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The arrangements made for handling airships on the ground and while landing, and also for moving them in the open, provide scope for great ingenuity. An airship when about to land is brought over the aerodrome and is "ballasted up" so that she becomes considerably lighter than the air which she displaces. The handling party needs considerable training, as in gusty weather the safety of the ship depends to a great extent upon its skill in handling her. The ship approaches the handling party head to wind and the trail rope is dropped; it is taken by the handling party and led through a block secured to the ground and the ship is slowly hauled down. When near the ground the handling party seize the guys which are attached to the ship at suitable points, other detachments also support the car or cars, as the case may be, and the ship can then be taken into the shed.

In the case of large airships the size of the handling party has to be increased and mechanical traction is also at times employed.

As long as the airship is kept head to wind, handling on the ground presents little difficulty; on many occasions, however, unless the shed is revolving, as is the case on certain stations in Germany, the wind will be found to be blowing across the entrance to the shed. The ship will then have to be turned, and during this operation, unless great discretion is used, serious trouble may be experienced.

Many experiments have been and are still being conducted to determine the best method of mooring airships in the open. These will be described and discussed at some length in the chapter devoted to the airship of the future.

During flight certain details require attention, and carelessness on the pilot's part, even on the calmest of days, may lead to disaster. The valves and especially the gas valves should be continually tested, as on occasions they have been known to jam, and the loss of gas has not been discovered until the ship had become unduly heavy.

Pressure should be kept as constant as possible. Most airships work up to 30 millimetres as a maximum and 15 millimetres as a minimum flying pressure. During a descent the pressure should be watched continuously, as it may fall so low as to cause the nose to blow in. This will right itself when the speed is reduced or the pressure is raised, but there is always the danger of the envelope becoming punctured by the bow stiffeners when this occurs.