République (airship)
The République was a French army airship built in 1908 . It crashed in Trévol on September 25, 1909 . The cause was a broken propeller blade that penetrated the hull.
history
After the Patrie's successful acceptance flights in November 1906, the French government ordered the sister ship République for delivery in 1907.
The balloon envelope was made in the Lebaudy Frères factory in Moisson , the mechanical part in their specialist workshop in La Villette . In order to avoid a repetition of the circumstances that had led to the loss of the Patrie in November 1907 , the positioning of the engine and units was revised.
After the balloon was filled in May, it was first tested on the ground. The first flight was on June 24, 1908. After a series of test and acceptance runs in the Moisson area, the transfer to Chalais-Meudon took place on July 31 . On the next trip on September 5th, the République set a record with a 200 km lap from Chalais via Paris and Compiègne and back. Then the airship was mothballed and made way for the Lebaudy .
From June 20 to August 14, the République was back in action. One of the highlights of the dozen voyages was the first airships to take part in the National Day parade on July 14th in Longchamps in front of the French President. On August 4th, the République mastered a 210 km circuit in seven hours and 13 minutes. The Aéro-Club de France awarded the pilot the medal for the longest journey of an airship in 1909.
Great autumn maneuvers of the army took place in the Bourbonnais in September . At Lapalisse a mobile hangar was set up for the République .
The approach of the République on September 3rd had to be canceled due to stability problems of the envelope. The airship had to land in the open, the gas filling was drained. Shell and mechanics were separated and brought for repair. It was reassembled in the hangar near Lapalisse and the balloon was refilled with hydrogen by the 12th.
From the 14th to the 18th, the République took part in the autumn maneuver with reconnaissance flights. At the end it was decided to wait for the weather to be suitable for the return to Chalais. The launch finally took place on September 25th. After about an hour's flight, a propeller blade probably broke due to material fatigue. The broken part flew up against the central frame of the semi-rigid airship and bounced forward from there. In doing so, it slit open the front part of the envelope, which emptied very quickly. The gondola crashed and was shattered on the ground. The crew of four, Captain Marchal, Lieutenant Chaure, Adjuamt Vincenot and Adjudant Reaux, received a solemn funeral in Versailles .
Technical specifications
Like the Patrie, the balloon envelope of the 61 m long République consisted of two layers of rubber-coated cotton. The envelope, filled with 3,700 m 3 of hydrogen gas, had a largest diameter of 10.9 m. Inside the envelope was a 730 m 3 air-inflatable ballonet .
The core of the semi-rigid airship was the tubular steel platform on the underside of the balloon envelope. A compact boat-shaped gondola made entirely of metal was suspended rigidly under the platform. It offered space for six people.
A 70 hp four-cylinder car engine made by Panhard & Levassor served as the drive . Two laterally of the nacelle-mounted metal propeller, each 2.50 m in diameter turning at 1000 min -1 . The top speed was around 50 km / h.
See also
literature
- Lord Ventry & Eugene M. Kolesnik: Jane's Pocket Book of Airship Development , 1976, MacDonald & Jane's, ISBN 0-356-04656-7
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b A. de Masfrand: Le dirigeable militaire "Patrie". l'Aérophile, December 1906, pp. 299–306 , accessed on July 30, 2017 (French).
- ↑ a b A. de Masfrand: Le dirigeable "République". l'Aérophile, July 1, 1908, pp. 243–245 , accessed July 30, 2017 (French).
- ↑ a b c d Le dirigeable "République" 1908–1909. Retrieved July 30, 2017 (French).
- ↑ a b Airships Designed By Henri Julliot For Lebaudy Frères. from D'Orcy's Airship Manual , New York, 1917. Retrieved July 30, 2017 (English).
- ^ A b Henri Julliot: Les dirigeables militaires. l'Aérophile, February 15, 1908, pp. 66-69 , accessed July 30, 2017 (French).