Semi-rigid airship

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The Italia in Stolp, 1928

Semi-rigid airships are airships with a partial skeleton. This often consists of a solid keel along the longitudinal axis. This construction is called a keel airship . The partial skeleton can, however, also consist of a skeletal structure inside the shell.

Construction principle

The nacelle, motors and, in some cases, the tail unit are attached or integrated to the structure. The structure has the task of absorbing the weight forces of the nacelle, engines and payload and improving their introduction into the envelope by distributing them over the entire length of the airship. The transition between semi-rigid airships and impact airships is fluid. With some small types in particular, it cannot be clearly determined whether it is just an elongated nacelle structure or already a keel.

The aerodynamic shape of the envelope is generated as with impingement air ships by a gas pressure within the envelope. Changes in the volume of the gas are compensated for by so-called ballonets .

With this construction, larger airships can be built than is possible with the impact airship construction. So far, semi-rigid airships with a maximum volume of 35,000 m³ have been successfully constructed and operated. The limiting factor for the size and the driving or flight characteristics of airships is the stability of the envelope. It is increased by the partial skeleton. A continuation of the hull reinforcement leads to the rigid airship .

History of the semi-rigid airships

In the following some semi-rigid airships and their dates are listed, although the list is not exhaustive.

Italy

The construction of semi-rigid airships was most advanced in Italy during the First World War and between the two world wars. The state shipyard SCA stood out there. Its most famous family member and leader was the later General Umberto Nobile . Well-known keel airships such as the:

  • N 1 “ Norge ” reached the North Pole in 1926
  • N 2 7000 m³ ship, built in the airship hangar in Augusta (Sicily)
  • N 3 a keel airship in the typical Nobile style (photographically proven)
  • N 4 “ Italia ” failed in 1928 in the Arctic
  • N 5 was a project for a 55,000 cubic meter keel airship, the construction of which was interrupted several times and abandoned in 1928

In addition, some other airships in the Soviet Union, Japan and the USA can be traced back to Umberto Nobile.

Other Italian constructions:

  • Forlanini F.1 "Leonardo da Vinci", Italy, 3265 m³, 40 HP, first ascent: 1909, irreparably damaged on February 1st, 1910
  • Forlanini F.2 "Città del Milano", Italy, 11,500 m³, 2 x 85 hp, the first climb: 1913, in the April 9, 1914 Como destroyed
  • M.1, Italy, first ascent 1912, 83 m, long, 17 m, diameter, 2 × 250 HP Fiat SA.76-4 engine with one propeller each, payload: 3800 kg, first with the army, then with the navy, 164 trips, decommissioned in 1924
  • M.2, "Città di Ferrara" , Italy, first ascent in 1913, shell identical to M.1, 83 m long, 17 m diameter, 4 × 125 HP on two propellers, payload 3000 kg, speed: 85 km / h , Naval airship, stationed in Jesi , shot down by an Austrian flying boat on June 8, 1915
  • SR.1 (M-class ship) built by Italy for England in 1918, 12,500 m³, 83 m long, 17 m diameter, 9-man crew, internal keel made of triangular tubular steel lattice girder

Japan

  • The naval airship No. 6 was built in 1925 by Umberto Nobile for Japan, and rose there for the first time on April 6, 1927. It was already lost in autumn 1927 after it got caught in a typhoon over the Pacific. The commander Fuiyoshi, Japan's most important airship expert, then intended to commit seppuku . However, he was prevented from doing so and two years later he took part in the circumnavigation of the world by the LZ 127 .

France

Well-known semi-rigid airships were also built at other shipyards and in other countries:

  • "Pax" built by Severo in France in 1902, burned in the air on the first ascent.
  • Lebaudy , often called "Le Jaune" ("The Yellow One") - first trip: November 13th 1902, France
  • Zodiac V10 , completed in 1930 for the French Navy

Austria

The Renner boys , father and sons of a Graz artist family, drove the “steering balloon” Estaric 1 in the Austrian monarchy in 1909 and then developed the “Graz”.

  • Estaric 1 (1909) - 1 Puch engine with 40 HP and traction propeller, volume 700 m³, length 32 m, yellow; first drove on September 26, 1909 (from a hall) and on the following days in Graz, on October 16 in Vienna , from Wiener Prater to Strebersdorf, on October 30, 1909 in Linz from (today's) Südbahnhofmarktgelände; Destroyed on November 28, 1910 during landing and strong winds
  • Graz (> = 1909) - 62 m long, two Escher engines, length 62 m

Germany

United States

  • The Akron , which was built for a transatlantic crossing and filled with hydrogen for the first time in 1911 , fell on a fire in 1912 during a test drive just off the coast.
  • T 34 “ Roma ”, early 1920s
  • RS-1 was the only semi-rigid airship in service with the US military that was also built in the US. Manufacturer was Goodyear , maiden voyage: 1926.

Russia / Soviet Union

some semi-rigid airships of the Russian aviation industry, etc. a .:

  • "Gigant" (length: 114 m) was built in Russia from 1912 to 1915 and broke in the air on February 10, 1915 during its maiden voyage. The ship was repaired, but never refilled with gas.
  • the Soviet USSR-W6 Ossoawiachim (1934–1938) also goes back to Umberto Nobile.

present

  • The only semi-rigid airship type currently (as of 2008) flying is the Zeppelin NT . In contrast to the keel airships, it has a large triangular support structure inside the hull.
  • Luftffisch - (with "ff") unmanned test airship of the TU Berlin

literature

  • JK Bock, B. Knauer: Lighter than air: transport and carrier systems . Verlag Frankenschwelle, Hildburghausen 2003, ISBN 3-86180-139-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ JK Bock, B. Knauer: Lighter than air: Transport and carrier systems. 2003, p. 31.
  2. ↑ Ludwig Dürr (Ed.): The Great Zeppelins: the history of airship construction. VDI Verlag, 1985, ISBN 3-18-400687-5 , p. 201.
  3. ↑ a b c d D'Orcy's airship manual; an international register of airships with a compendium of the airship's elementary mechanics; October 1917; The Century co. New York; P. 55; online at archive.org ; last accessed on October 7, 2016
  4. ^ A b Emil Gruber: Let's Zeppelin, Part 2: Dirigible flotsam. 100 years first flight of the Renner brothers over Graz. sunday 292, gat.st, August 16, 2009, accessed October 14, 2016. - note part 1 = sunday 289.
  5. ↑ http://www.blimpinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Articles-about-the-loss-of-the-Akron-airship-near-Atlantic-City-NJ-published-in-1912 .pdf accessed on October 6, 2016
  6. ↑ Rosebud's WWI an Early Aviator Image Archive http://www.earlyaviator.com/