Patent ID: 7552894

Claim:
A method of assembling a lighter than air blimp for flight, comprising the steps of providing a deflated envelope of flexible sheet material which when inflated defines a nose end, an opposite tail end, and a longitudinal direction extending therebetween, providing at least one tail fin, with the at least one tail fin comprising a support rod having a foot end and an opposite second end, and a panel of flexible sheet material having a leading edge joined along the length of the support rod, a second edge extending from the foot end of the rod to a rearward corner, and a trailing edge extending from a point adjacent the second end of the rod to the rearward corner, attaching the at least one tail fin to the envelope while the envelope remains deflated, and including attaching the foot end of the support rod of the fin to a socket which is fixed to the envelope and which defines a socket axis which is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction when the envelope is inflated, and with the rod being pivotable at a location adjacent the socket about an axis which is transverse to the socket axis and so as to be pivotable between a collapsed position which is generally parallel to the longitudinal direction when the envelope is inflated and an operative position which is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction when the envelope is inflated, then inflating the envelope while maintaining the support rod of the at least one tail fin in the collapsed position, and then pivoting the support rod of the at least one tail fin about said transverse axis to its operative position and securing the rod in its operative position.