CHAPTER V
In 1899 the Lebaudy brothers, wealthy sugar refiners in Paris, commissioned their able engineer, Julliot, to make investigations and develop plans for a large and swift air ship. This he did with the assistance of Surcouf, a well-known manufacturer of balloons at Billancourt, Paris. Emulating the example of Santos-Dumont and certain German aëronauts in making their plan, they adopted the light petroleum engine for motive power, but experimented on a larger scale, thus creating a new era in military aëronautics in France. Their first vessel was the Jaune whose bag was built at Surcouf’s place, and its mechanical part at the Lebaudy Sugar Refinery. When launched, in 1902, it so pleased the owners that they determined to continue the experiments on a larger scale. Their second air ship, called the Lebaudy, after fulfilling various tests, was accepted by the French government and formed the beginning of its modern aërial fleet.
Moisson, near Paris, where the balloons were kept, now became quite an aëronautical center. Here, under military supervision and the skillful management of the aëronaut Juchmes, other dirigibles were built in rapid succession. Of these the Patrie was launched in 1906, and the République in 1908, both fine swift vessels capable of voyaging many hours and carrying many passengers. The Lebaudy vessels were the first air ships of the “semi-rigid type,” in which the long and flexible envelope, or hull, is provided with a rigid keel or floor, from which the car is suspended with its machinery and passengers. They are, therefore, of unusual interest both for their scientific design and for the stimulus they imparted to the growth of aërial fleets. For this reason they may well be studied in some detail.
The first Lebaudy air ship, called the Yellow, because of its color, had an envelope constructed of a rubber-treated cotton fabric, made in Hanover and covered with a yellow coating of lead chromate, to ward off the sun’s actinic rays from the rubber, and thus prevent deterioration. Her hull, which was cigar shaped and inflated with hydrogen, measured 183 feet in length, 32 feet in diameter, and 80,000 cubic feet in volume. She was propelled by a 40-horse-power Daimler motor actuating twin screws, and attained a maximum speed of twenty-six miles an hour. During her first year’s service she made many ascensions, returning to her starting point twenty-eight times out of twenty-nine. Her longest voyage, made at Moisson, June 24, 1904, was sixty-two miles in two hours and three quarters, with an average speed of twenty-two miles an hours. But in November, 1902, while landing in a high wind at the end of her voyage from Paris to Chalais-Meudon, she was wrecked by colliding with a tree. Her motor, however, was uninjured, and a new envelope was at once prepared.
The second vessel, called the Lebaudy, and brought out in 1904, though resembling her predecessor, had a number of improvements in detail. Her hull was somewhat larger than the Jaune, and no longer pointed at the stern, but rounded off to an ellipsoidal shape, and provided, like the rear of an arrow, with guiding, or steadying planes. It measured 190 feet in length and 94,000 cubic feet in volume. It was provided with two windows for internal inspection, and had an air bag of 17,650 cubic feet, divided into three parts. This air bag was inflated by a rotary fan near the main body, driven by the motor during flight, and by a storage battery when at rest. Suitable horizontal and vertical sails were used to steady and guide the vessel; also a guide-rope and anchor were carried. The car, suspended by steel ropes, ten feet below the hull, carried the passengers and supplies; also the motor actuating twin propellers, one on either side. At night an abundance of light was available, each passenger carrying a small lamp fastened to his clothes, the car itself bearing a powerful acetylene projector in its front, and two other lamps of 100 candle power each, to illumine the vessel. It was an elaborate affair, costing fifty to sixty thousand dollars, and was the outcome of experiments costing ten times that sum.
PLATE III.
THE LEBAUDY.
Photo E. Levick, N. Y.
LA PATRIE.
(Courtesy E. L. Jones.)
LEBAUDY’S MORNING POST.
The Lebaudy, with these various improvements, gave much satisfaction to her owners, and received favorable recognition from the French War Department. During the thirty ascensions and voyages of her first year’s service, she proved herself a swift vessel, easy to control, very stable, and safe to land on solid ground. The Minister of War, who had followed her developments with much interest, appointed a commission to test her value for military service, with a view to her adoption by the government. The test required that the balloon remain in active service three months, always being anchored in the open, and that it perform certain prescribed maneuvers and voyages. In one of these it sailed with three persons on July 3, 1905, from Moisson to Meaux, an air-line distance of 57 miles in two hours and thirty-five minutes, at an average speed of 22 miles an hour, thence to Chalons, 61 miles in three hours and twenty minutes. Here it was anchored to some trees, but presently was caught in a strong wind, lifted high in the air, then dashed violently against other trees, with the complete destruction of its envelope. Within eleven weeks it was repaired in the military riding school at Toul, nearby; then, after some evolutions, returned to its harbor at Moisson. Other maneuvers were made subsequently, in which five officers were carried at one time, and interesting experiments were tried, such as dropping a sand bag upon a given spot, photographing fortifications, etc. The Minister of War, accompanied by two officers and other passengers, made a trip on October 24th, which was the seventy-sixth voyage of this stanch vessel. On November 10th, the hard-worked and successful air ship went into winter quarters, being now the property of the French government, and the first of her modern aërial cruisers.
