Balloons and Airships, 1783-1973 071370568X

Citation preview

J

Lennart Ege

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. III.:mJlrrJ

Lennart Ege

h is nearly IWO hundred yean .inee man finl Idl lhe gf'(KInd andlravcllcd Ihrough the air in a vehicle of hi. own design. His aerial carriage w.. only a (rail, paper. co\'ered en.ft with a burning braz.ier at iu base 10 provide the hot air thai railed it (rom the ground ; but (rom .uch humble beginnin8lllemmed the ilUpinuion that h. . . nee carried him 01.1110 worlds beyond hi, own. Aner hOi air came hydrocen .. the lin· ing medium, and ancr Ihe (rcc baUoon eame the ainhip, which could be poweTcd and lleered in Right. In 80 well-cholcn examples thit volume illuurates IWO centuries of progrca in lighter.than.air flighl , from the M ontgolficr brolhcn' original 'doud in a paper bag' of 1783 to iu pre«nt-day Counierpari #\own by sporumen in many paru of the world . In between lie the (amoul, the in· famoul and the almOit unknown : great pioneer names like Lebaudy, Charla and Parse\'al ; Ihe giant Zeppelin ainhip!lhal operated the world ', finl airline tcrvittl in 1910- 14 before their military brethren, Ihose ' moosten of Ihe purple Iwilight' , rained lefTl)r on LondOfl in the Finl World War; the great Italian polar air· ship! of the 19701 ; Ihe balloon bombl launched by Japan agailll! the Uniled Stales in World War 2; headline·maken like the Hindenburg and R 101 ; the unlung but highl y . UCh 'ul blimp! of Ihe US Navy ; and many m()re . The illustrations arc by Ouo Frello and the book is edited by Kenneth Mumon, aUlhor of the Pocket Encyclopaedia of Aircnft teriQ.

The Pocket Encyclopaedia or World Aircraft in Colour

BALLOONS AND AIRSHIPS 1783- 1973 by LENNA RT E GE Editor of the English edition KENNETH MUNSON from translation prepared by ER I K H I LDESHE I M Illustrated by OTTO FRELLO

BLA

LO DON DFO RD PR ESS

Fifll &,/iJA NitUm 1973

RrfWUtltd '974

English text '973 Hlandford Press Ltd 167 High Holbom, London WCI V 6PII World Copyright C '973 Politikens Forlag A / S Copenhagen ISB~

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All richlS • CiCnc:d. No pan of mi. hook may be IC..-odooed or trantmitted in any fonn or by any mt:anI, el«-troNc or mcehanical, inc1udinc photocopyirlf, iCCOiidina: or by any inCormation. ltorage and l"Cuicval ry.tnn, without pumi·ion in writin, rrom the: publisher.

E C UNTY UnRARY

01201181

Tat printed and boob bDund in Great Britain by Buder a TaMcr Ltd, Frome and London Colour lettion printed in Dcrunark

PREFACE

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1,.e 'World Aircraft in Color' series would be: incomplete without a book. dealing with balloons and airships. This latest tide in the series is therefore essential to the series and deals with a fasdnating subject. Eighty different types ofbaUOOOl and ainhips from '783 up to the present day are illustrated and described in this book, which presents an authentic cavalcade of the development of balloons and airships down through the years. It is not claimed to be: a comprehensive selection. Twice that number could easily have been included, but the author has endeavoured to present in part those 1>3.110001 and airships which represent defmite stept in the development of aeronautics generally and in part those which lcfl their indelible impressions in that field . For the latter reason this book includes lOme LTA (Ligbt.er-Than-Air) types that previous publications dealing with this subject have not described at great length. It should be: obvious that a book on airships will to a great extent be dominated by two names which even today are synonymous with tltis type of aircraft: Zeppelin and Good)'Cllr. This selection ius been made, and the text written, by the Danish aviation historian Lennart Ege; the color plates are tbe work of artist Otto FreIlo. The eompilation of this book would ha\'e been a more difficult task if the Librnry of the Danish Air Force, headed by librarian S. Aa. Jeppesen and located in Vacrle.e, had not made available its vast collection of rare "olumes and series of old periodicals on this subject to both auLhor and artist. We are also especially indebted to Mr C. Sch6nw1lder. an engineer now residing in Copenhagen, who reor.ived his training on, and bec3me: a crew member of, the pa"enger ainhips Vi!tDrUz iIlis" lJansa and Stulum and the first German naval ainhipt L I, L 2 and L 3. He willingly contributed authoritative, first·hand observations and infonnation on their appearnna:. equipment and fates. Further valuable assistance, both with regard to thc selection of tbe aircraft to be dealt with

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and in supplying data about them, was rendered by: Colonel Rougevin-&ville of the Mw&: de I'Air in Paris; Lieutenant· Commander W. J. Tuck at the Science Museum in London; managing director Diplom Kaufmann Peter FOrster and library manager Dr Ernst H. Berninger, of the Deutscha Museum in Munich; anistant director E. W. Robisc:hon at the National Air and Space Museum, Smitluonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Lyle Schwilling, manager of Goodyear Aerospace Corporation, Akron, Ohio; curator Olav Wetting, of the Norwegian Tech· nical Museum in OsJo; flight instructor Johannes TIUIIC5C:n, Jakobsberg, Sweden; aviation historian Erik Hildesheim, Copenhagen, and Mrs Milly Ege, Espelgzrde, Denmark. The work of translation and revision necnary for the English edition was undertaken by Mr Erik Hildesheim, an experienced aviation engineer and aviator who has Hown with balloons and airships, and who is well known as a writer in Europe and U.S.A. The editor of the English edition is Mr Kenneth Munson, a specialist writer on aircraft and the author of the other titles in tltis scries.

BALLOONS AND AIRSHIPS

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11troughout all periods of our civilisation, Man has concemed hilllscif with leaving terra firma and rising into the air. Even thousands of yean ago our anceston, while roaming about wearily. would stop for a moment occasionally and glance skywards in contemplation of the birds who flew about unhindered and seemingly without effort. There are innumerable tales and myths dealing with fiying gods and human beings in various shapes. Dest known is undoubtedly the c1anicallegend from Greece which deab with the young Icarus, who escaped from imprisonment by means of wings, the feathers of which were fastened. with wax. In his exuberant joy over his recovered flccdom, Icarus climbed too high and the heat from the sun melted the wax in his wings, causing him to plunge to his de."\th in the waten which until.ecent years were named the l earian Sea. There are reports of a Chinese emperor, Shun, who more than four thousand years ago a lso escaped from his prison by fashioning himself a pair ofbird's wings. A contemporary compatriot of his, I-I.ik-Tse, became renowned primarily for his sky travels. Among the Canadian Cra Indillill reportJ are spread of one of their tribe who flew in feather garbs. Even the Incas in Peru had their Ayar·Utso who sprouted bird's wings. In A Tlrnsand and OM Jii,/ds, one tale conttJilJ a mechanical Oring horse - certainly a variation of the well-known fiying carpet I In our own latitudes there is the story about Wayland the Smith whOle brother, £gil, procured him a. 'Oygil' (ffight tunic) made from featlltrS procured from vultures. The Finns have their own unique lImarinen, who simply created a Fire Bird. In Denmark the thunder god Thor flashes 3CiC5L the s:ky in fiace: competition with aU JOrts of winged wonden or monsten. Numerow generations have reported boom and uproar, smoke and steam, but nothing definite enough to fix as the date of Man's fint, genuine Right. Yet all these visions are no more imaginary than the 'weightless' sky chariots that only a few years ago invaded our newspapen, radio and television Jets as a

