HMA No. 1

The Mayfly at her anchorage at Barrow-in-Furness (September 1911)

The HMA No. 1 Mayfly ( His Majesty's Airship No. 1 , English fluke ) was the first British airship . It was destroyed by a gust of wind on September 24, 1911 without ever having made a trip.

history

Development and construction

In July 1908, the British Captain Reginald Bacon , then Director of Naval Ordnance of the Royal Navy , recommended the construction of an airship based on the design principles of the early German airships of the aviation pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin . The armaments company Vickers, Sons & Maxim in Barrow-in-Furness made an offer in March 1909, and the Royal Navy ordered the airship from Vickers in May 1909.

testing

The destroyed Mayfly on September 24, 1911

On Monday, May 22, 1911, the Mayfly was pulled out of the hanger for the first time early in the morning at 4:10 am and swam on its gondolas in front of the Cavendish Dock .

During another hang-out on September 24, 1911, the airship broke in two halves.

construction

The shoring consisted of the aluminum alloy duralumin , which came onto the market almost simultaneously with the construction of the airship in 1909. The Zeppelin airship GmbH used Dural until 1914, starting in the military airship LZ 26 .

Web links

Commons : HMA No. 1 - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

HMA 1 "The Mayfly". In: Airships. The Airship Heritage Trust, 2015, accessed July 28, 2017 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Rigid Airships. (PDF) HMA No 1. In: FLIGHT International, October 3, 1974. Flightglobal.com , October 3, 1974, archived from the original on December 1, 2017 ; accessed on March 15, 2020 (English).
↑ ^a ^b The Naval Airship. (PDF) In: FLIGHT, May 27, 1911. Flightglobal.com , May 27, 1911, pp. 461-462 , archived from the original on July 28, 2017 ; accessed on March 15, 2020 : “THE NAVY AIRSHIP NO. 1. — The "Mayfly," built by Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., which was successfully launched at Barrow on Monday last. "
^ Klaus Hentschel : Duralumin. Use of duralumin. In: 220 tons - lighter than air, material history of the Hindenburg . University of Stuttgart , Historical Institute, Department for the History of Natural Sciences and Technology, 2010, accessed on July 28, 2017 (website for the exhibition in the Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen ): "From 1914 (LZ 26), duralumin was used in airship construction."

[FLIGHT_International,_3_October_1974-1] Rigid Airships. (PDF) HMA No 1. In: FLIGHT International, October 3, 1974. Flightglobal.com , October 3, 1974, archived from the original on December 1, 2017 ; accessed on March 15, 2020 (English).

[FLIGHT,_May_27,_1911-2] The Naval Airship. (PDF) In: FLIGHT, May 27, 1911. Flightglobal.com , May 27, 1911, pp. 461-462 , archived from the original on July 28, 2017 ; accessed on March 15, 2020 : “THE NAVY AIRSHIP NO. 1. — The "Mayfly," built by Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., which was successfully launched at Barrow on Monday last. "

[_220-3] Klaus Hentschel : Duralumin. Use of duralumin. In: 220 tons - lighter than air, material history of the Hindenburg . University of Stuttgart , Historical Institute, Department for the History of Natural Sciences and Technology, 2010, accessed on July 28, 2017 (website for the exhibition in the Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen ): "From 1914 (LZ 26), duralumin was used in airship construction."