The Patrie and the République, planned on the general lines of the Lebaudy, but in ascending scale of magnitude, were built expressly for the French government, and experienced brilliant if ill-fated careers. Both vessels had whale-shaped hulls, with rather sharp-pointed noses and rounding sterns. The original volume of the Patrie was 111,250 cubic feet, which was later increased to 128,910, by the insertion of a cylindrical section at the major diameter of the hull. The République had a volume of 2,000 cubic feet more than the Patrie, and a length of 200 feet, or a little less than the enlarged Patrie. She also had a diameter of 35½ feet as against 33¾ in the sister vessel. As the technical reader may like more complete details of these two noted air ships, a fuller account is given in [Appendix III].
The Patrie was a swift and graceful ship which, during its brief activities in 1906–7, made many remarkable trips at an altitude of about half a mile, and frequently maneuvered with the troops. She sailed with excellent stability, had a speed of about 28 miles an hour, and, with four men, had a radius of action of 280 miles. In November, 1907, carrying four passengers, she voyaged from Paris to Verdun, on the German frontier, where she was to be stationed. In spite of a quartering wind, the total distance of 175 miles was traversed in seven hours and three quarters, or at an average overground speed of 25 miles an hour. But while at Verdun, after some maneuvers, she was too insecurely anchored to the ground by means of iron stakes. A strong wind came, tore out the pickets, and overpowered the soldiers, some two hundred in number, who were trying to hold the vessel. As she was pulling them along the ground, they were ordered to let go. The huge ship bounded high into the air, soared across France, England, Wales, and part of Ireland, then far out over the Atlantic where she vanished, leaving no trace behind.
The République also had a brilliant but ephemeral career, from July, 1908, to September, 1909. She surpassed the Patrie not only in bulk and buoyancy, but also in power and speed. She had an 80-horse-power motor as against the Patrie’s motor of 60 to 70 horse power. She could carry eight to nine men, had a speed of about thirty miles an hour, and a radius of action of 500 miles. She made a number of long flights and manifested satisfactory steadiness and stability. But on September 25, 1909, while maneuvering near Paris, one of her propellers broke and tore a great gash in her envelope. At once, with outrushing gas and collapsing hull, the great ship fell 500 feet crashing to the earth, a total wreck, and killing her crew of four officers. This disaster illustrated forcibly the advantage of the cellular system of balloon construction, and drew more favorable attention to the rigid type of air ship cultivated in Germany.
The famous firm that produced the République brought forth, in 1909, two other fine vessels patterned after it, the Russie and La Liberté, built respectively for Russia and France. The Russie made her first voyage on May 29th, ascending 600 feet with eight passengers, and maneuvering under perfect control. After her official trial, in June, she was sent to St. Petersburg, being the first dirigible furnished to a foreign government by a private concern. The Liberté was launched the last week in August and, after various practice and official tests, was accepted by the French government two months later. On a notable voyage, made on September 20th, she sailed ten hours with her Panhard motor constantly working.
The escape of the Patrie was a loss keenly felt by the French people, but soon compensated by the generosity of M. Deutsch de la Meurthe. This liberal patron of aëronautics had a dirigible of excellent design, whose hull, based on the plans of Colonel Renard, was contrived and built by E. Surcouf, director of the Astra aëronautic establishment, along with H. Kapferer, while its other parts were built by Voisin, both of Billancourt. In September preceding the accident to the Patrie, he had offered the use of his air ship, the Ville de Paris, to his government, which accepted the gift with the understanding that it was not to be delivered except in case of war or emergency. When, therefore, in November, 1907, the disaster occurred to the Patrie, M. Deutsch at once placed his dirigible in the hands of the military authorities.
Fig. 21.—La Ville de Paris.
The Ville de Paris showed considerable resemblance to her prototype, the France of 1884, but differed from that elegant vessel in various important features. Her hull was shaped like a wine bottle with its thickest end, or bow, brought to a sharp projectile point, and its other end furnished, like an arrow, with four fixed guiding surfaces to steady its flight. These guiding surfaces were elongated, finlike, cylindrical sacs, inflated as shown in the illustration. The hull measured 200 feet long, 34½ feet in major diameter, 112,847 cubic feet in volume. Heavy bands of canvas with their edges sewed along the sides of the balloon served as flaps for the attachment of the cords suspending the long car beneath. With this long suspension the weight of the car was more evenly distributed over the envelope than in the Lebaudy balloons. An interesting improvement in this air ship was the stabilizing planes, placed above the car, fore and aft, to lift or depress aëroplanelike, thus enabling the pilot to raise or lower the vessel, also to alter her trim, or to check her pitching. As might be expected, her flight was very steady, but as the motor developed only 70 to 75 horse power, her velocity did not exceed twenty-five miles per hour. In January, 1908, she made a run of 147 miles in seven hours, six minutes, with an average speed of 21 miles an hour. Further details of construction are given in [Appendix III].