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---- ford-aste of the strange contraptions that will carry coming generations into outer space. In our search for something of any substance, we came across a French source which tells of 1\ missionary who once found, in :lrchives in Peking, a report of the way the civilised nations of the east IOlved the problem of aerial navigation by means ofballoons, centuries before the Europeans. And herewith we approach the .ubstance of the problem: there never has been a true fl)'ing human being and there will never be one. Man is defeated by the fact that the weight of the human body is out of proportion to its muscular strength. However ingenious the flying machine schemes may be, they all have one defect in common: their lack of a mechanical power source. Down through the yean many designs have been tried out. With .orne of these contraptions jumps have been made from roofs and towers; they usually ended disaJtrowly. Man's first idea was to copy the flight of birds, the 'heavierthan-air' principle. It had lo be abandoned for a while and at the ~inning of the seventeenth century a new conception came about: air trowel had to be tackJed on the 'Iighter-than-air' basis. nle French author J e..m-Savinien Cyrano de Bcrgerac (16191655) was one of the first to realise this possibility. Around 1650 he wrote some fiction novels about travels to the moon and the sun. This prophetic Frenchman worked out these trips by means of a girdle lo which were fastened bottles filled with dew. ~ the sunbeams he;!.ted the bottles their content became lighter, 10 the wearer of the girdle climbed skywards. Adjustment of the altitude was very simple: one bottle - or more - was simply smashed. This method worked, in theory at least, because he was on the right track even though he failed fuUy to realise the scope of his idea: the finding of a substance lighter than air. For argument's sake he even mentioned some lightweight tanks that climbed when smoke was produced inside them. If the author had carried his thought a bit further, and had provided a hole in the bottom of his tanh, right then and there we sbould have had our first conception of the hot-air balloon. The Italian scientist Galileo ('564-1642) had already proved, ea rly in the ICvcnteenth cen tury, that air has weight. J fe first weighed some air-fLlled bottles, tllen the $.1.me ones again after the air had been evacuated from them. 6

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The Jesuit Father FranceKo de Lana-Teni (1631-1687) from Brescia in I taly might be conside.ed the proper 'inventor' of the b:tlloon. In .670 he published a design for an aerial ~l project to be supported by four spheres made from very thm copper sheet. A vacuum was lo be created in them j then, de Lana re,,...ned, the vehicle should rise, for the spheres would weigh less than the air they displaced. This experiment was made possible, at least in theory, thanks to the Gelman p.hysicist Duo \"On Guericke ( .600- 1686) from Magdeburg, who m 1650 had perfected the air pump (the 'Magdeburg semi-spheres'). Dc Lana either did not realise, or conveniently ignored, the fact that atmOSpheric pi essure would limply cause the spheres lo collapse. Thus de Lana's scheme was impractical and his aerial vessel was nC\-'Cr built; yet he pointed the way to a thrilling application of the principle which was discussed extensively and brought him many honours. In 1736 lOme rumours circulated in Europe to the effect tllat a Brazilian clergyman, Father Bartolomeu de Gusmlo, had ascended in an 'airship'. This was an exaggeration. Many years earlier, however, Gusmilo had .ubmitted his ideas on lightcrthan-air Right to the Portuguese king, J ohan V, who became enthusiastic and gave him financial support. After some unsuccessful experiments, Gusm!o successfully dcmorulrated a model hot-air balloon before the Portuguese court on 8 August '709 the first demonstration of its kind in history. It involved a light wooden framework covered with paper below which a fire was kept burning. The later rumours referred to a more ambitious design called the Passarola (Great Bird), which is thought to have boen a p3$'enger-calT)'ing nacelle intended to be raised alon by a large hot-air lxtlloon. There is no ICCOrd that the Passarola ever flew, but there is a remarkable similarity betwee:n its carriage :lnd that of a heavier-than-air C'onvertiplane designed more than a century later by Sir George Cayley. While these groping efforU to build a practical 'airship' \\-'Cre going on, true scientists devoted much of their time lo the study of the various ga.sc:s. In 1766 the English chemist Henry Cavendish discovered hydrogen, originally known as 'inflammable air'. In 1774 another Englishman, the natural scientin Dr J oseph Priestley, dealt with this new gas in a treatise on the strength of which Dr J OICph Black (1728-1799) in Edinburgh conceived the 7

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10 Rlaid linhip

I. Moorln, point (for attachment to moor!!l, mast) 2. Gunner I platform with speakln, tube to keel J. Exterior catwalk 4. Valves S. Upr,r fixed uU fin with rudder

6. Tal cunner/ observer's sut

ANATOMY OF THE AIRSHIP

7. 8. 9. 10. t I.

lower flKed all fin with rudder Water ballut relent Propeller on rear Mline car Silencer Combined buffer Ind flot:l.tion luI

12. Forward enclne InsUllatlon 13. Door and platform for pa~chute

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17. Plan view Ihowln, fixed hor!·

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zontll tall surf",e! and ellntors 18. Gas cells (toul of IS)

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manoeuvrlnl the airship Crew accommodation Officers' mU5 and ubln. Water lla.\llIt for USII In man· oeuvrl 0c the II "hlp Water blllast (for emercency relelle) PasuCeway for entry from moor· inc nust to all SttCtlons of airship

idea that when confined within a lufJicient1y light cover the laner would rise. It .truck an Italian who lived. in England. Tiberius Cavallo, that it should be possible to demonstrate the coiicdness of this theory in a tangible manner. He did not succeed, though, for he lacked sufficient technical skill to make an imp.cgllated gu-tight balloon envelope. Instead the scene shifted to France, where the world was lOOn to witness the I)'1tematic and purposeful work of two men who transronned the theories about the variow gases into a practical result. They were the brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier from Vidalon-IesAnnonay, near Lyons, who were the first to produce a manCtlrrying hot-air balloon. TIlls type is called the Montgolfibe. aner them. . Once Man had sucooeded in producing a pr3ctical balloon It was only natwa1 that his attention should nat be directed towards turning it into a genuine aerial vehicle which could be driven by sail power or by means of Dan and be steel cd with a rudder. It W3S lOOn realised that, to render a balloon dirigible (steerable) at all, it mwt advance at a higher speed than the air surrounding it. No su~table means of propulsion being available, the last years of the tJghteenth century brought forward a. great number of weird propositions. They comprised schemes employing airscreWi or complete driving wheels operated by brawny ~en or even by horses. Other suggested means of propulsion ~nclud~ hOI-.air or steam jet propulsion. Even the idea of employmg traJned bIrds as draught animals was advanced in aU seriowness. Here eagles were the first choice, but even pigeons had their a.dvocates. ~ng ~e 'bird punge' proponents may be menlIoned Kayser In Vienna (ISoI), MdntOlh in London (1835) and Madame Tessiore in Paris ( 1845). Not everything was pure imaginative fancy. One voice expressing c1ear-Jighted conceptioN abo spoke out. It belonged to the Engl~hman Sir George Cayley ( 1773-1857), one of Ihe most outstanding ligures in the whole history of aeronautics. His contributions in these fie.lds are many and varied. Among the p~blems bckled by him was the development of a real lightWeIght Iteam o~ compressed-air engine, eo.-en of the piston type. But for a long tlIne nobody heeded his revolutionary, pioneering work. Though Cayley remained the ignored 'lonely swallow',

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common ~nse lOOn began to prevail, and as early as 1784 a Lieutenant (later General) in the French Corps of Engineen, Jean-BaptiJte Meusnier (1754-1793). presented piaN for a balloon of dongated shape which would ofTer leu resistance in forward movement through the air. He abo introduced a new conception ror maintaining the shape or the outer gas-filled envelope, as gas escaped through it, by means or a smaIler inner bag termed the 'ballonet', which was to be filled with air supplied rrom a pump mounted in the car. This ingeniow principle has ever since been adopted in all non-rigid and semi-rigid ainhips. The Mewnier ainhip was to have been driven by three large propdlen. Suitably shaped propeUen or aincrev.'I had already been envisaged or tried out by such aeronauts as Alban, Blanchard, Potain and VaJlet. However, as already mentioned, a suitable powerplant remained the problem. Steam engines wen: available, or course, but their performance was feeble and they remained too heavy and clumsy ror we as aelo-engines. Mewnier calculated that 80 men should be needed to drive ltis ainhip by hand at the nttesSary lpeed to render the rudder effective. TIlls would mean an ainhip orluch large size as to make it impractical. Yet Mewnier will be remembered rorever as the one who really conceived the luccusrul dirigible ai~hip rorm. The fint serious attempt to build a dirigible airship was made by two Swiss, John Pauly and Dun Egg, living in England. In 1816-17 these two men produced an ainhip with an em-elope or dolphin shape, made rrom gold-beater's skin and provided with a ballonet. One interesting detail or their ainhip layout was a And-filled box acting as a sliding scale in the longitudinal axis or the ainhip by which means the climb and descent was to be controlled. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in Gennany was later to adopt this method in hLs fint rigid airships. Pauly died while the airship was being buill and it was never completed. A t that time airships were aJwa}'s referred to as 'dirigible balloons'. A really outstanding ainhip model, built in 1850 by the French watchmaker Pierre Jullien from Villejuir, outside Paris, and demolUtrated at an exhibition in the French capita1, flew o:cellently. It was pov.-ered by " clockwork engine which drove two propellen placed on each side of the centre-line or the aircraft. In appearance it resembled very much the rigid Zeppelin airship of fifty }'ean later. A rull-size Jullien ainhip Wall

