| 摘要 |
A method of and apparatus for anchoring an airship containing lighter-than-air gas includes positioning one or more magnets, flush with the edges of a support member attached to the airship for enabling the magnet to contact a magnetically attractive anchoring structure affixed to the ground when anchoring is desired, and, when ascent is desired, bearing against the anchoring structure with the support member to separate the magnet from the anchoring structure. The support structure may comprise a hollow shaft attached to a downwardly-facing portion of the airship, with a relatively large area base portion at its other end, having a cavity formed in the bottom of the base portion in communication with the hollow portion of the shaft. The magnet is coupled to a lifting device which bears against the top end of the shaft to control the magnet's position in the cavity. Alternatively, circularly arranged magnets can be coupled to a downwardly-facing airship portion and a shaft-like member located centrally of the magnets can be moved in directions perpendicular to the surface of the magnets. The support structure may, instead, be a cylinder-like structure mounted to a forward-facing portion of the airship, with a motor device coupled to one end of the cylinder-like structure for moving the magnet relative to the other end thereof, and the anchoring structure includes magnetically attractive member rotatably mountd to a mast-like structure secured to the ground. The airship's propulsion assembly may include at least one pair of reversible pitch propellers, each pair operable by a single drive motor, with the direction of their thrust variable through at least about 90 DEG and preferably about 180 DEG .
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