Erbslöh (airship)
The Erbslöh was an airship named after the Elberfeld aviation pioneer Oskar Erbslöh in the years 1909/10.
history
The Erbslöh was an airship with a 27 meter long ash gondola. The height control was done by pumping water back and forth between two 50 liter reservoirs at the top and at the end of the nacelle in order to make the airship tilt.
The first test flight took place on August 20, 1909. After the airship was brought out of the hangar for the first time, its maneuverability was tested for about an hour at a height of 100 meters above the premises of the airship hangar in Leichlingen .
The maiden flight was officially carried out on December 1, 1909. The ship drove over Leichlingen and neighboring villages for a two-hour journey. The landing took place in front of the airship hangar without any problems.
On December 12th, friends of the “Rheinisch-Westfälische Motorluftschiff-Gesellschaft” took part in a trip. However, a gearbox defect forced the airship to land near Reusrath. After the damage was repaired, the next day the Erbslöh drove on towards Mönchengladbach . The stopover there was ended by a storm that tore the shell from the nacelle after two hours. After that, extensive repair work was necessary.
The end
On July 13, 1910, a cloudy day with sunny sections, the airship Erbslöh crashed near Pattscheid (now a district of Leverkusen). All five people on board were killed. The cause, which was also determined by the investigative commission, is assumed to be the sudden solar radiation on the hull after the ship passed under a cloud or exceeded the morning mist. As the carrier gas was heated , it expanded. The impact height sank below the height of the airship. The overpressure valves could not dissipate the overpressure in the envelope quickly enough, so that it tore open. When the hydrogen carrier gas came into contact with sparks from the drive's ignition system, it exploded. The ship crashed.
For the witnesses on the ground, only a bang could be heard, the ship was not visible through the morning mist. The "Erbslöh" hit an open field near the town of Neuenkamp. The front part of the gondola was smashed. The shell lay torn over it. The crew was found dead among the rubble. Actually, the ship was only supposed to cross Leichlingen for half an hour.
In addition to Oskar Erbslöh, Max Toelle (1878–1910), Rudolf Kranz, Hans Leo Höpp and the mechanic Joseph Spicks died in the accident. A monument was erected in her honor near Oskar-Erbslöh-Strasse in Leichlingen.
Technical specifications
- Length: 53.20 meters
- Diameter 10.50 meters
- Volume: 3300 cubic meters
- Drive: Motor with 92 kW (125 PS) at 400 rpm, two-bladed propeller with a diameter of 4.55 meters
- Top speed: 45 km / h
See also
Sources and literature
- Oskar Erbslöh: The development of the aviation industry in Elberfeld in the years 1903 to 1910. In: Festschrift for the three-century celebration. JH Born, Elberfeld 1910.
- The crash of the steering balloon "Erbslöh". In: Süddeutsche Illustrierte Zeitung. 5th year, No. 31, Otto Weber Verlag, Heilbronn, July 31, 1910, p. 483 ff.
- Ansbert Vorreiter: Yearbook on the progress in all areas of aviation 1911. JF Lehmann, Munich 1910.
- The bursting of the cloth airships. In: In the realm of the air. Germany moving forward. III. Volume, No. 15, Verlag Emil Pilger Nachf., Berlin 10 August 1910.
- The Leichlingen disaster. In: Berliner Tageblatt. Volume 39, No. 352, July 14, Berlin 1910.
- Hans Werner Hinrichs: “Erbslöh” exploded in the morning mist. In: Westdeutsche Rundschau. Wuppertal, July 8, 1960
- G. Schmitt, W. Schwipps: Pioneers of early aviation . Gondrom Verlag, Bindlach 1995, ISBN 3-8112-1189-7 .
- Erich Schroeder: Oskar Erbslöh, a Rhenish aviation pioneer . Deutscher Aero-Philatelisten Club eV, Cologne 1997.
- Erich Schröder: Oscar Erbslöh 1879–1910 . A series of events by Sparkasse Leichlingen, Issue 7, Leichlingen 2001.
- Uwe Boelken: Rheinische Luftschifffahrtsgeschichte in Leichlingen. In memory of the crash of the Erbslöh airship on July 13, 1910. City of Leichlingen (ed. And publisher), Leichlingen 2010.
- Karl-Hugo Dierichs: Death came out of the smoke screen. Erbslöh's crash. In: Bergische Blätter. 33, issue 13, 2010, pp. 7–9.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 5 ′ 41 ″ N , 7 ° 1 ′ 9 ″ E