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said to have been built in 1852, but if so itJ power.plant and fate arc unknown. However, the rcsultJ aebieved with the Jullien airship model proved an inspiration to the French engineer Henri Giffard, who did succeed in producing a small and light steam engine and thereby truly inaugurated the airship era. The varied story of the development of the balloon and the airship, with itJ abundant triumphs and failures, is told in the type descriptions in the tat that follow and is also illustrated in the colour plates. It becomes evident that no balloon ascent was ever a routine matter, nor ever will be. And every time an airship climbs skywards, be it in times of war or peace, the reigning atmosphere on board is akin to that of the pioneering daY'. The balloon has not become an anachronism; indeed it is still 'going strong' today. At first, balloons were used as an exhibition stunt at public displays. Later, they served scientists as research vehicles; were employed as instrumcnu of war; and, more happily, have become the attractive mountJ of keen sportsmen. By an odd chain of development ballooning, which began with the hot-air type, has now traversed the full circle until today a modern version of the same type is used alongside the gas- filled variety. The future course of the airship is slightly more complicated to plot. Admittedly, small non-rigid airships, mainly of Goodyear manufacture, are still to be seen used for advertising in the skies of Europe and America; and as rttently as Mareh 1972 a 192.5 ft (S8·7m) long Goodyear advertising and TV airship named Europa was built in the historical Cardington airship shed in Bcdfordshire. However, no really large passenger airship of the rigid type has now been built for more than thirty years. It is also a fact that the term 'Zeppelin' has become synonymous with tlle concept of all large airships, and from as long ago as World War 1 some still associate these giant air monsters with a n~w ~nd terrible form of warfare or with massive disasters. Iflarge airships are ever to stage a comeback-and they still have their advocates as well ;u their antagonists-it will most likely be as pure cargo carriers. Some of the present advocates of airship revival include voices from out of the past, so to speak. They number, among others, lhe former American airship commander, Admiral Charles E.

Rosendahl, and Captain Max Pruss, the last master of LZ 129 Hindenburg. The last moving spirit of the Zeppelin yards, Dr Hugo Eckener (who died in 1954 at the age of 86) was, on the other hand, somewhat less optimistic. But at Goodyear there are still leading officiah with implicit faith in large passenger-c..trrying airships. Yet they all realise that iftlle airship is to compete with the modern jet airliner at aU it will be on the score of the convenience that the former offers. In tltis hurried age of fast air travel there still are people left who prefer restful travel at a more leisurely pace. It is principally circles in Great Britain and Russia that now propose the revival of airship travel. The Soviet Union has always needed to transport large quantities of cargo over great distances. In both countries much has been written, and discussions have been held, of both tile advantages and disadvantages of cargo airships. The belief is that they must be able to carry weful loads of between 500 and J ,000 tons if there is to be any justification for them at all. The advantages of the modern airship may be listed as follows: its frame can today be made of plastics materials, and the gas cells will be filled with helium. Today tlris element is available in much larger quantities than formerly; and, what is still more import,mt, is now available outside tlle United States, which no longer enjoys a monopoly of the gas. Conventional petrol and diesel engines or atomic power could be used as powerplantJ, when coupled to eTcctric generators that provide tlle current for the electric motors which drive the propellers, they would have a lower noise level. Bccawe only very low starting and landing speeds are involved, air contamination is also held to a mini· mum. These qualities, combined with an almost limitless flight duration, likewise spell increased safety. Finally, now that passengers, if carried, will travel for pleasure and sightseeing at low levels, they can enjoy comfort to a deglee hitherto unknown and unavailable in heavier-than·air craft. Such vessels will move about with unrestricted ease, at greater safety, throughout their • air voyage. To deal with the unavoidable drawbacks as well (wlrich can never be entirely eliminated from passenger accommodation or cargo facilities), it must be pointed out that the modern airship must necessarily be of large dimensions; lengths of about 1,475 ft

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(450 m) have been mentioned. A giant hull of that nature is not meant for high altitude flying, and hence will be exposed to the unstable weather conditions in the lower regions, such as strong headwinds and ice formation. This in turn inHucnces the question of economical serviee which, above all, remains the deciding factor. Thus the t:xpc:rts at present mwt investigate whether it is cheaper overall to transport heavy and bulky stores in airships rather than in surface vessels or aeroplanes. Optimistie calculations favour the ainhip, but IOmething else rowt also be considered - and that is whether it will prove a paying proposition to develop and build new airships unless they can be turned out in sub:st:lntial numbers. Doth the advocates and the adversaries of the airship have advanced long rows of dry figures and finan cial calculations in support of their points of view. Thei r findings really fall beyond the scope of this book, but may be studied in trade j ournals and technical voluDles. One point is not in dispute. It would be a great pity if people of today should be deprived of the magnificent sight which impressed former generatioN 10 much: to witness one of the 'Queens of the Sky' soar by across cities and countryside, unpertu rbed by noisy and smoke-trailing jet aeroplanes hurrying by. Let U5 hope also that the hitherto unhappy associations of the word 'Zeppelin' may also disappear along with that terminology.

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'3 T..........."""'2.;; ; .l.ll(W !U.).\Iie ... · ~ .......... """"""""" ...... _ ........... 011.11 ao to fly .......... fr ...... _ ... _ CO ..... ' 1 ..... Ga .... , , , _ hgI>Io"ll it! hl\ .../roc....- \lie " " _ 01 a-.. _ lanow '10' • ""'" ..... .,.,........ of l~

101M 0 ' ...... ; ..

,, ,

.. w,"' ........... """'p 2_a',n

l1(l11l11!} _ ......." .. " 5 5"'" ,..... _ "'... , ,ood .n f _ _ ........""" t ... po.oI< on ... 5.' .... - ' 0 -'Otm.nce 8U1'", _ "'" ..""'" •

_p . '" _Ih·_

"' .... lllaw ,.,. , ... CoMfM1 CO·_,'od ... "h 11>0 11_ un;, ...... -'to . . . - .. «W' _ _ "" • . TMy could ...,. in ....... to. 24 """ .. or ........

.triou.

23 cia ..

