“Thus the steel serpent becomes an automatic governor upon the upward and downward movements of the ship due to meteorological changes. Hence the name ‘equilibrator’ or ‘stabilizator.’ The huge snake and its valuable stuffing is really ballast which may be used over and over again without ever losing it.
It is unnecessary to carry sand or water to throw overboard. Our serpent, if he behaves as well as a well-made reptile ought, should hold the [dirigible] America at an altitude of from 150 to 250 feet above the ocean, save us ballast ‘which means fuel’ on one hand, save us gas on the other, and enable us to prolong the voyage from the forty-eight hours practicable without a serpent to the seven or nine or ten days which may be required for crossing the Atlantic.” – Explorer and pioneer aviator Walter Wellman, describing his equilibrator design for his blimp, in The Aerial Age; A Thousand Miles by Airship Over the Atlantic Ocean; Airship Voyages Over the Polar Sea; The Past, the Present and the Future of Aerial Navigation