We now have had examples of the three leading types of motor balloons; the rigid, the semirigid, the flexible. The rigid type, as exemplified in the Schwartz and Zeppelin air ships, is characterized by its solidly trussed hull of invariable size and form to which all other parts are directly attached. The semirigid type, exemplified in the Lebaudy vessels, has a flexible hull, generally of woven fabric, with a trussed floor or platform for its ventral part, from which the car is suspended. The flexible type, as seen in the Ville de Paris, the France, and its predecessors, consists of a flexible hull entirely devoid of stiffening framework, together with a car, usually quite long, suspended from the bag directly. These are all of the important kinds in use at present. A combination of balloon and aëroplane has been tried by Santos-Dumont, Malecot, and others, but thus far has not resulted in a very successful and distinct type. Of the many powerful, swift, and elegant balloons which sprang into being after the success of the Lebaudy vessels, all could be classified under the above three types. Neither kind proved preëminently the fittest for all service, but the semi-rigid and flexible balloons multiplied most rapidly; partly, no doubt, because of their cheapness and convenience of management. We may review briefly this new crop of air ships, before turning to the novel and huge rigid vessels of Count von Zeppelin.
The Ville de Paris was followed, in 1909, by the Clément-Bayard, a slightly larger vessel of very similar pattern, constructed for the Russian government for $40,000. It also, like the Ville de Paris, was built by the Astra Society. The most striking feature of this new balloon was its curious stern with its bulblike steadying surfaces. These fin surfaces were not flat, as in the Patrie, nor cylindrical, as in the Ville de Paris, but of pear form, with the blunt ends pointing rearward and inflated like the rest of the hull. Apparently these tail bags were not economical of power, since, as is well known, a pear shape encounters greater resistance when moving sharp end forward than when moving blunt end forward. However this be, the stabilizing force proved very effective. The vessel was driven by a Clément-Bayard motor of 100 horse power actuating a wooden screw placed in front of the long car, as in the France. A speed of 30 miles an hour was attainable, and the ship could accommodate eight passengers. On one occasion it made a round trip from Sartrouville, traversing 125 miles at an average speed of 27 miles an hour. It was acquired by the Russian government on August 23, 1909, having on that day completed its third official test, and satisfied the requirement of rising 1,550 meters and voyaging two hours at a height of 1,200 meters. Two notable incidents of that voyage were that the air ship made a new record for altitude, and on landing was caught by a squall which tore it from the hands of thirty men, after which, owing to motor failure, it drifted freely across country, tripped on a willow, and fell into the Seine, whence it was rescued after considerable pains and labor.
Other vessels presently built by the Astra Society may be listed, together with their size in cubic meters, as follows: Ville de Bordeaux, 3,300 m3;[13] Ville de Nancy, 3,300 m3; Colonel Renard, 4,000 m3; España, 4,000 m3; Clément-Bayard II, 6,500 m3; Transaerienne I, 6,500 m3; Flandre, 6,500 m3 (228,579 cubic feet). These were among the most noted air ships produced in France toward the close of the first decade of the twentieth century. On the whole they proved to be swift and stable ships adapted either for military use, or for exhibitions and sport, and even for regular transportation of passengers.
The Ville de Nancy was one of the conspicuous dirigibles of the summer of 1909. It was constructed primarily for use at the Exposition at Nancy, and was owned by the Compagnie Générale Transaerienne, an aërial passenger transportation society organized at Paris, in March, 1909, with a capital of one million francs. This society planned to inaugurate an aërial line from Paris to Bordeaux, in 1910, equipped with other vessels of the Astra construction, more powerful than the Ville de Nancy, and capable of transporting a dozen passengers.
PLATE IV.
LA VILLE DE PARIS.
Photo E. Levick, N. Y.
COLONEL RENARD.
Photo E. Levick, N. Y.
The Ville de Nancy was slightly smaller and slightly more powerful than the Clément-Bayard I, besides differing in minor details. It measured 55 meters in length, 10 meters in greatest diameter, and cubed 33,000 meters, as against the 35,000 meters of its predecessor. It was driven by a 100-horse-power Bayard-Clément motor actuating a Chauvière screw propeller at the front of the car. The car itself was made of steel tubes covered with fabric, and near the engine with sheet aluminum. The tail bags were an evident improvement on those of the previous air ships, being less blunt at the rear, and therefore less adapted to generate a retarding suction. They were still rather bulbous, however.