R34

v"

50 T... B _ ... _ p No 2( ... _ lot _ ..........',,",""""''''. lot _ po _ .....IM_.ne oue\j, ~ by GOOenx:nl with 0Ihcn.. The Americall doetor mllll have been good-natun'd to have put up with aU the wily mcb ol the irucibJe little Fralchman. At the end of 1114 the balloon and the equipment ror prodUCIion of iu bydrogen were brought to Dovct Culle, where the IiIling ol the balloon ~ place. When weighed olr with the IWO participanu ill the basket, 10 e.>ti ybody'. rurprite the lift proved lea thllll calculated - until Blanchard was roulld out. His ego was deBated when he had to de.... .. his 'own' weight by the removal of an abdominal !catha belt filled with lead, with which be had fortified hitNCIrror tbc OC'C"'ion. It _ a clear and calm day, with only a lIight north-north-westaly bu:ne, when the balloon took olrrrom thecdgeolthcclif&ofOo.u.t 1 p.m. on 1 J Illluary 118~ The balloon _ heavily laden with much IUpcrAuous equipmcllI, even including 8lanthard'l wings. The balwt _ JpCI1t quickly, and lOOn CVU)'thing ebc, even IDOIt ol their clotha, _ dropped, whether- it could really be spared or Il0l. Dr JeRii!l confided later to rrkods that in their frantic efforts to lighten the balloon ~ was alone point a ludicrous q1c to it 'when they did their UlIllOIt 10 rr:lieve thcmIelvel .. much .. poaiblc'. One ill lempted to speculate wbether limit., minute, 1Obct, yet practical elrectl may not have COllverted other 1Ublimc, bislorical evenu limilarly rrom dilaster 10 lriumph. Anyhow, Blanchard and Dr Jelrne. man.ged 10 "ay in the air and .t 5 p.m. pined the French COUt to land in the midst of the Fdmoret rorcst ouuide Cal·i.. where their bal· loon was brought 10 a '1Op by a tree; help Wal lOOn at hand. On thiI Jpot •

,""*"

marble monumenl w.. 1.ler erecled, aowncd with. balloon. Their balloon hoI.bt ia 10 this day on display .t a m\.IIeUm in Cabi., which made Ihem bononry citizcna. Upon his retum to London Blanchard tried to euh in on bil rarne by the ettablil1uncnt ofwhat he termed an 'Aeronautk.l Academy with nrious di5plays'. ThiI proved only a qualified W" ' 'A, 10 be decided to mum 10 Fnnoc. In the yean rrom 118~ to 118g manclurd ~ in both hot-air lind hydrogell baJloons in variool countr;et on the Contiocnt, when: luch lIlI event wall often still a noveIly. When the French Revolulion broke out in 118g, Blanchard wu .rTC'Ited by the A..... trians in Tyrol and cbargcd with tbe distribution of revolutionary propaganda litcralun. He managtd 10 eICIJlC to Ameriea where, on gJaouary '793, he made the lint balloon voya.ge in the New Warid. al Philadelphia in the pcuenec ofGeooge WashingtOll, the PrcaKient of the Uniled SIIIet. Blan· chard relumed to France in 1198 and continued lUI aeronautical can:cr. I n February 1808, at The Hague in Holland, he made a hot-air balloon a"CC"t and on this Iilttkth Illld lut air Y'O)'agC of hillUlrCl'Cd • heart attack rrom which he OC'\'er fully recovuuI. On 1 March IBog he p.,:d awa.y pcacd"ully in Pan., well aware of the ract that he would go down in IUItory II one of the true pioIKUI of balioMting_ To Rlpplancnt the iCCOid of Blanchard, bis widow Madeleine-Sophie became an aeronaut in her own right. In the yean (0110w';ng his death Ihis alcnder little wonWI became a favourite of the PariJ.ians, ihanb to bet cokMuful ba]lcwm 'Iomu, often at night, 10 the accompaniment of lireworb. On 7 july 181g Madame BIanchant hc:ndr met her death, durin( an '''CC''I &om the Tivoli park

'''+

in Paris when her balloon caught fire rl'OOl the lircwo.-Its the carried akllt. She made a rough landing on the root of a boule in the Rue de Pnwincc and then plungcdto the ground. ~

The coaquest o ( the all' cla.Inu lu aNt vict im s After the French b_ll00n pmecf Jc:&n-Fran~ Pilltre de Roa.ier, on 11 1 November 1783, had made the ..-wid's fint air YOyI(C in lhe company of the Marquis d'Arlanda, he derided _ cYCfI before the suee rill Channel air crc.ins: of Blanchard and Dr jelrtiel on 1 January 1785 (Ke NO·4)to go by air from Fraoec to E.ngland.. F« thiI undcrtakinr he buill a new type of balloon, which _ really a combinatioo of the bot·air balloon with • hydtogcn baUOOfI, 10 after him hal been termed 'Ror.im'. But, aw, it was 10 OOSI him billife. 'The .pbcrica1 bydtogul balloon comprilcd the top part, and de Roa.icr'l idea _ that i, IhouId provide the lin while the cylindcr...napcd hot-ai r baUoon bdow it .."OUId IICtve not only 10 save the hydrogul IiIling but alia 10 regulale the ascent Illld d'P'llI. The hydrogm balloon had a diameter of 511-8 n (10m), the bot.air balloon a width of IS' llI n (4 m) and • heigh t of diptly 1e. than a3 rl (1 m). The circuIu gondola, or plIery, _ futened 10 the ncttio( oovcring the top pan of the bydrogm balloon. The pan with the lin, _ pi _ad in the bottom open mouth of the hot·air balloon and could be railed and Jo ... ued al will. This whole contraption looked for ...1 the world molt like a giant mushroom, and was not too coolidcnceinopUing. l u (7U.tor appeared totally unconotrncd about the dangcroua combination of an open lin, and hydrogen, oonomtrating hit allUltion instead on findin( a faVOl.lrable wind dilCClion lor hiI VUlture. A free balloon iI not

dirigible, but since the windi blow in diifacnt dilCClions al .... rioul altiludes de Rozier figun'd that with hil new type of balloon he would he better able 10 pick a r.vourabJe wind and maintain the right altilude ror it. A youO( girl from Yorkshire, Susan Dyer, had just bc:oome engaged to de Roricr, aoo with reminine intuition bad a Pi( I :ntirnmt 0( the impending danger. She implored him 10 abltain (rom hil project, but he refused 10 give in and would only promiJe that Ihil ahould he his lut UCCcated in many places. Already, in tbe llame year of 1783. l1l'i9.11 balloons were launched in Copenhagen, but the fint manned ucent in the Danish capital WaJ made on I October 1806 by the Belgian 'ProCeuor' Etienne Gaspard RobertlOn

who had previously a.seended in Moscow and Stockholm. The finl Danish aaonaut wa.. Joban Peter Colding, who began in the nOI unuaunl way of ICtlding up Irnali balloom with firework. and animals filled with parachutes. He made his inilialucent in a hot.air balloon on 10 November 1811 from the drill groundtt of the ROICIlborg ea.tle, at which royal palace CoJding had been dccotated at all in~Litun: with the Ordu of Knigbthood of the Danilh Flag Name on 28 June IBog. 'The ehlef distinetio". of thill Danish aeronaut are his initiation of 1..'0 present-day mmmon practices: air mail and aerial psychological warfare. In t808, with the financial and moral support of King Frederik VI of OatmarIt, be acnt a lIumber of balloon, aCfosa the Greal Belt with letten, and sc:veral of these letten have been preserved. That area is mainly mJlde up of many Imall island., and only the Jutland peniltlula ill contiguous to the European continent. The Danish capi· tal is located on one of the two laf'gQt Wands and at ulat time no lubmarine cable had been laid in the Greal Belt ICpaI'Bting lhcm. Foreign news was alwa)'! anxiOU!ly awaited, not ICIlIt in those da)'! of the Napoleonic wan, but sometimes ice or WIll' activities plueliled the maillt from going through; il therd'arc made IC~ 10 investigate whether carrying the letlen by air could overcome the biatua. At that time the Spanish alailiary troopt waiting to aoss these waten had mutinied. and British wal1hipt were cruising up and down to prevent their pa.age. One of them observed a Itrange object afloat. A boat "'... lowered to in"estigate and .... Ivagcd what tumed out to be one of Colding'. mail balloons thai had come \0 grief. The letten at lcan w~ returned to the Admiralty in London and one of them

"'.

