Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

DIRIGIBLE BALLOONS. 57 travelling north-westwards at a high speed. Probably she passed over England and Ireland, and fell into the Atlantic Ocean. Some details of this airship will be of in- terest. Length, 197 feet; maximum diameter, 33| feet; volume, 111,250 cubic feet; stern provided with an empennage, Details of , r feathering, like that of the Patrie. an arrow) of two vertical and two horizontal planes, to maintain sta- bility ; ballonet, having capacity of one-fifth of the total volume, divided into three com- partments by perforated partitions to prevent surging of the air to and fro ; boat-shaped car, 16 by 5 by 2J feet, attached by triangu- lated steel cables to the rigid frame under the gas-bag, the two last being held together by a net ; frame easily released from net, and taken to pieces for transport ; car furnished with pyramidal sub-structure to take the shock of landing. A motor of 70 horse-power drove two steel propellers, 8 J feet in diameter, and mounted on each side of the car, at 1,000 or more revolutions per minute. The frame carried vertical and horizontal stabilizing planes and a vertical rudder, and a movable horizontal plane was fixed above the car to cause ascent and descent without loss of gas or ballast. The République was very similar to the Patrie. It had 2,000 cubic feet more volume, but a somewhat less powerful motor. It made some very good flights, and took part in the French army manoeuvres of 1909. While The République. returning from these to Chalais Meudon, she was destroyed by a propeller blade coming adrift and splitting the balloon. The airship fell 700 feet, and her crew of four men were killed instantaneously. La Ville de Paris belongs to the non-rigid class. Built in 1906 by Surcouf. Length, 200 feet ; maximum diameter, 34| feet ; volume, 3,200 cubic metres. The ballonet THE “CLEMENT-BAYARD I.” ENTERING ITS SHED. {Photo, Topical.) Observe the great stabilizing ballonets at the stern.