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
