Ville de Paris (airship, 1906)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ville de Paris ( French for City of Paris ) was a French impact airship built in 1906 .

The Ville de Paris on a colored postcard

prehistory

Between 1901 and 1903, Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe had a new kind of airship built by the Société Mallet, Mélandri et de Pitray based on plans by the designer Victor Tatin . This first Ville de Paris was an eye-catcher at the Salon de l'automobile . However, she never made a trip as an airship.

history

The Ville de Paris in Moulineaux 1910
The Ville de Paris in its hangar

In 1906, Deutsch had a new airship built according to plans by the designer Édouard Surcouf. The balloon envelope was made in Deutsch's factory in Billancourt , the mechanics were supplied by Voisin Frères. The model was similar to the La France built in 1884 by Charles Renard .

In 1906, a fenced airship launch site with a wooden airship hangar was built in a former sand pit between Sartrouville and Montesson . The main crew of the Ville de Paris consisted of German nephew, the pilot Henry Kapférer (1870-1956), and the on-board mechanic Louis Paulhan . The balloon was first filled from October 8, 1906. After that and in 1907 some test drives took place in the area of ​​Sartrouville, on September 12th it drove for the first time via Paris. Some trips were made with passengers, including Prince Albert and Charles Rolls . During a test drive in November 1907, five passengers were on board.

After the loss of the patrie at the end of November 1907, the French army took over the airship that Deutsch had previously offered as a replacement.

The airship's voyage from Sartrouville to Verdun on December 24th had to be broken off due to an emerging wind, but it led to repeated crossings through the center of Paris. The Ville de Paris attracted the attention of numerous onlookers with frequent sirens .

The airship was transferred to Verdun on January 15th. Assisted by wind, it covered a distance of 260 km in 9 hours and 38 minutes, including the time it took to fix two engine breakdowns and the landing maneuvers. On the way, the Ville de Paris reached a height of 650 m. At the balloon launch site at the foot of the hill of Fort de Belleville near Verdun, there was a hangar for the Ville de Paris as the beginning of a later military airship port.

In 1908, the Ville de Paris was converted for the military by Deutschs and Surcoufs newly renamed Société Astra . During a test run on November 16, the airship had to be pulled six kilometers back to its hangar by a pioneer company after landing due to a propeller damage . After the repair and further test drives, the gas filling of the "excellent machine" was drained in December.

A trip by the Ville de Paris via Verdun was reported on August 14, 1910. The airship was used by the army for training purposes for years. In 1913 the “great yacht of the skies” was finally canceled.

description

completion

The Ville de Paris on a postcard sent by the German military post in 1915

When it was completed, the Ville de Paris was 60.4 m long, the balloon envelope had a diameter of 10.5 m. The volume of the balloon filled with hydrogen gas was about 3200 m 3 . The 829 kg balloon envelope consisted of cotton fabric supplied by Continental , coated with rubber on the inside, with a second inner layer rotated by 45 ° in the weaving direction. The paris yellow color of the cover should protect the sensitive rubber from solar radiation. As a new type of construction element, eight hoses arranged in the direction of flight and filled with hydrogen gas formed a cross-shaped tail unit without contributing to lift.

A ballonet with a volume of 500 m 3, divided into three chambers, made it possible to regulate the buoyancy of the Ville de Paris . For this purpose, a 27 kg compressor designed by Surcouf and Kapférer , which was driven by the airship engine, was able to generate an overpressure of up to eight millibars in the air-filled balloon mounted inside the envelope. A gas release valve on the top of the balloon envelope could be operated by the pilot by means of a rope, two that could be opened automatically at 35 millibars or manually by the pilot were on the underside and near the tail and two at 25 millibars or opened by hand on the Built-in underside of the ballonet.

Sturdy strips of cotton fabric were sewn along the sides of the balloon envelope, from which hemp ropes hung, which carried the balloon gondola on over 50 steel wires, which was 5.5 m below the balloon. The gondola was a 31 m long, 300 kg heavy wooden frame construction held together by aluminum profiles and steel wire.

The propeller on the bow of the gondola of the Ville de Paris

The two-bladed propeller at the front end of the nacelle had wooden blades and a steel axle. The propeller with a diameter of 6 m was driven by a 70 to 75 hp four-cylinder engine made by Argus at speeds of up to 250  min −1 . The on-board mechanic was able to look after him during the journey. The Ville de Paris reached a speed of 38 to 40 km / h.

The placed in the center of gravity of the gondola pilot operated with three control wheels , a 15 m 2 large rudder and a pair of elevator with 4 m 2 surface at the rear of the nacelle and another pair elevator with 8 m 2 surface at its center of gravity. The on-board instruments, which were elastically suspended because of the engine vibrations, were an aneroid barometer suitable as an altimeter up to 1,500 feet and a dynamometer that could be connected to either a balloon envelope or a balloonet. Water-filled communicating tubes were used as controls . Carrier pigeons could be taken as a means of communication .

