| C class | |
|---|---|
 NAVY C-7 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Patrol airship |
| Manufacturer | Various (Goodyear, Goodrich) |
| Primary user | US Navy |
| Number built | 10 |
| History | |
| First flight | 30 September 1918, at Wingfoot Lake |
| Retired | 1922 |
The C-class blimp was a patrol airship developed by the US Navy near the end of World War I, a systematic improvement upon the B-type which was suitable for training, but of limited value for patrol work. Larger than the B-class, the C-class blimps had two motors and a longer endurance. As with the B-class, the envelope production was split between Goodyear and Goodrich, with control cars being built by the Burgess division of Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Originally the Navy ordered 30 but reduced the number to 10 after the armistice in November 1918.[1] All ten of the "C" type airships were delivered in late 1918, and examples served at all of the Navy's airship stations from 1918 to 1922. In 1921, the C-7 was the first airship ever to be inflated with helium.[2] The Navy decommissioned its last two remaining C-type blimps, the C-7 and C-9 in 1922.
- ^ Althoff, William F, SkyShips, New York: Orion Books, 1990, ISBN 0-517-56904-3, p. 6.
- ^ Clark, Basil, The History of Airships, New York: St Martin's Press, 1961, Library of Congress 64-12336, p. 147.