This splendid vessel made various interesting voyages during the summer of 1909, the first on June 27th, piloted by Surcouf and Kapferer, directors of the Astra Society. On July 14th, she maneuvered at Longchamps, side by side with the République, thus contrasting nicely with the ship designed by Julliot. It was the first time two dirigibles navigated together in regular maneuver. The Ville de Nancy was naturally the swifter, having greater power and less bulk than the other. About the middle of July she sailed from Sartrouville to Nancy, where she was to sail about the Exposition grounds and make daily excursions, carrying passengers for 100 francs per trip. These voyages proved very popular, being the first of their kind, and in themselves quite attractive. As the vessel was endowed with excellent stability and had manifested high speed, she was well suited to be the first regular passenger air ship, and the herald of the aërial liners projected to cruise between Paris and Bordeaux.
The Colonel Renard was closely patterned after the Ville de Nancy, but was larger and more powerful. She measured 212 feet in length, 140,000 cubic feet in volume and carried an engine of 120 horse power, driving a Chauvière propeller. On July 13th she made her first trip, cruising one hour with notable facility, then reëntered the hangar[14] of the Astra Society, at Beauval near Meaux. Thence, on August 23d, she sailed for Rheims to compete in the aëronautical races, arriving after a very successful cruise. On August 29th, she circled the ten kilometer rectangular course at Betheny, near Rheims, five times in 1 hour, 19 minutes, 40 seconds, thus winning the Prix des Aëronats,[15] of 10,000 francs offered for the vessel that should accomplish, in the least time, those five rounds, aggregating 50 kilometers. The showing was not remarkable, but the vessel could sail much faster in a straightaway voyage.
The prize-winning Renard was quickly followed by the España, a vessel of the same size and pattern, built for the Spanish government by the same capable firm. During October this fine air ship made several trial trips, carrying seven men. On November 2d she made a splendid official test voyage of five hours, sailing from the Astra aërodrome, at Beauval, to Paris and return, a distance of 250 kilometers in 5 hours and 10 minutes, or at the average rate of 31 miles an hour for the entire course. On November 5th, she started on a ten-hour voyage, with five men and fuel for fifteen hours; but after five hours, stopped her engine, and came to earth, owing to the bending of the main shaft of the motor.
Besides the great auto balloons designed by Julliot and Surcouf, of which the République and Colonel Renard are examples, a number of convenient cruisers were brought forth in 1909 by the Zodiac Company. One of the leading spirits in this enterprise was the famous Count de la Vaulx, well known for his auto balloon designs and his long voyages in sphericles. The chief merit of these modest air ships, which ranged in volume from 25,000 cubic feet upwards, was cheapness and facility of demounting and shipment. They were intended to popularize the art among the masses, by giving everyone a chance to make a voyage at no great expense. Besides their applicability to sport, touring, and public uses, some were designed for considerable speed and endurance; which qualities, together with their demountability and partial independence of hangars, were expected to give them military value. They were of the flexible type, so arranged that the various parts were easily detachable, so as to be packed for transportation, by wagon or car. The smaller ones might be called semi-navigables, since they had the organs of a swift motor balloon, but, like the common sphericles, could easily be demounted and hauled home—a likely issue on a day of any considerable wind. The first one cost $5,000, cubed 25,000 feet and, with its 16-horse-power engine, traveled 13 miles per hour. Its hull had the form of a whale with docked and rounded tail. From this body hung an elongated car with a screw at the rear and elevating planes in front. Others of similar make, but larger, followed in rapid order, their common mission being that advocated by Santos-Dumont, in the early part of the decade, when he produced his Runabout and Omnibus—to give everybody a ride.
Fig. 22.—Le Petit Journal, Zodiac Type.
PLATE V.
ZODIAC III.
ZODIAC IV.
The Zodiac I was quickly followed by vessels II and III, cubing respectively 1,200 and 1,400 meters. The No. II had a speed of twenty, or more, miles per hour, and carried two passengers when inflated with coal gas, three with hydrogen. The No. III, of torpedo form, measured 133 feet long, 28 feet in major diameter, carried four persons, and sailed 25 miles an hour with her 40-horse-power Ballot engine. On August 29th, piloted by Count de la Vaulx, she competed with the Colonel Renard, at Rheims, for the Prix des Aëronats, making five rounds of the ten kilometer course in one hour and twenty-five minutes, this being at the average speed of 22 miles an hour. On October 30th, again piloted by the same renowned aëronaut, she sailed from Brussels to Anvers, rounded the lofty Cathedral spire, and returned to her aërodrome, traversing a distance of sixty kilometers in one hour and twelve minutes, or with an average speed of 31 miles an hour, a good showing for so small an air ship.
