Aeolus (airship)

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Aeolus
Airship Aeolus
Type: Airship
Design country:

German EmpireThe German Imperium German Empire

Manufacturer:

Paul Haenlein

First flight:

December 13, 1872

Aeolus was the first airship to be equipped with an internal combustion engine. It experienced a single ascent on December 13, 1872.

history

On April 1, 1865, its inventor, the Mainz mechanical engineer had Paul Haenlein , can grant a patent on an airship in London whose Lenoir - gas engine should be supplied with carrier gas from the balloon envelope. After showing a scaled-down model of the airship in Mainz and Vienna in 1870 , the only ascent of the Aeolus took place on December 13, 1872 in Brno . The airship was filled with coal gas and reached a speed of 18 km / h, which was enough to move against the wind. For safety reasons, Aeolus was held on loose ropes during the journey. Although the test was successful, Haenlein had to discontinue his project in 1873. As a result of the founders' crash , he was unable to find the financial means needed to further develop the airship.

Technical details

description

Aeolus was designed as a keel airship . Haenlein designed an elongated, streamlined balloon body, which was modeled on the shape of a ship's hull, and brought the gondola, which also carried the motor, close to the stiffening frame of the balloon. The gondola and frame were rigidly connected to one another by ropes and supports. The balloon envelope was made of silk fabric that was rubberized inside and out. In addition to the normal gas release valve, the balloon had two overpressure safety valves. In order to keep the balloon in shape despite the gas consumption by the motor, the envelope contained a balloonet into which hot air was blown with the help of a fan . Cooling water tanks were installed along the nacelle.

Data

  • Length: 50.4 meters
  • 9.2 meters in diameter
  • Volume: 2408 m 3
  • Surface of the balloon envelope: 1145 m 2
  • Total weight: 1,406 kg, of which
    • Case weight: 350 kg
    • Net weight: 146 kg
    • Weight of the gondola with frame buffer and rudder: 373 kg
  • Usable weight (with luminous gas filling): 300 kg
  • Drive: 4-cylinder Lenoir gas engine with 19.2 liter displacement and 2.7 kW, four- bladed propeller with a diameter of 4.6 meters
  • Top speed: 18 km / h

swell

  • Hermann Moedebeck : Handbuch der Luftschiffahrt with special consideration of their military use , Edwin Schloemp , Leipzig 1886, p. 124-127
  • Raimund Nimführ : Guide to aviation and flight technology , Hartleben, Vienna and Leipzig 1909, pp. 102-104

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Patents for inventions. Abridgments of Specifications Relating to Aeronautics. AD 1815-1866 . London 1869, p. 44

Web links