The Montgolfier brothers launched the first hot-air balloon in 1783. It wasn’t…

The Montgolfier brothers launched the first hot-air balloon in 1783. It wasn’t long after those inventors began experimenting with ways to control and steer lighter-than-air aircraft, according to the website Space.

The difficulty with such structures was that left to their own devices, they could only offer a one-way trip, carried along in whatever direction the wind was blowing. For them to be useful, there needed to be a way to steer them. In 1850 Pierre Julien of Villejuif demonstrated a model for a cigar-shaped airship, with a rudder, elevator, and gondola mounted underneath the front of the balloon.

It had a clockwork motor that turned two air screws on either side of the center, which would propel the ship, and a light metal frame to give the airship shape and support.

It was an idea designer could run with, and they did.

It took its first flight in 1852 and traveled 17 miles. It was discovered, however, that the small engine still couldn’t overcome windy conditions in terms of steering the airship. It wasn’t until 1884 that an airship made its first successful round trip.

From the early 20th century, the U.S. military has been interested in lighter-than-air craft, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Between the world wars, the Navy constructed several enormous, helium-filled airships, also known as dirigibles. One of the m was the USS Akron, known as The Queen of the Skies.

When did the cigar-shaped airship take its first flight?