F ill still on file in the Public Record Office. In iI, in DiLllish, are printed ilUll'UCliolU 'To the Finder' from Colding, repeating King Fredcrik', command of 8 May 1808 from the Danish headquaners in Copc:ntagen informing everybody of 'our lII0I1 gr.u::iow will that Candidate Colding carry OUI or:na.in KrOItatie expetimc:nu at the Great Belt, making il incumbent on all our public laVantJ or who ebc ;1 be not 10 binder him in any way, bUI to IiUppon bill wk to the best ~ their ability and band in the letten 10 the ncuut telegraph olfu:e for .pecdy transmission, Ihowing this Royal Order and, upon demand, be paid • tuitable rev..ard'. They are to add an endonemenl about the location where the air machine wu found. When Ihortly afterward. King Gustar III of Sweden wlU avaninated, one of those involved fled to Denmark and, convinced that bill native country would be best off by joining the Q)Il1.bined rulenhip of the kin!, of Oenl1Ull'k and Norway in a united Scandinavia, printed a pamphlet to penuade the Swedes to switch their allegiance to the Danish king. Frederik VI seized the oppurtunity and loll no time in having a large quantity 0( thtIC pamphleU ICDt to Colding with inlltr\J.etiom to despatch the copies to Sweden by balloon when the wind wu favourable. In those rqionll the westerly winds predominate, and m in the ahadow ~ the ghost of Hamlet thill aeronaut reo le"S-d a MHoon allMlt daily, each carrying So pamphleu from his quarten at the Kronbort castle in Elsinore. They could generally be obllcrved to daccnd on the other lide in Scania. The guardI 011 coastal duty had orden to tum in their c&l1S0Ci to the local go'VentOI' for dotrueticm, but in the beginning they were reluctant to approach thtIC 'trange aerial visiton. When in time a tpCCimcn wu

'"

retrieved and .ubmitted to the new Swedish king. Gustar I V "",,,me much ina:nsed. al what he considered a mOlt unfair manner of 5Omebody ebc milling himself up in fnreign affain; and "'-id 50 in no uncertain terms when ICllding an envoy with it to the Danish king to IIllicil his assurance of keeping aloof from such despicable praelice:. Frederik VI only made matto:rs .....ane by replying to the effecl thaI if GUSIll.V IV really "''allted to know. he .....ould readily admit to being the inltiptor of this 'Balloon leIter'. 1bac IWO incidents in the history of aeronaulics were only modClI beginninp of what ..... ere, within a cenlury and a half, \0 develop into important and common practices: those fast mail dclivery by air and effective psychological aerial warfare. They forecast coming developmenu, fnr history h.u an odd way of repeating il5Clf. In Shakespeare'l words, 'gTtat oaks from little acorns grow'.

or

9 The 'Royal VallahaJJ' ballOOD filled with c oal pa The Englishman Charla Green (17S5IS70) mUSI be reckoned one of ballooning'l great pioneen, for he made balloom cheaper 10 operate by being the fint to fill them with ordinary eoal gas. As early all 1807 a number of Itreeu in London .....ere lit by gaslight; Green realised the advantage of using thill gu to fill balloons, bccautC the rilling was cheaper and faster. Since a:.I gas is abo lea affected by changes in temperature, the halloo .... can likewiJe .tay in the air longer, but a good gas of lighl quality is required foc the filling of the balloon. Green made his finl ascent with n balloon filled with coal gas on 19July IS~lI from Grttn Park in London, during the cclebratiolU the coronation of King George IV_ Named

or

Gttn'" IV &JaJ

Co~io!I &I/(Ioft, its .iu was approximately 15,900 eu-ft

(450 !:U.m). During this avent il climbed to lin altitude of about 10,000 ft (S,05O m) and everything ..'CDI wcll, but only as Green gradually pined experience did he bcmme a .killed aeronaUI. At the beginning of his ballooning career many of his .tarts and landinp wac hazardoU$. By 1835 Green had made a total 200 balloon !lights and had inlroduced the trail·rope which was 1,000 ft (s05 m) long and wu gcne:rally lowered before the landing to dow down tIle balloon', dacenl and regulate its beight. On fa\1O\lBble ",",moOi during an air voyage the trail_rope can allo be used to help conserve ballast, by lIabiliJing the baUoon', altitude, for.u the balloon linb a greater portion of tlle rope will rest on the ground and the ballCXIll Ihereby becoma relieved of iu coflaponding weight. When gl'Ollnd oblltacla are nOI likely to be encountered the trail·rope can aho be paid out at night to iCrve &I a 'feeler' of the altilude of the balloon above the ground. Green'l mOlt adventW'OUI and re_ nowned balloon &$(:Cnt wu undertaken on 7 and 8 November ISS6 with the balloon R~ VIlw1utll of 70,000 !:U_n ( l,gS:I cu.m) capacity, built to the order of the ownen of the Vauxhall amusement park in LondOll, whence itllartCd. I t was an imprCllive red and white ,triped baUoon which had al· ready made three previowt tripi. 'The Unl uccnt occurred al 6 pErnO on 9 September IS,6 and took place befon: a diJtinguished crowd of lPCCtaton headed by Lord PalmenIOD. Thanks 10 the la~ carrying capacity of the balloon the car could on this "('calion bold no fcwcr than nine perIOlU. They were, besida Green and his wife, his brother Jama, the politician Robert: H olland, and five othen. In ipite of

ar

ulis load tile balloon climbed. rapidly and reached an altitude of 1~1.000 ft (3.gfu m) in five minuta. It was a ico ~ra. (e) 'The Zo.ppc/iII ainhipo at the GnrII&.'C a fatal deduction and one Ittonlly qw:shoned by the ainhip section of the German Navy, which contended thai it wu the induslrial smoke pRVaiIing above the Ruhr region which explained the veiling of the LZ 77 a inhip. The Navy a.ndUCIed iu: own lats in this lapeel with L 16 ( LZ 50), from T he Hague: buc by the North Sea, and proved concluaively that the ainbip was visible from the ground in clear moonlighl and coukI be kepi in ligh t (OIlItan tly by a f"hler pilol fCilt up 10 look lOr it. LZ 77 of the P-type wu ac:cc:ptcd by the Gcnnan Army on lf4 AUffUlt 19 1 ~ and WIllI bitl cd at Spich, neu Du.eldon, on 6 September. Only a week lattt, on I, September, this airahip made a raid on London in the company of LZ H (worb number LZ 44) and the following month LZ 77 dropped a total of 14,71 1 lb (6,700 kg) of bambi over French territory. LZ 77 wu to IUffer the tragic: tOnICqllCnCCl of the fabe deductioot ftOm the very !.(Sts it had p lCiiously conducted in friendly skies, and rdl a victim to than in action 0\'Cr the Watero front. On the t:venine ofll l February 1916, the day thai the German Army began its maai\'e attack on Verdun, LZ 77, oommanded by Captain Hom, took off in oompany with three other army ainhi]» to bomb the railway junction at Rcvigny,

,,.

behind the rront. The .'rench antiairaaft gunnen anade out tl,e shapes of tbe ain/lips clearly in the monnlight, and hit LZ 77 with an incendiary Ibell amidships. Engulfed in Dama, it plunged to the ground at Brabant-IeRoi'• another ainhip, LZ 95 (works • number LZ 65), WlU abo 1000t on thll raid. SpedficatiOD of LZ ..7 (LZ 77) Vol_: 1,1 116,53' eu.n (, 1,900 cu.m) u.,1h: 53&4ft (163'5 m) D~: 61'4ft (18'7m) &tUtu: Foot 210 h.p. Maybach Iix-cylinder Uliful W: 35,7151b (16,200 kg) Maxi_ spwJ: 59 m.p.h. (95 km/hr) Op,raJiDMl r.tilu.,.. 111,800 ft (3ogoo m) CnIisint rtml" 1,336 mile. (1I,ISOkm) ArIIUI/IIlnt: Two 0'3 in Maxim machine-guns, mounted on a platform on top of the forward hull, as se1f-dcfenoe against enemy aircnft-

ex

• Thio waoltaOCbrd .rmanM:IIl equiP"'''''' 1.....' all .-tcmporvy Clenna.D alnhl ....

