ZMC-2 metalclad airship

The Aircraft Development Corporation ZMC-2 was the only successfully-operated metal-skinned airship ever built. It was built in Grosse Ile, Michigan, first flown on August 19, 1929, and flew safely for over ten years. As a sub-scale test vehicle, it was considered to be very successful, but the company that built it did not weather the Great Depression well, and by the time a successor might have been built, there was little interest in pursuing it. The ZMC-2 was operated with a zero internal pressure at speeds up to 20 mph, sufficient for it to be considered a 'rigid' airship. With its low finess ratio (length/diameter) of 2.83 the ZMC-2 was difficult to fly. Though durable, the ZMC-2 was not flown much. It was flown each 19 August, yet between December 1938 and April 1941 it only logged 5 hours flight time.

The ZMC-2 was nicknamed the "Tin Bubble" and was also sometimes called a "tinship". It was not made of tin, but of Alclad, which was invented by the Aluminum Company of America. Alclad was made by coating duraluminum, an aluminum alloy, with pure aluminum. Alclad had the strength of duralumin, and the corrosion resistance of aluminum. It had roughly a teardrop-shape, and had eight small stabilizer fins, four of which had rudders.

It was scrapped in 1941, reaching its planned lifetime after more than 10 years of service. Other, more conventional blimps did go on to serve in World War 2.