A very handsome dirigible, named the Belgique, was constructed early in 1909, by the skillful aëronautical engineer, Louis Godard, of Paris, in collaboration with the prominent Belgian engineer and sportsman, Robert Goldschmidt. It was a flexible balloon of elegant torpedo form, measuring 175 feet long, 30 feet in major diameter, and 106,000 cubic feet in volume. It was propelled by two 60-horse-power Vivinus engines actuating two screws, made of fabric stretched over radial sticks, and placed at either end of the spindle-shaped car. The control was provided for by ample keel surface, an elevating plane in front, and ingeniously designed fins on the rear of the hull to steady the motion. The entire structure showed much originality and skill. When the dirigible was tested near Brussels, on June 28th, it was piloted by Louis Godard, the famous expert in sphericals, accompanied by Goldschmidt. Godard’s début in this capacity was reported as excellent.
The Italian government brought forth, in the summer of 1909, a swift and elegant auto balloon showing considerable originality of design. It has a porpoise-shaped hull of 2,500 cubic meters capacity, divided into seven compartments, so as to obviate the accident which wrecked the République. An ample keel along the rear bottom, and large aëroplane surfaces at the stern, serve to guide and steady the vessel. Propelled by twin screws well above a short car, she readily attained thirty miles an hour, carrying four persons. On October 31st, starting on her seventeenth voyage, she cruised from the aëronautic park, Vigna de Vale, near Rome, to Naples and back to Rome by ten o’clock at night, having sailed over the edge of the Mediterranean Sea and over the French squadron in the bay, remaining fourteen hours in the air and traversing 520 kilometers, or 323 miles. It was one of the finest voyages of the year. Further details of this Italian military dirigible No. I bis, together with illustrations, are given in Aërophile for January 15, 1910, together with its prototype the dirigible No. I, which maneuvered so successfully in 1908.
England and America all along had pursued an oriental, or semicivilized, policy toward the auto balloon, languidly watching the progress elsewhere, and hoping some time to enjoy the fruition, if not the glory, of the costly and successful experiments made in other countries. In 1909, however, the British government appropriated nearly $400,000 for aëronautics, and the United States House of Representatives voted $500,000, but promptly reversed its action, and gave nothing, though it may be said that even then there was a growing sentiment in favor of a more liberal policy. The movement to secure the beginning of an aërial fleet in England is summarized in the following paragraph.[16]
PLATE VI.
LA BELGIQUE.
ITALIAN MILITARY DIRIGIBLE NO. I BIS.
“The naval authorities were entrusted with the building of a rigid ship, whilst to the military department was delegated the work of building non-rigid and semi-rigid ships. A national air-ship fund was organized by the Morning Post with the object of purchasing a French Lebaudy semi-rigid dirigible which would be presented to the War Office; whilst Mr. Arthur du Cros and other members of the Parliamentary Aërial Committee arranged for a Clément non-rigid air ship of new design, to sail from Paris to London, and also to qualify for purchase as a unit of the British aërial fleet.”
The non-rigid auto balloon ordered from Clément, and afterwards known as the Clément-Bayard II, was the masterpiece of that skilful designer, and occupied his best thought and energy for eighteen months, aided by his devoted and capable engineer, Sabathier. She was completed in the Clément-Bayard factory at Lamotte-Breuil in April, 1910, and during the next five months made thirty-two test ascensions and practice voyages. In particular she took a conspicuous part in the military maneuvers at Picardie during the early half of September, where with wonderful precision and airworthiness she made forced voyages in fair weather and foul, remaining, when so desired, in continuous communication with the land office by means of wireless telegraphy. Finally, on a fair day, September 16th, the tried and perfected vessel was brought forth from her hangar for the long contemplated voyage to London, her machinery and rigging in trimmest order, and her car furnished with supplies for twenty hours, or thrice the anticipated time of transit.
The voyage was a glorious achievement for aëronautics, and for the enthusiastic constructor and his devoted aids. Starting at seven o’clock in the morning, with seven men aboard, including happy Clément, Sabathier, and an English delegate, the whalelike cruiser sailed directly to London with admirable regularity, covering the entire distance of 242 miles in six hours, or at the rate of forty miles an hour, which is better time than could be made by land and water. Enthusiastic cheers from the English spectators greeted the arrival of this French dirigible, built for the English government. Then quietly the English soldiers took the vessel in hand, as if performing a familiar duty, and housed her in the Daily Mail hangar, at Wormwood Scrubs. Thus simply and without unusual incident terminated the first motor-balloon cruise between the two countries, and one of the finest voyages in the history of aëronautics.
