Inspired by the experiments of Graf von Zeppelin, Heinrich Suter of Arbon, Switzerland, built an airship of 40 metres length. The Paris-made, cigar-shaped, 5-chamber envelope had a reported volume of 1000 m³. The movements of the LTA/HTA craft were carried out by propellers, while the balloon was used only to lift the machine and aeronaut. On a wooden pole under the balloon hung by a ball joint, was the actual flying machine, which enabled a free, independent movement of the two parts. Suter’s connection of a balloon with a flying machine was based on the principles of Ingenieur Kreß of Vienna. In Gustav Adolf Saurer, the founder of the “Ersten Schweizerischen Velociped-Fabrik Arbon”, Suter found the perfect construction partner. Inside the metal structure that connected to the ball joint, he built a velo-drive. Pedals drove outside of the “cage”, mounted and by hand, a pivotable double propeller. In this way, Suter believed to be able to control the occurrence of different air currents, while the position of the steering sail could also be altered manually. On April 19, 1901, from the purpose-built shed at the Hotel “du Lac” the inflated airship was pulled to the shore of Lake Constance. Many curious onlookers as well as journalists were in attendance to witness the spectacular event. At first everything went according to plan – Suter increased the pressure on the pedals and circled the steerable airship over Steinacherbucht bay. Suddenly the wind shifted, and at low altitude drove it into the branches of a tree on the Steinach shore, ending the maiden voyage. As for Suter, he lacked the funds to conduct further tests and the project was terminated shortly thereafter.

California lighthouse keeper Shaw’s “aerial row boat” consisted of two cartridge-shaped balloons of oiled silk, kept in position by ash frames. The buoyant power was barely sufficient to lift the apparatus and one’s weight. The conical ends pointed in opposite directions, and the two balloons were kept a few feet apart by strong connecting pieces of ash. Between the ash pieces was arranged a seat and footrest. This apparatus would support one in the air and locomotion was by oars. It was reportedly successfully tested in New York’s Central Park sometime during the 1860s.

Connecticut inventor Charles F. Ritchel made his mark in aviation history—and the cover of Harper’s Weekly magazine—by building a dirigible of his own and sponsoring the first controlled flight of a dirigible in America in Hartford in 1878.

Having been first flown outdoors less than two weeks before by Mark Quinlan in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Charles F. Ritchel began exhibiting his flying machine – also known as the Dirigicyle, or Flying Car – at Boston’s Tremont Temple on June 24, 1878. The demonstration, arranged by William McMahon, who played a major role in introducing Edison’s phonograph to the public, was a complete success. In addition to the indoor flights, Quinlan made an exciting ascension from Boston Common. Once in the air, the propeller gears jammed, allowing the balloon to rise dangerously high. Without a valve to relieve the increased pressure of the expanding lift gas, the envelope swelled, breaking several of the bands from which the frame was suspended. Quinlan could not slit his envelope, for there was no netting in which the fabric could gather to form a parachute. He had little choice but to tie one hand and ankle to the frame, then drop beneath the craft to make repairs with a jackknife as his only tool. He finally descended at Farnumsville, 44 miles from the Common, after a flight of one hour and twenty minutes.

Baldwin’s Aerial Rowboat proved a remunerative attraction, though a short-lived one: One night its hydrogen inexplicably ignited, destroying the craft.

That didn’t deter Alva L. Reynolds from launching his own version at nearby Fiesta Park the same year. Thirty-four feet long and 14 feet in diameter, Man Angel had a four- by 10-foot wooden gondola, a 3,000-cubic-foot gas envelope, and a weight of only 18 pounds. Like Baldwin’s craft, it was propelled by oars.

The earliest of six neutral-buoyancy man-powered dirigibles designed and built by Alva L. Reynolds of Los Angeles, California, trials performed above Fiesta Park, Los Angeles, where the aerial rowboat was first flown by Herbert Burke on July 27, 1905.

Reynolds claimed that just about anyone could operate Man Angel. To prove it, he allowed 17-year-old Hazel Odell to take the helm. According to a reporter at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner:

“Miss Odell entered the car and…raised herself to 100 feet. After slight effort she was able to propel the airship in any direction and control its ascent and descent at will. When asked for her motive for performing the feat Miss Odell said: ‘Why should I not? Other people have done it and I was not afraid.’ ”

Reynolds built six Man Angels and leased them to fairs in Kansas, Arizona, and Texas. He also opened a flying school, where he gave twice-daily demonstrations.

The 1905 “Man Angel” hydrogen-filled balloon was 34 feet long and carried an 18 pound frame in which a man sat using ten foot long oars to row across the sky.

The U.S. government investigated purchasing one.

That October, Reynolds challenged Baldwin to an airship race. When Baldwin’s pilot, the balloonist Roy Knabenshue, asked for $20,000 in expense money, Reynolds said Knabenshue was “afraid to race.” In 1906, to keep up interest (and revenue), Reynolds challenged an automobile to a 30-mile race from Chutes Park to Pomona. So confident was Reynolds that Man Angel No. 6 would win, he gave the Herald Examiner $1,000 to hold as prize money. On the day of the race, Man Angel faced such strong head winds it was handily beaten. In a subsequent race, the airship got caught on a telephone wire and crashed into a treetop.

Reynolds never raced Man Angel again. He returned to inventing, and found a method for generating electricity from ocean waves.