La France (airship)
The La France was the first French military airship . It was built in 1884.
Technical specifications
The La France had a length of 50.42 meters, a diameter of 8.40 meters and a volume of 1864 m³. It was powered by a 9 HP electric motor based on the Gramme principle , which was fed by a chlorochromate battery "special design". The four-bladed screw , about 7 meters in diameter, was attached to the front part of the balloon, the rudder was at the rear. The 35 m long gondola consisted of bamboo poles that were covered with silk and canvas . With the help of a barrel weight, the center of gravity of the airship could be changed. In May 1884, the La France was completed in the military airship station in Chalais-Meudon .
Rides
In collaboration with Charles Renard accomplished Arthur Constantin Krebs with La France on August 9, 1884 the first fully controlled flight of an airship was returned in which its own power for of ascent. On the seven flights between 1884 and 1885, La France returned to the starting point five times.
| No. Of training ride |
date | Screw revolutions per minute |
Travel speed of the balloon in meters per second |
History, note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 9, 1884 | 42 | 4.58 | Aviation back to Chalais. (#1) |
| 2 | September 12, 1884 | 50 | 5.43 | Damage to the machine. Landing in Velizy. |
| 3 | November 8, 1884 | 55 | 6.00 | Aviation back to Chalais. (# 2) |
| 4th | November 8, 1884 | 35 | 3.82 | Aviation back to Chalais. (# 3) |
| 5 | August 25, 1885 | 55 | 6.00 | Wind force 6.60 - 7 m / s (= about 24-25 km / h). Landing in Villacoublay. |
| 6th | September 22, 1885 | 55 | 6.00 | Aviation back to Chalais. (# 4) |
| 7th | September 23, 1885 | 57 | 6.22 | Aviation back to Chalais. (# 5) |
La France was built in Hangar Y in 1879 near Chalais Meudon near Paris . Hangar Y is the oldest airship hangar in the world and one of the few that still exist in Europe today. In 2002, France put Hangar Y on the tentative list (such as an application for membership) of the World Heritage List .
See also
literature
- Henri de Graffigny: Aviation and the dirigible balloons . Authorized translation. Publishing house by Carl Reissner, Leipzig 1888, DNB 573531455 , fourth chapter. The electric balloons , p. 212–221 (French: La navigation aérienne et les ballons dirigeables . Paris 1888. Translated by Adolphe Schulze).
Individual evidence
- ^ Image of the electric motor ( Memento from April 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Graffigny, Paris 1888, p. 214
- ^ Lennart Ege: Balloons and airships . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1973. ISBN 3-280-00647-3 , p. 127
- ↑ the first full round trip flight ( Memento from May 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Flight routes on a map ( Memento from April 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ World Heritage Convention ( UNESCO )