In outward appearance the Clément-Bayard II closely resembled her predecessor, except for the absence of empennage on her envelope. In the whalelike elegance of her hull she was, in fact, a reversion to the trim and efficient model of Renard’s dirigible of 1884, which in turn was a fair copy of Jullien’s model of 1850, all having excellent forms for speed and stability. But the new vessel was of greater size and power than her predecessor. Her net buoyancy was sufficient to carry twenty passengers. Her average speed tested in a round-trip voyage was about 50 kilometers or 31 miles per hour when her two motors developed 200 horse power, and 55 kilometers or 34 miles per hour when the engines developed their maximum effort of 260 horse power. The details of construction were so elaborate and important, and so representative of the best aëronautical workmanship of the time that a full account of their chief features is presented in [Appendix III]. In passing it may be added that some time before sailing to England the Clément-Bayard II, because of her excellent workmanship and maneuvers, received the first prize at the review of dirigibles by the French Minister of War.
PLATE VII.
CLÉMENT-BAYARD I.
(Courtesy E. L. Jones.)
CLÉMENT-BAYARD II.
Photo E. Levick, N. Y.
Fig. 23.—Clément-Bayard II, 1910.
The dirigible to be purchased with the money secured by the popular subscription organized by the Morning Post was ordered from the Lebaudy factory at Moisson in July, 1909, to be delivered directly through the air to Farnborough before November 6, 1910. This stipulation was severe enough, but furthermore the vessel was to be a considerable departure from any thus far built at that famous factory, and was to be the largest air ship yet constructed in France. As usual the general design of the huge balloon was entrusted to the distinguished aëronautical engineer, Henri Julliot, and this was a certain guarantee of its successful operation.
The general features of this great military dirigible resemble those of her prototype, the Patrie, differing chiefly in the shape of her hull and the method of stiffening. The hull itself was more longish than the Patrie’s, but had the same sharp prow and blunt stern; for a blunt stern offers better support to the empennage planes, though it increases the resistance more than a tapering stern. The trussed framing to stiffen the ship was no longer a platform inserted in the base of the hull, but a long trussed beam of cruciform cross section, made of steel tubing and suspended intermediately between the hull and car.
The hull was of excellent workmanship and bold design. The envelope was of rubberized tissue, measured 338 feet in length, 39.4 feet in diameter and cubed 353,000 feet. Its length was, therefore, 8.5 times its diameter, an extraordinary proportion for a balloon of the flexible type. The hull was provided with three ballonets, two ripping panels, and various valves, as shown in the scale drawing.
Fig. 24.—Morning Post Dirigible, 1910.
The car, made of steel tubing and large enough for twenty persons, carried two Panhard-Levassor motors of 135 horse power each, actuating two Chauvière wooden screws, sixteen feet in diameter, placed on either side, well outward and upward, the transmission gear permitting either engine, or both, to drive the screws at one time. Below the car and well forward was a ground keel, or post, on which the whole vessel could pivot with the wind, when riding at anchor, while a shorter ground post was placed at the rear of the car.
The controlling surfaces were adequate and skillfully arranged. To maintain steadiness and directness of flight, fixed empennage planes, both horizontal and vertical, were provided, some attached to the stern of the hull, others at the rear of the trussed suspension beam. To direct the up and down movement, ailerons placed well to the front and rear of the long framing, were turned about conjunctively in opposite directions, thus causing the vessel to raise or lower her bow. Needless to say, all these navigation appliances worked with ample force and effectiveness from the beginning of the earliest tests.
After four preliminary ascensions the great air ship started from Moisson to her destination at Farnborough, having on board Henri Julliot, Louis Capazza, the pilot, Alexander Bannerman, director of the aëronautic military school at Aldershot, and five other men. It was a triumphant and glorious voyage, one of the most splendid in the history of aërostation. Piloted by aid of chart and compass, and by signal fires and captive balloons arranged along her route, the vessel followed a direct course, without check or hindrance, crossing a wide part of the English Channel and arriving before the hangar at Aldershot, where the British soldiers awaited her, and where she was safely landed, having made the whole voyage of 230 miles in 5.5 hours, at a level varying between five hundred and two thousand feet. As shown by the accompanying map, about one third of the route lay over the Channel, or, more accurately, 78 miles, which was traversed in two hours. Thus the whole journey was accomplished at an average speed of nearly forty-two miles an hour, or in less time than it could be effected in any other way than through the air.
15 Novembre 1910
Fig. 25.—Route of British Military Dirigibles from France to England, 1910.
