Charles Renard

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Charles Renard
Home of the Renard family in Lamarche (Vosges) with a plaque commemorating the brothers Charles and Paul. The street was later renamed in Charles's honor.

Louis Marie Joseph Charles Renard (born November 23, 1847 in Damblain , Département Vosges , † April 13, 1905 in Chalais- Meudon ) was a French engineer, professional officer , inventor and builder of airships .

Charles Renard came from a wealthy family. His parents were the justice of the peace and landowner Athanase Joseph Romain Renard and Charlotte Joséphine, nee. Burel . The family first lived in a house on Rue des Récollets and later in Lamarche (Vosges) .

Military career

In 1866 he passed the entrance examination to the École polytechnique in Paris , but took up studies at the military academy École d'application de l'artillerie et du génie in Metz . On October 1, 1868, he was certified as a Sous-Lieutenant of the engineering troops. During the Franco-German War 1870 / 71 he served in the 3rd Regiment Genie in the Armée de la Loire . The promotion to lieutenant took place on October 1, 1870. Renard was then involved in the battles of Artenay and Cercottes , the defense of Orléans and the Battle of Le Mans .

Already in peacetime he was promoted to first lieutenant on April 13, 1872, and to Capitaine de 2ième classe à l'état Major du Génie on October 27, 1873 .

The Renard series

Renard studied the required strength of tethers for balloons. He found that the army used 425 cables with different diameters , but 17 different ones would be sufficient. From this knowledge, he developed the basis for the system of standard numbers (Renard series, Renard series ), which are based on decimal-geometrically graded number sequences.

In 1952, decades later, Renard's findings formed the basis of the ISO 3 standard .

Aerostation

Looking into the Hangar Y .

Renard was interested in aviation and the development of airships and their military uses during his studies. After he was able to show a functioning model of a dirigible , he received 200,000 francs from the state treasury. In 1877 he was transferred to the Établissement Central de l'Aérostation Militaire under Colonel de Génie Laussedat in Chalais near Meudon , to which he belonged until his death.

Here he worked with his brother Paul (1854–1933) on the dirigible “ La France ”. From 1878 they were supported by the Capitaine de Génie Arthur Constantin Krebs (1850-1935), who was responsible for propelling the airship. An airship hangar was built next to the existing workshop . It is considered the first of its kind and was created using elements of an iron structure that the architect Henri de Dion (1828–1878) had created for the machine hall of the 1878 World's Fair in Paris. This structure, known as Hangar Y, has been preserved as a protected building. In 1879, Charles Renard replaced Colonel Laussedat as the facility in command. Krebs constructed an electric drive for the airship. For this purpose, an engine laboratory was set up, which is also the first of its kind. At that time, on October 27, 1879, he received his certification as Capitaine 1st class .

Airship "La France"

Dirigible "La France" in a contemporary presentation.

The development of the La France took place in competition with similar experiments of Henri Giffard as well as the Brothers Albert and Gaston Tissandier (1843-1899), which is about the same time also built an electric-powered airship. Gaston Tissandier was the founder and editor of the journal La Nature , for which Arthur Krebs also wrote relevant articles.

The airship La France was 52 meters long and had an electric motor with 8½ hp (6.25 kW). The first free flight with Krebs, Charles Renard and Adrien Duté-Poitevin succeeded as early as November 26, 1878, the landing allegedly in the palace gardens of Count Curial.

"La France" on August 9, 1884 above Hangar Y in Parc de Chalais , Meudon

With an ascent on August 9, 1884 , Renard and Krebs managed to conduct a fully guided flight, on which the airship landed again at the starting point for the first time. It rose at Hangar Y and drove a circle of approx. 7.6 km, which included the village of Villacoublay . The tour lasted 23 minutes and La France reached 19.8 km / h. The population reacted enthusiastically. Further successful sightseeing flights were carried out until 1885. This provided proof that it is possible to build and operate a steerable airship.

Airships were used by the French army as early as 1884 in the Tonkin campaign during the Sino-French War and in 1900 during the China expedition .

Other aviation projects

As early as 1873, Renard was working on a device that he called the Dirigible parachute (steerable parachute). It consisted of an egg-shaped capsule on which, in several rows, movable, narrow gliding wings were arranged. Thrown from a great height, it should allow a controlled, controlled lowering to the ground. It was shown at the 1889 World's Fair . There is no evidence of practical testing.

For many years Renard also dealt with the mathematical foundations of the construction of helicopter rotors.