At the beginning of 1917 the Zcppdin cow.p;uay halted the building of ainh.i~ for the German Army. Thus the Ian anny air attack with an ainhip was made on 16 February of that year by a lingle veasel, LZ 107 (works number LZ 77) of the Q-type. The ainhip started from Hanova and beaded for Bou1ogne in France where 3,1971b (1,450 kg) of ixmlbl were dropped from an altitude of 9.350 ft (11,850 m). LZ 107 Dew above tbe cover of clouds and wu directed by an ot.aver who hung in a lowered ea.r below the cloud. and communicated

with the control gondola in the ail'lhill by meanl of a tdephone cable. ThiA particular hapless obsefver had to spend sew:n long and londy hoon in his 1lJl.811 ear beeaUIC the winch that was to haul him back up jammed. 4Il Zeppelin 12 h (L 30) The third and moat decish'e stage in the devdopment of the Zeppelin ai ... • hips was the lO-C8.11ed 'Supcc-Zeppelin' that appeared in early 1916. The prototype of IhlI fonniclllble weapon was L 30 (LZ 611) of the R-type which made iu maiden voyage at Friedricbhaten on 118 May. Under the command of Lt-Cdr Horst Baron Treusch von Dutt1ar-Brandenfeb this ainhip was two da)'llala tranlferred to Nordholz, ncar Cuxhafen, in which air voyage the old Couot von Zeppdin abo participated. Thil zeppelin had a gas content of 1,949,373 edt. (55)'XIO cu.m) which meant a considerable increaMi in Ii:u: over the previ0u3 types, and tlle hull was better Itreamlined. ThC$e airIbips were powered by $ix enginCl, two of them in the rear gondola which drove, through tn.nsmimion Ihan" a port and ltarboard propeller mounted on outriggen from the hull, a return to a former, l(lrIIewhat clullll}' ar· rangement. At one time thC$e aif!hips were equipped with ten machine-guns all a defence again" attack from enemy aircraft. Three of thC$e guns were installed on top of the forward hull. MOIIt of the remaining Zeppelin airIhips to be built during World War I were of thil type, but improved with furtha refinements. The very large siu of L 30 made it a difficult ainhip to handle on the ground. The asmtance of many men "'..... required each time the ainhip was hauled out from, or baC&lled~!! clus, a modified venion of the NO.9 design, approved. Vicken wlU to build No. 2S, Beardmore No. 24, Armstrong W hitworth No. 25 and Vicken apin 10 build R 26, the fint rigid ainhip to be designated with the letter 'R' denoting 'Rigid'. This 1Crie! WIll originally to have towled ten airships, but only I;"; of !hem were built. The IlIIt two, Beardmore's R 117 and Armstrong Whitworth's R \19, were of a JOmewhnt changed and improval daign, known ILl the 2!!X clau. The vwble difference between the two cl~ees wu mainly that the 23X airships lacked the distinctive c:xJaior keel arrangement which on the 2s-dan airships mainly served the purpoK of dilltributing Ihe weigh t. In the 2SX design thu W:l! achieved by mam of interior, circubr cl'OSJ-frame!. The 23 cllWl can best be dtlCribed M a 'fattened' edition of the NO.9 ainhip and really wu not a bad design at aU, but unfortunately it was well behind the timel. Plain evidence of this was provided when, two monthl before the fint airship of the 2!! clan made its maiden voyage, the German 'Zeppelin ainhip L 4fI (LZ 95) WM shot down on English territory and turned out to rtprClCl1t a class of veeel capable ol carrying a UlCfulload nine time! larger than that mGreat Britain's nCWCIt rigid ainhip. Thu surprising reality wu a

."

contributing factor in 0lICC ~ almott shauering a Briti&b ainhip building plVglamme. The daign work on NO.2!! ltarted in June 1916 and the maiden voyage was planned for the autumn of that year, but the .elected engine! lOOn turned out to be 4.400 Ib (~,OOO~) 100 heavy and varioWl altuat iOlll to the airship had added another !!,!!oo Ib (1,500 kg) of ClICC:1S weight. The ainhip was nOI ready until August 1917 and it WlII atablished during the fust trial trip 011 19 September thaI, with the four Rolla-Royce engines ;,ulalled, there Will a lifting capacity of only a little more than 11,000 Ib (5.000 kg) left, which called for Dew and dtutie changes. No. ~!! c:..-ricd out a number of patro1a over the North Sea, participated in lOme victory parada in November 1918, and later that month acted .. flagship when the Gennan lubmarine! arrived off Harwich to surrender. MOlt of the time No. !IS served as a training ainbip. For a time towards: the end of the war the Admiralty feared that the British ainhipi might be attacked by the German Zeppelil1ll and were insufficiently pro\eC:ted with the guns mounted on the plationn on top of the forward hull, 10 in the lummer of 1918 a number of experiments were made in turning No. 23 in to an Ilircraft carrier in a limited way by luspending two Sopwith Camel fighttrl from the ked below the airship. They wue to defend it after being rekaoed, but could not return to the ainhip. However, it WIll realised that the superior German ainhips would probably adopt the same practice, and then nQthing would have been gained. In the spring of 1919 the bow of No. 2!! WIU reinforced prior to conducting JOllIe te!1I with a mooring mlllt, and in September of that year the :rJnhjp was finally broken up.

Landing te!1I of atladullent to, and rei ... ", from, a mooriol" ffialt were a1Io made with No. 24, which aIJo wound up as a training '" tl fo~ new ainbip crewa. The Il\OIIt noteworthy air voya~ of No. !l6 wu an c:xtended flight of over forty houn' duration on 4-sJune 19 19. Sp ~ -Ifie-dOD of doe It:3 claa. Vollt!M: 942,000 cu.ft (26,675 cu.m) LmttJt: 525 ft (11ls'1 m) Dwndn: 53 ft (16.15 m) EngiMJ: Four ~50 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle twelve-cylinder Uufollood: IS,~28 lb (6,000 kg) Maximum spud: 52 m.p.h. (B4 krn,thr) CrttUiIll ,jIffli: 40 m.p.h. (6..j. km/br) Opmdi(INI/ crili",: 3,000 n (914 m) &,..b Iotut: Four 100 Ib bombs CrtuJ: 17 men

SpedRcatJoQ of the a3X claa. VQlume: 990,600 cu.ft (28,050 cu.m) Ltttglh: 539 ft ( 16000 cd 10 two II!l.aII raiJn.d l.1owed __ &om South We1mouth in M " " d!\FId., ...... the North AllzIotic, IOUth around the

n

. , _ _ MlM7d _~June

,gi"

and lbe Cape Verde

Iaa.ods, then via lbe Vartin l.a.nda on to Key Welt t'"lorielayen .. much u pow.iblc. Ourilll tbe Cennau .tteeh OIl the _them· mc.t Ityiur 6e1ele in Enc:1and and 011 Ute Allied CXIIivoya. Balloon Command played an imporWll part. DuriO( tbe '&ttJc of Britain' about ',..00 . .ILr........ 100ae in the ait. Tbc PC:UOillle! handlil\( than often worked w1der diffic:ulf 000' dilionJ .. many 01 the IIDIIlI tt.atiom \00(1( 1uea1Cd in tedUti ..."")

&"' Ilru;

Caadr-~'

'Super Skytaaalar' WUI.,. $ ..... World War t ended, non·ri&id . ' Jbip exctu.ivdy have b COl iii lei I'lec iD F, '''''X, japan, &be Soetict Uniooot, Great Britain aDd &be Uqj!330 (1,660("\1. ...) city. He: ~ OQ, this ..." zion to 0.::.0 a diItanee oIz8., mi ...... (3oOh bIl), which hal D("\.'tt hem Z 1, On this world', dillalI("e tCC"Oid bballooN Bc::rliftC"1' ,u.yed in thc air [or much thc

or

Dim

cu.n

cap'·

lUI,

" houn.