The United States War Department, in 1908, started an aërial squadron by purchasing from Thomas S. Baldwin, for $10,000, a tiny air ship of the flexible type, a trifle larger than Santos-Dumont’s Runabout, but in fact the smallest military dirigible then in existence. It had a rubberized gray silk cylindrical hull slightly tapering toward the rear and terminating in ogival ends, its length being 96 feet, its major diameter 19½ feet. From this was suspended, by means of netting and steel cables, a longish car having at the rear a double rudder working about a vertical hinge, at the front an elevating plane and an 11-foot wooden screw driven by a Curtiss 20-horse-power water-cooled engine. With two men aboard, this vessel readily attained over twenty miles an hour in a straightaway course, and at times more nearly thirty miles an hour. Its total ascensional force was 1,350 pounds, of which 500 were available for men, ballast and supplies.
Santos-Dumont’s most strenuous disciples outside of France were found among the German military officers. These advocated and promoted both the semirigid and the flexible types of auto balloon, with such ability as to match the best productions of the foremost French designers. The most successful pioneers of these two types in Germany were respectively, Major von Gross, commander of the balloon battalion at Tegel, near Berlin, and Major Von Parseval of the Bavarian army, and director of the Society for the Study of Motor Air Ships.
Beginning in 1907, a number of Gross auto balloons were built in succession, for the German Aëronautical Battalion, by Master Engineer Basenach, under the supervision of its commander, Major Gross. The first was intended only as a model, though it was large enough for two passengers. It cubed 63,000 feet, but having an engine of hardly more than 20 horse power, was necessarily slow. It was succeeded by the Gross I, and others, all having rigid ventral parts, like the Patrie, but with hulls of rather better form for speed and bulk combined, having blunter bow and longer stern.
PLATE VIII.
U. S. SIGNAL CORPS DIRIGIBLE I.
(Courtesy U. S. Signal Corps.)
GROSS II.
(Courtesy E. L. Jones.)
The second Gross air ship, built in 1908, cubed 176,000 feet, and attained a speed of 27 miles per hour, driven by two 75-horse-power Daimler motors. On September 11th of that year, with four persons aboard, she made a round trip from Berlin lasting 13 hours, covering 176 miles, and attaining altitudes up to 4,000 feet. This was one of the finest voyages known at the time. This air ship was purchased by the German government, named Gross I, and sent to Metz. A detailed description is given in [Appendix III].
The Gross II, brought forth in April, 1909, resembled her predecessor in build, but had greater power and speed. Her hull cubed 176,000 cubic feet, had a blunt bow, full body and sharp stern, was provided with horizontal and vertical keels, a sliding weight, and a ballonet at either end. She was propelled by two Körting engines of 75 horse power each, actuating two three-blade propellers. Under the action of her keels and stabilizing planes and rudder, her motion was steady and precise. A special feature of this air ship was the wireless telegraph equipment by which she could send messages in all directions over a range of 300 miles or more. She made many practice voyages during the season of 1909, sometimes alone, again in concert with other auto balloons and with troops. In August she made a fine voyage of sixteen hours, from Tegel to Apolda and return, traversing 470 kilometers.
The above described vessel was followed by others, large and small. The Gross III measured 70 meters long, cubed 7,500 meters, and was propelled by four Körting motors aggregating 300 horse power. This was a splendid vessel, and one of extraordinary speed.
Various auto balloons of the Parseval type were designed by Major Von Parseval of the Bavarian army, who also was one of the inventors of the kite balloon. Satisfactory experiments with his air ship were made as early as 1906. These formed the basis of larger vessels, subsequently constructed in the same factory of August Riedinger of Augsburg, for the Motor Air Ship Study Society, of which Parseval was general manager. This society, organized practically at the command of the Emperor, purchased the Parseval patents and began the development of auto balloons as a business enterprise, soon furnishing a series of its flexible air ships to the German army.
After the experiments of 1906, the Parseval air ship was enlarged from 2,500 to 2,800 cubic meters, its length becoming 52 meters and its major diameter 8.7 meters. Its hull was of cylindric form, with rounded bow and egg-shaped stern; had two air bags—one fore, the other aft—and at the stern carried two fixed horizontal planes and a vertical rudder. From this envelope the car, made largely of aluminum, was hung by steel cables, and on its bottom had trolley wheels resting on suspension cables joining the front and rear parts of the hull. The vessel was propelled by a 50-horse-power Mercedes motor actuating a four-blade screw propeller 13 feet in diameter, mounted between the car and hull. This screw was made of thin steel tubes covered with shirting. Among the merits of Parseval’s air ship may be mentioned its lightness and demountability, and its kite-like effect on the air, got by canting the hull while the car, rolling on the suspension cables, allowed the screw mounted above it to thrust horizontally. The canting was effected by giving one ballonet more air than the other, thus causing its end of the hull to sink. The speed was about twenty-five miles per hour.
PLATE IX.
PARSEVAL I.
(Courtesy W. J. Hammer.)
PARSEVAL II.
(Courtesy E. L. Jones.)
