Proceedings. What’s in a nickname? nowadays’s Goodyear Blimp was named after the fat,fictitious British Army Colonel Blimp. But one of its ancestors – the World War I kite balloon – was whimsically christened the “rubber cow,” and went to sea tethered to a “tin can.” They were the least glamorous of World War I pilots. Their aircraft were unlovely, and unromantic,uncomfortable, and unpowered. They fought no aerial duels with the Red Baron or skimmed the trees on reconnaissance missions. These pilots never fired a shot... Read the rest of this entry »
Source: navalhistory.org