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The ship, he said, would be similar to the famous giant zepplins.  It would have sleeping accommodations for 40 passengers and would travel at a top speed of 112 miles an hour.  However, Knabenshue was never able to secure sufficient financial assistance to embark on the ambitious project.

In the days before the depression, Knabenshue was associated with the B.F. Goodrich Company, working on lighter-than-aircraft.  In 1934, he received a silver-plated award plaque at St. Louis commemorating the 30th anniversary of his achievement of being the first man to successfully pilot a dirigible in a public demonstration in this country, at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.  Then from 1933 to 1944 he served with the National Park Service.

In 1943, when he lived in Chicago at 5040 Kenmore Avenue, Knabenshue completed his last dirigible, No. 22.  Like all his others, he built it himself.  It was 60 feet long and 14 feet in diameter, constructed of cotton, with a skeleton understructure of a five horsepower motor put together with two cylinders and other parts of a motorcycle engine.  There is no record that he ever flew his last dirigible.

Now, Knabenshue moved again to the Los Angeles area, where he was employed by a firm that reconditioned aircraft instruments.  He worked at this job until a heart attack forced him into retirement in 1949.

Residing in Mobile Manor, at 4241 East Live Oak Avenue in Arcadia, California, he became seriously ill and was moved to Evergreen Sanitorium in Temple City, near Los Angeles.  Here he passed away on March 6, 1960.  He was survived by his second wife, Jane Knabenshue, his

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