Charles A Knotek (American, 1933 - 2008) "First Flight of British Army Airship" Signed lower right. Original Mixed Media Painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which was published on the Fleetwood Commemorative Cover for the Man's Conquest of the Heavens series issued in 1983. In the early 1900's, Great Britain sent Colonel J.L.B. Templer, the commanding officer in charge of the Army Balloon Factory, to France to meet with the famed dirgible builder, Alberto Santos-Dumont. After consulting with Dumont, and studying his many airships, Templer returned to England and began construction on Englands' first lighter-than-air dirigibles. The airships were unique, in that they were made of a rugged material called goldbeater's skin. After some minor adjustments were made in the thickness of this unusual material, the first airship was successfully completed and was christened, Nulli Secundus ... or "second to none." However, this dirigible proved to be very unstable and difficult to navigate. In fact, on one of its few flights, the airship was forced to make a crash landing and was badly damaged. All of the pieces of the airship were gathered up, and later were rebuilt into a larger and grander airship known as the Nulli Secundus II. This airship consisted of a larger 85,000 cubic foot envelope made of several ultra-thin layers of goldbeater's skin. A large steel understructure was attached to the bottom of the envelope by several wide silk bands. The most remarkable feature of this airship was its navigational system, which consisted of a separate balloon attached to the ships's keel. This made the Nulli Secundus II a truly unique dirigible. Image Size: 12.75 x 16.25 in. Overall Size: 15 x 20 in. Unframed. (B08254)