semi-rigidadj.n.
A. adj.
a. Of an airship: having a flexible gas container to which is attached a stiffened keel or framework.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [adjective] > types of airship
non-rigid1874
rigid1901
semi-rigid1908
1908 Daily Chron. 6 Aug. 1/2 The so-called semi-rigid airships.
1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 660/1 The three distinct types of air-ships in Germany, which are the Zeppelin, or rigid type; the Gross, or semi-rigid; and the Parsefal, or flexible.
1919 H. Shaw Text-bk. Aeronaut. xvii. 200 The semi-rigid type includes the Forlanini, Lebaudy, etc., of which the envelopes are not rigid, but are stiffened longitudinally by a framework, running the whole length of the envelope.
1935 C. G. Burge Compl. Bk. Aviation 148/2 As with non-rigid and semi-rigid airships, a rigid at the start of a journey has its gas space about 90–95 per cent full of hydrogen.
1955 Oxf. Junior Encycl. IV. 20/2 The semi-rigid type, in which a long rigid keel supports the passenger and engine-cars, has been developed mainly by the Italians.
1974 J. B. Collier Airship 12/1 The distinction between these two types [sc. non-rigid and semi-rigid airships] is sometimes hard to draw, but ‘semi-rigid’ implies..that the airship in question has a rigid keel.
b. gen. Somewhat rigid; having a certain amount of rigidity; semi-rigid theory (see quot. 1959).
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the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > types of hardness > [adjective] > stiff or rigid > somewhat
semi-rigid1929
1929 Rep. & Mem. Aeronaut. Res. Comm. No. 1155. 19 (heading) Specification of a simple type of semi-rigid wing.
1937 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 41 723 It was..possible to deduce from the semi-rigid theory design recommendations.
1946 Nature 30 Nov. 798/2 Rigid frames of triangular and square shapes, and semi-rigid frames.
1959 J. L. Nayler Dict. Aeronaut. Engin. 234 Semi-rigid theory, an approximate theory of elastic structure in which the theoretical infinite number of degrees of freedom is represented by a finite number, each being associated with an invariable mode.
1963 C. R. Cowell et al. Inlays, Crowns, & Bridges xi. 118 The retainer which is united to a pontic by a semi-rigid joint is called the ‘minor’ retainer.
B. n.
A semi-rigid airship.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [noun] > airship > types of airship
aeroplane1884
non-rigid1909
Parseval1909
rigid1911
blimp1916
submarine scout1917
semi-rigid1920
1920 Glasgow Herald 3 Dec. 5 The lecturer said that after comparing non-rigids, semi-rigids, and rigids it was obvious that it would be the rigid airships which would be developed for commercial work.
1925 E. H. Lewitt Rigid Airship i. 1 The airship may be divided into three classes: non-rigids, semi-rigids, and rigids.
1927 C. L. M. Brown Conquest of Air 117 Her lack of engine power caused her to compare unfavourably with the later Lebaudy semi-rigids in the matter of speed.
1929 F. H. Colvin & H. F. Colvin Aircraft Handbk. (ed. 4) 652 It may be a simple Gall's chain, as in some semi-rigids.
1935 C. G. Burge Compl. Bk. Aviation 148/2 The semi-rigid is very similar in operation to the non-rigid.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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adj.n.1908