The second Parseval was of greater bulk and power than her predecessor. Her hull which was of cylindric form, with round prow and pointed stern, measured 190 feet long, 30.5 feet in diameter, and 113,000 cubic feet in volume. She resembled her predecessor in the arrangement of the two ballonets, and in the “loose,” or trolley, system of suspension of the car. The propeller was a unique patented device of Von Parseval’s. It had four cloth blades so weighted with lead as to stand out firmly under centrifugal force, assuming an effective shape for propulsion, though limp and deformed when at rest. Various interesting evolutions were performed by this vessel in the autumn of 1908, including tests imposed by the military authorities, as a condition of purchase by the government, one requirement being a voyage of one hour at an altitude of 1,500 meters; another requirement being a continuous cruise of twelve hours. These tests completed, the Motor-Luftschiff-Studien-Gesellschaft sold its proud ship to the Vaterland for 210,000 marks.
About the same time the War Department purchased the Gross I, already described, and Zeppelin’s third great ship, naming it Zeppelin I. Germany thus began her program of developing a great aërial fleet, by acquiring three powerful and well tried ships, each capable of remaining all day in the air, and having a radius of action of several hundred miles. They were frequently called upon to make test voyages in all kinds of weather, to maneuver with the troops, to pass in review before the Emperor, at times conveying prominent officers and members of the noblest families, including Prince Henry and the Crown Prince, who manifested a fondness for navigating about their newly opened empire of the sky. But sometimes the tests were crucial. On September 11, 1908, both the Gross and Parseval were summoned to Potsdam by His Majesty. They set forth from their sheds, at Tegel, in face of a strong wind. After journeying some distance they each had to abandon the voyage, the Gross returning home, and the Parseval falling to the ground owing to an accident.
The third Parseval air ship was brought forth on February 18, 1909, by the Luftfahrzeug-Gesellschaft, an aëronautical firm founded by merging the Motor-Luftschiff-Studien-Gesellschaft with the A. E. G. This vessel closely resembled her predecessor, but possessed greater size, power, and perfection of detail. Her hull at first measured 224 feet long, 47 feet in diameter, and 198,000 cubic feet in volume, but later was enlarged to 235,000 cubic feet by increasing its diameter.
Her car, which could accommodate twelve passengers, was framed of steel tubing covered with canvas, and was divided into two parts, separated by the big gasoline cylinder running athwart ship, the passenger cabin being to the fore, the engine room aft. Here were stationed the two engines, of 120 horse power each, actuating reversible right and left Parseval screws 13 feet in diameter, located to the rear, well aloft and outward on either side. In the forepart of the passenger cabin was space for the pilot and his navigating appliances; his chart desk, his valve controls, his statoscope, manometers, etc.
The great ship with her nine tons burden was to have sailed from Bitterfeld to Frankfort, for the Aëronautical Exposition, but owing to excessive gales, she was sent by rail. Once there, she made many excursions, at times carrying passengers at a schedule rate, reported to be 200 marks for a voyage of one to two hours. In October she made an inter-city excursion covering a distance of nearly 500 miles, during which she passed four nights in the open air, finally returning in good form to Frankfort. On October 27th she made a farewell tour about Frankfort, then voyaged along the Main and down the Rhine valley to Cologne, there to participate in the aëronautic military maneuvers, together with the Parseval I, the Gross II and the Zeppelin II. Having passed creditably through these and other operations in the autumn, she was eventually stationed at Tegel, as a part of the national fleet.
The fourth Parseval, a smaller vessel, was built for the Deutscher Aëro Club early in 1909. Her hull cubed 113,000 feet, and her framing was made of the strongest materials, carefully hollowed, to eliminate undue weight. At the rear of the car, on either side, were two 100-horse engines, driving two Parseval propellers at a common speed, whether both engines were in operation, or only one. In many respects she resembled her immediate predecessors, and her little successor Parseval V of 1,200 cubic meters capacity and 30 meters length, built for the Imperial Automobile Club.
The maneuvers at Cologne constituted the first grand demonstration of the new fleet of military dirigibles, and proved a severe test of the powers of the air ships, even when manned by experienced crews and commanded by regular military officers. Two companies of the balloon corps battalion were in attendance. Large provisions of hydrogen loaded on wagons, each carrying 100,000 cubic feet, were kept in readiness to be attached to an express train and rushed at the first alarm to any balloon in need of replenishing. On Sunday, October 31, three of the dirigibles representing each type, Zeppelin IV, Parseval I, Gross II, left Cologne together, by official order, and returned after flights of 7, 10 and 11 hours respectively, covering in the aggregate 930 miles. Again, leaving Cologne shortly before noon on November 3d, they went down the Rhine, simulated a concerted attack on the great fortress of Eherenbreitstein, and returned in the evening, each having covered 155 miles. And so on for many days they continued to execute maneuvers under military orders and in severe forced marches.