sen

«28,2,..,

fled battks C"OI"Itaininr

C"OmjA

"

bydroccn. Another 1110 containcn wae ,I«ed in Aruaba in Tanpnyib. AI the OUIaCt 0/7965], iF bq:an iu .... UUIi.na oJ the A!ricaD iXIIlti.....,L It Cltendod G'I'a' a nwober oJ wceU and " ~ . . . . .0 ... " •iAtal ......... •• te 1..Yllop GIn' and n:6Uinp. The ez . . . litioa COQri"ed of four Ir+ "'bc:zot. 0IlC 01 them beint: the weI.I·knowtt pboIoiJ apber AlaR Root from. KGlya. With his 16 mID Am&::.: moYie camet a atFd" mm mitt"or n:1Ie. camena, thb C"llpert 1CCW'Cd a Joq apex: ion oJ mlfP"lifieent Fhocs, with IOUtid dI'octa. oJ the und. IUi'bed anima.. The hia;hlicht _ a _ -,z oJalI-UYc:ompuIiIIc .,aclNl oJ ~ mDII8 bc:zda 01 animab in the Nat;""- I Part, in Tanpoyika, where the C"llpe. didoo 1iniIhcd_ They ... ae« a IJreMh. taIJq cbaracter and ,Je_....ralCd wt Smith "'" richl in COIUidainc the &u the ideal vebiC"1e lOr an aerial ..w;, The animak DDt only toIu-atcd

.r

"'\000

}# N, but often _

Iooicd

ujXJn

......

lhe ,,11oon .. bdoniJinl 10 their own

"'''Q

10 n.. modcra 1Ioot..!r In Today ~, people take it for vania:! that Wge,lhinin(~ .. ~-··Ir IrUIttcr-of.~, vdlida tnln$I'tt them 10 dinant vacation 'POu in a rew houn. One reBec.u tbc:rl with rupeo::t thaI there are ,till Angular individuall Id\ who enjoy nothinjj: better than 10 en· In.t Ihw.d_ to a wi.ektt b"kelt tltl"l below a ruther-light "lIoon 10 be borne 10 ,\OCh unprcdktabk: ck:stinationI .. lbc wbimt 01 the: wind may whilk them. Thil a.ama CYCI more d a romantic Up""1 when the adution rdtltlU 10 the pOirll wbenoe it ttaned: lOr the aerial ........, mounted by thae modem'" roamcn often .e.aL 10 the bot.air principle 01 the: Montgol6a brothen' balloon. The re-binh olthe MOfIIJOIIib-e bal· 100II type iJ due mainly to economy, for the hot·air balloon iii the e:heapest way 01 indtllging in thiJ (working OIIt 10 roushly [I ·SO po- hour per pamngeI'.) I n Ie.a al c:ountria aeronatlb may 1611, by JOOd fortune. be able 10 pr0cure hyd.. goo c:heaply lOr the Iillm, 01 their baUoonl, the ... chanc:el1O be a by.product 01 the kol c:banic:al Ot!....... iIe a 1ilIin( with c:oaI PI may nut 10 about ['X)O.

"""t

ir

woru.

u::;:;:

~ ~lOb~81~m~

StatCI, where tome IOrty 01 them are privately owned. I n Greal Britain there are _ than 'aO hot·air ballaona, and in tehial othc:r (OtIntria two Of tI\ree _ thouch thae filuru may well be obtole:k' by the time thae Iinel appear, U "Uoonin( - DOt leut with the bot-ait type _ lItc.dily gains new adbucnu.. In Amcric:a Don Piocatd. a r.epbew 01 the

. .~ OplOiU A.af\llle ~lCcard, .... Clltablirbed hiInKlf .. a m&I1wacttlftt of bot-ait balioonL Tbe enwJope of a modem lMx·air balloon it generally made ofleal"-ptool nyian with ~ of an &1_ 1eIni. cin:u.1ar aba~ '1lIcre are both a val,'t apmillg and a ripping·pucl in the en'l'1:lope. HOtIIeJ withOtlt conntttkm to g.. pipclina, and Ql'llvans o/\en UK a p i ttlpply in the Corm of butane ,~ in 'teel bonks. Propane g .. in liquid _Ie iJ a limilat heating kKIr«, 8UlCIalini m\OCh lint and ..cd extOl· lively for induttrial applic:ationa; and Pn,pute p i iii wdllItIited ... a healiq; -.n::c ror bot-ait twllotr .. This au D

fed £rom pi Jre boulct tnOtI.Dted aboo.'t the: ear ilIto evaporatitm ipiI'lll Itlbet in the b.orna. TbeK Ipinb auTOtIDd the ftamcI that are iii wilh a match. The balloon UI'I'1:1ope it filled with hot air on the JTIiUDd by plaring the burner below the opwins: (mouth) in the envelope, and when the bot air .... call1Cd the c:n.....dope 10 rile the II.' bottle ;. mounted in iu place abcm: the car. Thc:n the balloon iJ ready to axcnd. By applyinc the full ph .. re of the burner lOr ..... w; ICco""b, 1.1 inta"vah of about '" lett. ." the balloon will maintain ia altitude 01' dimb. When the air inride the emclope mob 011" the twlloon ric nnda. Matly look tlpon the combination ol baBoon cnvdope and ope.. lire ... the hcis::hl of m:kICII lOI.Iy. bul lhe nylon material iii otten coated with poly. urethane alld doCI DOt ignite:. ['"CIl iC the fabric: ahould be KIMc:hed, the boks created c:auee no ill cll"ec:I. It it obvious that the OtttIpiUlt 01' OtttIpanu 01 the hot-air balloon are DOt anxinuJ 10 run any WtlCi riIb, d~-' iany .. their cquipmaulcpoCiCIlb a monetarY valt1Ci d.ome["~

,n

GLOSSARY

ANrrwliJt. 'The circular neck bf;low the balloon envelope throtl,b which it u filled with gu. 1lle appendix iJ Id\ open dwi"l the trip 10 allow p i to ocape when the balloon iii heated by the mn. &dr-to A Jq)antle: bac: inlide the en'l'1:lope in ~t non·ricMl. and 1CIIli·ri3ld ainhipi which, by meant of a bIo""Ci, can be 611ed with aln""I'bcric air 10 maintain the: pumrc in the enw:1opc if p i itlollt. and thereby keep the trI'I'1:iope CtllIy expended lkm " ",.m.,. A vaI\'t mnunted atlhe bottom of an ainhip UlV'\Li;X! and ac:tins: ... a II.kty valve, bnc:e it 0JiUI' if the pi 're in.jck the en'l'1:iope cxc:ccdt the...rety limit (from _&.necnth 10 _twentieth of the yield point ofille envdope). (ApI •• A lilhtcr-than-aitcrall with no piopubion 7 .... normally _ed

~""

""f .

.......

7

m

Ep,cr. The muimwn borimntal drc:umf.:rcftc:c of the balloon cmdope. /0'_"'", I . A lishtcr-than-ait crall with no poopubion mean .. that iJ not mtiOied. GAs uU. A c:ontainc:r. locally cylindtic:al L'Ml 611ed with pi, whic:b providca pari or the lift or an airship. The ntlmber or II.' ce1II varies depending upon the zitt: or the airship. Thcy may abo be d difkrml Wca; thc:n the !arrett celli will be Cound amKbhi .... 'The more l ecellt ainbi ... v.CiI: provided with (rom t" to 16 pa celb varying in zizc (rom about 99,000 10 990,000 NJ\ (",Boo to ,,8,000 cv.m). IItl._. The kooud licblCIII of all elements Cs5.315 cv.n, I N .m 1.1 0· 0 ~ ,,",55 Ib, 0-16 . .). with a lifUnc capacity 93 per ant of that or hyd>. gm. Helium it derived Crom natvnt1 ...... a br-prodt.ac:t and .... the advantap of brina: noninBammabk. H;; .b".. "The 1iPL$ of all clo 1I~1a (sS.SI5 aaJ\, I c:u.m, 1.1 0*C, wdcIu Ci"'24" Ib, 0-11 . .). Can beproduc:cd by varioua methods and it inflammable:. Hrdrawul abo !w. _ c:xpkwive by the addition of ... liltJe ... 6 per c:cnt of air. Nflft-ritii anlrip. An ainhip ill which the ape of the: envdope it mailltaincd only by the iNick: pi. LI!J'C. P.,ltd. The l't\'Ciluo-producint load c:ompriling pall:nacn and/ or c:arp R~. The kmgul dittanoe that an ain:ntfi can tntvd. Ri,id .inAi,. An airship in whkb the wpe of the btil1 iii maintained by mcaJU or a ri,id Cnmework. Ri".·" , /ltMt1. A pancI glued on the: inside of the ba lloon c:nvdopc. When pulkd durina' landing it IU'VCI 10 CU'lpty the balloon quic:kJy of ib ... c:ontent. s-i,fltiJ An ainhip with. non-ripI CII'I'1:iope that it attac:hal 10 a c:omponent (ked) whic:b iI rip:! OfaxDPlI :d of c:onncc!cd, rip:! tec:IionI that carry' the load Rl«. A valve mounted 01'1 lOp of the: balloon 01' ainbip CI1WJopc:. Actuated autom&ticaUy or by band.