A 30-man holding team was provided for movement on the ground, with a 120 m long guide line at the bow of the gondola and a 70 m long holding line attached to its center of gravity.

Retrofitting

During the renovation work in 1908, the Société Astra extended the Ville de Paris by 6 m to 66 m, whereby the balloon volume rose to 3600 m 3 . The new engine was derived from a Chenu brand car engine . A newly designed 90 kg propeller, which with a reduction gear only rotated at 180 min −1 , made it possible to make better use of the engine output of 80 hp. The gondola has been improved in many details based on the model of the Clément-Bayard . During the test drives in November and December 1908, an altitude of 975 m and an airspeed of 44 km / h were reached.

Technical specifications

Parameter upon completion (1906) after conversion (1908)
length 60.4 m 66 m
diameter 10.5 m 10.5 m
Envelope volume 3195 m 3 3600 m 3
Gas filling hydrogen hydrogen
Ballonet volume 500 m 3 500 m 3
reached height 650 m 975 m
drive 1 × Argus four-cylinder in-line engine
(from the start: Chenu 70 HP)		 1 × Chenu four-cylinder in-line engine
power approx. 51 to 55 kW (70 to 75 PS) approx. 59 kW (80 PS)
propeller 6 m diameter
maximum 250 min −1 		6 m diameter
maximum 180 min −1
Top speed 38 to 40 km / h 44 km / h
crew 2:
Pilot on-
board mechanic		 2:
Pilot on-
board mechanic

Web links

Commons : Ville de Paris  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ La "Ville de Paris". l'Aérophile, February 1903, p. 48 , accessed on July 20, 2017 (French).
  2. ↑ François Peyrey: L'Aéronat "La Ville de Paris". La Vie au grand air: revue illustrée de tous les sports, December 24, 1903, p. 966 , accessed on July 23, 2017 (French).
  3. ↑ Ladislas d'Orcy (Ed.): D'Orcy's Airship Manual . The Century Co., New York 1917, p. 97 (English, online ).
  4. ^ A b Present Status of Military Aeronautics “Ville de Paris” (Fig. 4). Flightglobal, February 27, 1909, p. 137 , accessed July 20, 2017 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cléry: Description du Ville-de-Paris et de l'Aérodrome de Sartrouville. l'Aérophile, February 1, 1908, pp. 49–54 , accessed on July 27, 2017 (French).
  6. ^ A b Parti pour Verdun le "Ville de Paris" for demi-tour a Coulommiers. Le Petit Parisien: journal quotidien du soir, December 25, 1907, p. 2 , accessed on July 20, 2017 (French).
  7. ↑ a b Max de Nansouty: Aérostation, aviation. P. 444 , accessed on July 20, 2017 (French).
  8. ↑ a b Philos: Le nouveau dirigeable "La Ville de Paris". l'Aérophile, October 1906, p. 242 , accessed on July 20, 2017 (French).
  9. ^ Georges Blanchet: Les expériences du dirigeable "La Ville de Paris". l'Aérophile, September 1907, pp. 247–250 , accessed on July 27, 2017 (French).
  10. ↑ Le Prince de Monaco et Kapferer sur Ville de Paris [dirigeable, à Sartrouville, le 24] September 1907. (press photo). Agence Rol, September 24, 1907, accessed July 20, 2017 (French).
  11. ↑ MMIM Hall of Fame the Honorable Charles Stewart Rolls. Retrieved July 20, 2017 (English).
  12. ↑ a b c d e L. Lagrange: Le nouvel autoballon militaire français. l'Aérophile, February 1, 1908, pp. 45–49 , accessed on July 27, 2017 (French).
  13. ↑ Le parc à ballons et le port d'attache à dirigeables de Verdun. Retrieved July 20, 2017 (French).
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Campagne automne du dirigeable "La Ville de Paris". l'Aérophile, January 1, 1909, pp. 16-17 , accessed July 20, 2017 (French).
  15. ↑ Les Dirigeables. l'Aérophile, 1910, p. 404 , accessed on July 20, 2017 (French).
  16. ↑ a b Ladislas d'Orcy (Ed.): D'Orcy's Airship Manual . The Century Co., New York 1917, p. 61-63 (English, online ).
  17. ↑ a b c L'Ame des Dirigeables. La Suprematie aérienne assurée a la France. La Presse, December 25, 1913, accessed July 20, 2017 (French).
  18. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Present Status of Military Aeronautics “Ville de Paris” (Fig. 4). Flightglobal, February 27, 1909, p. 138 , accessed July 20, 2017 .
  19. ↑ a b Philos: Le nouveau dirigeable "La Ville de Paris". l'Aérophile, October 1906, p. 241 , accessed on July 20, 2017 (French).