Train Renard

Train Renard (patent drawing, 1903)
Advertisement of Société Francaise des Trains Renard .
Share over 100 francs in Société Francaise des Trains Renard SA on January 29, 1907

Charles and Paul Renard worked on a "train for the road", an innovative commercial vehicle that should be able to transport heavy loads even on narrow streets. Initially, they intended for military use. The concept envisaged a composition with a "towing vehicle", called Locomotrice, which generated the driving force with an oversized motor and was steered from there. Several "trailers" followed, each with two or three axles. One each was designed as a steering axle and one as a drive axle. The latter were connected to the Locomotrice engine one after the other via a cardan shaft . Because this also had a driven axle, it was the only element of the composition that could drive alone. Each transport element also had a linkage connected to the respective front vehicle, which transferred the steering movement of the front transport element to its own steering axle so that it drove exactly in its lane. Charles Renard received a patent for it in 1903. At first there was great interest, and individual vehicles were sold overseas (Canada, USA, South America) and Russia. The army was moderately interested, but, like the Prussian army, bought a few copies. Early Trains Renard originated at Darracq , production under license took place at Daimler Motor Company in Great Britain, where around 200 vehicles were manufactured.

Commercial use also fell short of expectations because such vehicles were very expensive and high traffic taxes were levied. A limited use resulted from its use as an "overland tram without rails" with passenger trailers. Smaller communities use Trains Renard as a means of public transport. Here they could take advantage of the fact that they did not need any rails. Because people and transport elements could be combined, very flexible use was possible.

In 1906, barely a year after Renard's death, the Société francaise des Trains Renard was founded in Paris . The registered office of the company, capitalized with 1.75 million francs, was at 11 rue Lafayette . It appears that vehicles were also operated in the bus line service. The company had to close in 1911.

Next life

Charles Renard held the rank of lieutenant colonel when he was made the Legion of Honor in July 1898 . He was later promoted to colonel, but faced a lot of resistance in later years. After his death, an obituary indicated that he had been dropped by superiors and had to give up command of the aerostation . He remained the facility's technical director and was president of the Permanent International Commission on Aeronautics. However, he received little support for his own projects and he saw it as a great disappointment that he was denied admission to the Académie des sciences . Several sources agree that he put an end to his life himself.

The official abdication ceremony took place on April 17, 1905 in the Church of St-Sulpice in Paris. Charles Renard is buried in the old cemetery in his native Damblain. After his death in 1933, his brother Paul was buried next to him.

Honors

Contemporary depiction of the balloonists Charles Renard, Henri Dupuy de Lôme and Arthur Constantin Krebs .

Commemorative plaques were put up on the Renards 'parents' house in Damblain and on the family home in Lamarche. After Charles Renard's death, the street where they lived in both towns was renamed Rue du Commandant Renard . He has also been the namesake of the Renard Glacier in Antarctica since 1960 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ When Renard developed the series is unclear. The article mentions and documents 1877; According to Janine Tissot, Renard developed the system at the age of 23, that is, in 1870. This year, Au fil des mots et de l'histoire confirms and adds details.
  2. ↑ According to another representation in Au fil des mots et de l'histoire: Charles RENARD - Pionnier de l'aviation. Renard founded the facility in 1877.

literature

Web links

Commons : Charles Renard  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b List Lenore: Louis Marie Joseph Charles Renard, Document 29/35.
  2. ^ List Lenore: Louis Marie Joseph Charles Renard, Document 1/35.
  3. ^ A b c d e Lenore list: Louis Marie Joseph Charles Renard, Document 33/35.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Au fil des mots et de l'histoire: Charles RENARD - Pionnier de l'aviation.
  5. ↑ Sizes.com: Preferred Numbers; Internationally Standardized Series.
  6. ^ Janine Tissot: Charles Renard.
  7. ^ Seherr-Thoss: Dictionary of famous personalities in the automobile world. 2005, p. 134.
  8. ↑ a b c rbnm.free.fr; Arthur Constantin Krebs website: Chronologie et Archives.
  9. ↑ cnum.cnam.fr: L'Aérostat dirigible électrique , published on August 30, 1884 in "La Nature".
  10. ^ Century of Flight: Charles Renard (1847-1905). (Dirigible Parachute)
  11. ↑ Flight of November 25, 1920: THE PROBLEM OF THE HELICOPTER.
  12. ^ Comité de Jumelage Gournay-en-Bray - Hailsham: Le Train Renard, legend de la Belle Epoque.
  13. ^ A b List Lenore: Louis Marie Joseph Charles Renard, Document 3/35.
  14. ↑ List Lenore: Louis Marie Joseph Charles Renard, Document 5/35.
  15. ↑ a b c d e f g h Lenore list: Louis Marie Joseph Charles Renard, Document 7/35.
  16. ^ List Lenore: Louis Marie Joseph Charles Renard, Document 27/35.
  17. ^ List Lenore: Louis Marie Joseph Charles Renard, Document 13/35.
personal data
SURNAME Renard, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French aviation pioneer, builder of airships
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1847
PLACE OF BIRTH Damblain , Vosges department
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 1905
Place of death Paris