.i,IIU,.

r.,

".

BIBLIOGRAPHY

H. YOIl Abuc.on;

~ .·abnen

in

FreibaUon. Berlin ,~

It Ad.oM-Ray ; The And:ft Diana. New YGrk 19]0, loodon 19'1" S. Oene: Tnil Blazing in Ihe Sky. Akron 'Sot3' C. Mlliw; Les BalIQIY.. PariI 1960. DoIlr~ H . 8el.uboil and C. Rou8uou ; L' Homme, L'Air et \'i:'spve. Paris , g65L. 00rT: ,~Jahre Zcppdin.Lufi· .:hiffe. Berlin 19R+ H . Ed:cuer; My ZeppeliN Londoa.. jo'.bril _,.L FaclOfT c.talOlJUC: • Publithcd by A. R.icdinp. Aupbur; ca.. 191 3. J. C. Fahey: The Shi . . .nd Aircraft of 'The Uniled StaI05 Pkec. New York 1945Richard Fern, : How 10 fly. London 19 10 . K. Grieda': Zeppdine. CicaDtcn da' UJf\e. ZUricb 1971. P. Haini",. The [)ream MachiDCL London 197;)· R. Hicham: The BritiUI Rip! Air· 1g08-193 ' .lond.... 1961. J. F. ~: The St«y of !Unhi...

c.

J

.ru ..

Loadoo ..... K.. O. Hoffmann : Die: Gachichle dcr

R.

Ainbi.. in Peace and w.... I nMon 197 1. Jane'. All the WoOd', AircnI\. Lon. doG 1909-1938W. Kirchl\U': Fddballon und Luf\. IfiU I(n. Berlin '939J. Kininen-; The Loot: Lonely l..c.&p_ New York 1961. F. KoUnwm : Dall ZcppdinlufiKhilT. Berlin 1!P4.

W. YOIl Lanpdorif: TatehcntNcb

om

Luftfloucn 19'8-1!P9- Frankfurt Main u.l. J. I The Millionth 0Ian«. 1....ton 1957. It Mabky: The Motor Balloon 'Ameriea'. VenDOl.t 1969. J. MaKhil: V'U'IIt Cinq ~ . d'Aho '1tique F~. Paris

.01=_:

.

",.

C. Martinc)t.I ....rde: Les Nou'l'CllWl MOlcws d 'AYiation. Paril I9'l1. Miw. Maybom (F1yinJ Entap;iIeI): Early Militaty AireraA of the lint World W .... ; Vol. II: Ainhipt. Oall. , T.,...., 1971. W. "iOOcbcclt. : Twbcnblacb IUr .1UCICChnika" und Lufbchiffu-. Berlin ' 9113. N ....al Aviation in Review. U.s. N • ...,. 0fIi0ce of the Chod" of N.val

Opo.tiooL WaabinalOrl 1958· Neumann: Oi:> Intemationakn Luft·

Luf\naehridltcnllUPPC IJ,I. Nechl8ullilnd 1 96~ and 1968.

"0

I

J.du..... :

lil:hitre. I hrc Ilauarl und EigcIlKhaf". ten nadi dcm Stande \ ·00 t'cbruar 1910.01dcnbwJ 1910. R. NUniuh,: LcilWkn da Lun· tchiffahrt und tlu.tcchnik. Vienna a.nd Lci~ '909. Umbo1o Nobile; With the I"";' 10 lhe North Pole. London 19)0. UmbcrlO Nobile: M y l'oIar tligbtl. London 1961. E. Nargird: The Book of B..l .......... New York 197 1, E. QbenaUl: Bau und FilhnIna: von IWlonrabneuaen unlcr bcIonderer Benlcbichtifun« dcr MotorluflSChiffe. Lcipzic 19-:z6. 11.. Picca.rd: Mdlun lI immd Of Jord. Copenh:t(cn 1!»6. J. Poachd : 1..ufu-eiKn. Lcipzia IgoB. O. H. Robirwon : The Zeppelin in C'.oro.b.u. A lIutory of the German N.y.a.I Ainbip DiviaiOll 19'11-1918. London 19M. D. 1-1. RobWoo: LZ 1'29 ' HiDden· burt'. New York 1964. L. T. C. Roll: The Acrona.uu.. II. Hiltory of ll.a.IJoooinc: 1783- 1903.

Loadoo ..... 11.. S.nIOl-Dumont: My Ainhi ... Lon· don 190... R. A. S.... ille-Sneath: Britiah Aircnf\ IJ,I. Harmondsworth 19+4. J. Schutte: OU' LuIbebillbau SchOlleLam 1909-1925- 8U'lin 19116. II.nlborly Smith: Throw Qui Two Ii andi. Londoa ,g&,.

R. K. Smilh: The Ainhipl'Akron' and 'M acon'. Annapolil I950. C. Sprig: The Ainbip. h. Daisn, Hutory, Opualion and Future. London 1931. t'. C. Swanboloua:h .nd P. Bowen; Uniled Statal NaY)' Ain:rafi aince 1911. London I g68. C. Tiaandier: I.e Grand Bailon Caplir. Paris 1879C. T.andK:r: Histoire de mcs Ateen· Nona. Pant 1887. G. T-oo.icr: HislGire d05 BaJlons 1-11. Paris 1887 a.nd l&go. P. 8. Wllkn : Early Ayiation .t Farn· boitOUJh. LondoilI97'. Peter Wykcbam: SanIOl-Dumont, • Ilud y in ot.e.ion.. London 19M. Zeppelin. l'ubliahcd by Zcppdin-MetaBwU"ke C.m.b.H. Fric:drichahafm

.....

pm...~: Aviation yean).

~tapzinc.

Paris (nriow

AeropI.anc. Toodon (nrioUl yean). DculKhe ZeiIKhrin filr Lufbchiff· 1"Ihrt, Berlin 1910• fli.hl. London (variow yca.n).

t'orta Amenne Fn~"" Revue M cneneU.. de l'Auule de l'Air . Paris (va.riotw yean). L'A&onautique. Paril (Yllriow yun). L'Abophi1c. Pa.riI (variow yurt). The Iloya1 Air Forca Q,=1u-ly. Lon· don 1940""1945-

", -

INDEX

"'Iorcw

The first part ofthit inda: IDw aU and ainhi.,. ill.... trated and d. ribed or rderred to. Thc K ' 0''0(( p;u1lDw the balloon and ainhip ,,",*

Zeppelin LZ 110 (L 63) airship, 16S Zeppelin LZ III (L 65) airship, 16S Zeppelin LZ 11 2 (L 70) ainhip (f4), 16{-166, 180, 18\!, 184 Zeppelin LZ II g (L 71) ainhip, 164, 166, 180 Zeppelin LZ 114 (L 72, later Di:ltmuth) ainhip (55). 164, ISo, .80-.1b Zeppelin LZ ' 20 &dtnJtl (later Espuia) airship (W, 179-180, 186 Zeppelin LZ 1 ~1 Norihlml (laler Mldilnra1ll,) ai",hip, 179-180, 181 Zeppelin LZ Ilt6 ainhip, ICC ZR·3 1m ilngtles Zeppelin LZ 1~7 Cra! Zl/J#lin airship (61 ),191-1904, 1t07 Zeppelin LZ IltS airship, 207 Zeppelin LZ 1119 Hiruknburg airship (71), 194, ::107 ::110 Zeppelin LZ Igo CM!