Ville de Lucerne
The Ville de Lucerne was an airship that was used in Lucerne , Switzerland, for passenger flights from 1910 to 1912 . The airship hangar in Tribschenmoos was the first such building in Switzerland to be built for operation.
history
Aviation has a long tradition in Lucerne, because as early as 1784 two representatives of the educated Ancien Régime, Franz Plazid de Schumacher and his son Franz Xaver , had carried out balloon tests with living things over the Lucerne bay. When one of the Montgolfièren used fell on fire, the government issued a general flight ban over Lucerne that same year.
The Ville de Lucerne was built in 1909 under the type designation Astra I by the Astra Société de Construction Aéronautique in Billancourt , France. From April 2, 1910, the airship was under the name Ville de Pau (Transaérienne I) in Pau (France) in use. After just a month it was moved to Lucerne , where it was given its name Ville de Lucerne (also Ville de Lucerne I or Transaérienne II ) in July 1910 .
The company Compagnie Générale Transaérienne (Paris) was the operator of the airship in Pau and Lucerne . In the years 1909 to 1911, the airship covered a total of 273 climbs 7990 km and carried 2590 passengers.
Use in Lucerne
Lucerne hoteliers wanted to increase the attractiveness of their city for guests of the high society in 1909 and therefore got into the flight business. The first air transport company in Switzerland, the Aero Luzern cooperative, was founded, which in 1910 signed a contract with the Parisian Compagnie Générale Transaérienne . While the French provided the airship, the Lucerne built the infrastructure on the ground. In Tribschenmoos, two kilometers south of the city center, the Lucerne airship hall was built in the swampy Tribschenmoos at the foot of the Wartegg hill , 96 meters long and 46 meters wide, with a gas factory behind it to supply the airship with hydrogen gas. These systems cost around 220,000 francs. The Lucerne businessman Josef Willmann played a key role in the deal . Originally even the operation of two airships was planned.
This first Swiss airship station was opened on July 24, 1910. Watched by numerous spectators and accompanied by the sounds of the national anthem, the “Ville de Lucerne” flew for 20 minutes. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung described the scene at the time: "The engine thundered off in full chords, the propeller began its frenzied dance, and the airship rose victoriously."
A 20-minute flight with the Ville de Lucerne cost CHF 100, a trip to Rigi or Pilatus cost CHF 200. When the weather was good, a round trip was offered daily, and at peak times up to five trips a day with a total of 48 passengers. In the first summer season, 66 trips were made with a total of 235 passengers. One trip led to Zurich- Wollishofen and back.
In 1911 there was talk of breakdowns in the airship, in 1912 the Aero Luzern stopped the trips that were always loss-making. Instead, until the outbreak of World War I, sightseeing flights with seaplanes were offered, which took off from the Lucerne lake basin.
Later use of the halls
From 1911, the Lucerne football club was allowed to use the hall as a changing room. The space next to it was supposed to be a football field, which was difficult due to the swampy ground. During the First World War , the airship hangar was used by the military department as a straw store. Around 1920 the Tribschen airship hangar was used as an ice rink. The hall changed hands in 1921 for 10,000 francs and was demolished two years later. Today there are sports facilities on the site and an ice rink next to it.
Later use of the airship hangar as a straw store
Delivery of the straw by rail car
Straw was also stored in another hall
Technical specifications
The Ville de Lucerne was designed as an impact airship (also known as a blimp ), which, in contrast to rigid airships such as the well-known Zeppelin, does not have a load-bearing structure. The airship was 60 meters long, had a diameter of 12.5 meters and a volume of 4475 m³. It had a Clément-Bayard engine with 100 hp and reached a speed of 43 km / h. In addition to the five-man crew, eight passengers could be transported.
Originally the airship was only 55 m long and had a volume of 3500 m³. For use in the higher-lying Lucerne, the gas envelope was enlarged in order to achieve sufficient buoyancy even with lower air pressure.
Trivia
In addition to various documents and photos, a 1:40 scale model of the airship is on display in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne.
On February 13, 1975, the Swiss Post issued a special postage stamp for 90 cents under the title Luft- und Raumfahrt in the Verkehrshaus Luzern , which shows the Ville de Lucerne (Michel no .: 1049).
See also
Web links
- The airship remained a castle in the air. Article in the Tages-Anzeiger on July 22, 2010
- 1. Passenger flight over Switzerland. Article on FliegerWeb.com
- Pictures from the Ville de Lucerne : Image 1: Airship in front of the airship hall - Image 2: Postcard with the airship over Lucerne - Image 3: Airship on the launch site - Image 4: Airship over the hall - Postcard: Airship at the Bürgenstock next to the Hammetschwand- lift
Individual evidence
- ↑ Photos of the Ville de Pau and the hangar in Pau: Archive link ( Memento from June 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Ice skating, where there used to be a flight , article in the Neue Luzerner Zeitung of March 1, 2014, p. 25
- ^ Airship and Balloon News , August 27, 1910
- ↑ Tages-Anzeiger, July 22, 2010, see web links
- ^ Instead of a new playing field, only debts , section in the club history of FC Luzern
- ↑ Model and information in the Swiss Museum of Transport
- ↑ Illustration of the special postage stamp
Coordinates: 47 ° 2 '32.3 " N , 8 ° 19' 27.1" E ; CH1903: six hundred sixty-seven thousand two hundred and ninety-eight / 210521