Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Rigid Airship shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Rigid Airship offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Rigid Airship at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Rigid Airship? Wrong! If the Rigid Airship is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Rigid Airship then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Rigid Airship? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Rigid Airship and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Rigid Airship wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Rigid Airship then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Rigid Airship site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Rigid Airship, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Rigid Airship, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

, 1923, showing the framework of a rigid airship.

A rigid airship was a type of airship in which the Envelope (disambiguation) retained its shape by the use of an internal structural framework rather than by being forced into shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope as used in blimps and semi-rigid airships.

Rigid airships were produced and relatively successfully employed from the beginning of the 1900s to the end of the 1930s, but their heyday ended when the LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire on May 6, 1937.

Terminology Although "rigid airship" is the proper formal term, these aircraft are often referred to in casual use by several other names such as dirigibles, zeppelins (after the most successful ships of this type built by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin) or the big rigids.

Early days The design was first proposed by David Schwarz (aviation inventor) and was bought by Ferdinand von Zeppelin who commercialised it with his Zeppelin company which to this lends its name to the design.

Production As well as the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, Schütte-Lanz also manufactured them. Both United States and UK have manufactured rigid airships at some point.

Some famous rigid airships

• R34, British airship and the first aircraft to traverse the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, in 1919.
• USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), American naval airship which served the U.S. Navy from 1923 until its crash in Ohio in 1925.
• R38 (ZR-2), British airship intended to join the American naval fleet, but crashed during testing in 1921.
• USS Los Angeles (ZR-3), German airship sold to the United States in 1924 as part of German reparations from World War I. The ship served with distinction from 1924 to 1931.
• LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, German passenger airship designed and piloted by Hugo Eckener. It circumnavigated the globe in 1929 and had a spotless safety record. It was utlimately dismantled by the Nazis at the outset of World War II.
• R-100, British airship built by the Airship Guarantee Company, a private company created solely for the construction of this airship, as a subsidiary of the armaments firm, Vickers.
• R-101, British airship designed and built by the British government in a kind of competition with the R-100. The R-101 crashed on its maiden flight in 1930 in France, with considerable loss of life. Its crash effectively ended British participation in rigid airship construction.
• USS Akron (ZRS-4), American naval airship designed and built by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Ohio in 1931. Deployed as an airborne aircraft carrier, it was lost at sea in a storm off New Jersey in 1933 with considerable loss of life.
• USS Macon (ZRS-5), sister ship to the Akron, it was a near carbon-copy of her. Though it suffered only 2 deaths, its crash in 1935 off the coast of California ended American participation in rigid airship development.
• Hindenburg (airship), German passenger airship also designed and built by Hugo Eckener. The airship was lost in a famous fire in New Jersey in 1937. With its end went the end of the age of the Great Rigid Airships.

Modern Rigids There are no rigid airships flying today. The Zeppelin company refers to their NT ship as a "rigid" but this is a misnomer. The envelope shape is retained in part by super-pressure of the lifting gas, and so the NT is more correctly classified as a semi-rigid.

, 1923, showing the framework of a rigid airship.

A rigid airship was a type of airship in which the Envelope (disambiguation) retained its shape by the use of an internal structural framework rather than by being forced into shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope as used in blimps and semi-rigid airships.

Rigid airships were produced and relatively successfully employed from the beginning of the 1900s to the end of the 1930s, but their heyday ended when the LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire on May 6, 1937.

Terminology Although "rigid airship" is the proper formal term, these aircraft are often referred to in casual use by several other names such as dirigibles, zeppelins (after the most successful ships of this type built by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin) or the big rigids.

Early days The design was first proposed by David Schwarz (aviation inventor) and was bought by Ferdinand von Zeppelin who commercialised it with his Zeppelin company which to this lends its name to the design.

Production As well as the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, Schütte-Lanz also manufactured them. Both United States and UK have manufactured rigid airships at some point.

Some famous rigid airships

• R34, British airship and the first aircraft to traverse the Atlantic Ocean from east to west, in 1919.
• USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), American naval airship which served the U.S. Navy from 1923 until its crash in Ohio in 1925.
• R38 (ZR-2), British airship intended to join the American naval fleet, but crashed during testing in 1921.
• USS Los Angeles (ZR-3), German airship sold to the United States in 1924 as part of German reparations from World War I. The ship served with distinction from 1924 to 1931.
• LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, German passenger airship designed and piloted by Hugo Eckener. It circumnavigated the globe in 1929 and had a spotless safety record. It was utlimately dismantled by the Nazis at the outset of World War II.
• R-100, British airship built by the Airship Guarantee Company, a private company created solely for the construction of this airship, as a subsidiary of the armaments firm, Vickers.
• R-101, British airship designed and built by the British government in a kind of competition with the R-100. The R-101 crashed on its maiden flight in 1930 in France, with considerable loss of life. Its crash effectively ended British participation in rigid airship construction.
• USS Akron (ZRS-4), American naval airship designed and built by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Ohio in 1931. Deployed as an airborne aircraft carrier, it was lost at sea in a storm off New Jersey in 1933 with considerable loss of life.
• USS Macon (ZRS-5), sister ship to the Akron, it was a near carbon-copy of her. Though it suffered only 2 deaths, its crash in 1935 off the coast of California ended American participation in rigid airship development.
• Hindenburg (airship), German passenger airship also designed and built by Hugo Eckener. The airship was lost in a famous fire in New Jersey in 1937. With its end went the end of the age of the Great Rigid Airships.

Modern Rigids There are no rigid airships flying today. The Zeppelin company refers to their NT ship as a "rigid" but this is a misnomer. The envelope shape is retained in part by super-pressure of the lifting gas, and so the NT is more correctly classified as a semi-rigid.