Breguet's pre-1914 Challenge #135

[Rod_Filan]

Oh noze! Another dirigible! Yet, as you will find out, appropriate.



The Scoreboard remains:

23.60 Rbailey
18.20 Varese2002
16.80 aerohydro
12.20 Aquilius
9.20 Rod_Filan
8.00 richard B
7.30 matte_kudasai
6.00 Cruze
6.00 Flamingo
6.00 YavorD
5.50 Airarticles
**************
(those above this section must wait 12 hours before answering,
those below - and everyone else - may answer immediately)
**************
3.30 berman
3.00 Lodzermensch
3.00 joegertler
2.00 sobrien
2.00 Doc
1.10 Froggy
1.00 paolomiana
1.00 sodium
0.40 Wind In The Wires
0.20 Willi Von Klugermann
0.20 EricGoedkoop

Subjects of previous Challenges can be found at: Breguet's Pre-1914 Aircraft Challenge

The rules of engagement:

1. The thread title must be "Bréguet's Pre-1914 ID Challenge #......".
2. The score board, link and rules must be copied to the beginning of each thread, so that we know where we are. The score board and the correct answer to the challenge must also be placed at end of each thread.
3. The flying object must have been dreamt up before 1914 (no limit backwards in time ....).
4. There are no limits to the flying object for the pre-1914 series. There is no ruling that it must be flown, or completely built.
5. Machines which exist only as 'paper', that is absolutely no material has been cut to construct it, are excluded from this ID Challenge.
6. The picture / drawing must show as much of the flying object as possible, but views showing the machine 'incomplete' are possible (with discretion).
7. Challenges which depict a machine already earlier presented are disqualified.
8. If there is any doubt as to the eligibility of a flying object for the challenge details should be PM'd to Breguet BEFORE the object is submitted.
9. Once someone has got 5 correct answers under their belt they belong to the ROYALTY. Once they belong to the ROYALTY they must wait 12hrs after the posting of the new challenge before they can post an answer.
10. To be eligible for correct ID an answer must include at least one characteristic of the aircraft that helped in its identification.
11. The first person to ID the challenge correctly gets to post the next challenge. If this can not be done for any reason Breguet himself will post the next challenge.
12. If a ROYALTY gives the correct answer too early, the challenge is over, he gets no point but has to post the next one. In lieu of the fact that the "novices" have in effect been "cheated" of their "exclusive" time that next post should be a relatively easy one. Anyone repeating the correct answer at the right time gets neither a point nor the right to post the next challenge.
13. The final arbitrator in relation to questions about the rules will be Breguet.

[sodium]

Hello Rod
I think it's Zodiac X Capitaine Ferber
2 Dansette-Gillet 90 cv motors
first airship 06.12.1911

amitiés
philippe

[Rod_Filan]

Well done Philippe. I thought this one would last a bit longer than just over an hour though
I even removed the several obviously French aeronauts from the postcard(!)

Zodiac X - Capitaine Ferber
First flight: 6 December 1911
Length: 76 m
Maximum diameter: 12.4 m
Volume: 6000 m³
Ballonets: 1,500 m³
Engines: 2x Dansette-Gillet of 90-100 hp
Propellers: 2 pairs of 2-bladed wood screws
Maximum speed: 56-60 km/h

Piloted by Count de la Vaulx, the Zodiac X - named in honour of French pioneer aviator Capitaine Ferber - made its maiden voyage on December 6, 1911 when with nine persons on board it cruised above its hangar at St. Cyr for over an hour, and on the following day made a long trial with ten persons on board. After making several trial flights, including a cruise with four officers from the Japanese mission visiting Europe, on the 12th of January "Capitaine Ferber" underwent its first official speed trial over a course of 90 kilometers, making an average speed of 55 km/h. The following day an altitude trial was carried out on which the airship attained an altitude of 1,670 meters. On February 16, 1912 "Capitaine Ferber" made its last trial preparatory to it being taken over by the French military, when, during a six hour flight with its pilot Count de la Vaulx and five others on board, it covered a circuit of about 280 kilometers north-east and south-east of Paris.

During March the Zodiac airship made instructional flights and bomb-dropping experiments out of St. Cyr and Issy, and on April 18th set out from Issy for its new headquarters at Toul, a distance of about 300 kilometers, which was traversed, without incident, in five and three-quarter hours. A remarkable flight for its time.

That Summer saw "Capitaine Ferber" participating in various military maneuvers and reviews, and later in the year was transferred to Epinal where it became the first airship to be based at the dirigible school/aerostation parc de la Louvroie.

On August 26, 1913, the new French military Zodiac airship, Zodiac XI "Commandant Coutelle", arrived at Epinal from St. Cyr in order to relieve the "Capitaine Ferber", which, having completed its work for 1913, was dismantled for overhaul.

In January 1914 "Capitaine Ferber" was again put into service, making several long reconnaissances out of Epinal - although subsequently it does not seem to have laid claim to any renowned flights - and due to its absence in the record of Great War dirigibles, it appears that Zodiac X, the most successful French airship of 1912, was paid-off/deleted before the outbreak of WWI.



The Challenge photograph shows the airship sheltered in its Epinal hangar, the first of two constructed at the aerostation, measuring 25 meters high and guarded by two gates 15 meters wide, weighing 28 tons apiece.
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The scoreboard after Challenge #135 is:

23.60 Rbailey
18.20 Varese2002
16.80 aerohydro
12.20 Aquilius
9.20 Rod_Filan
8.00 richard B
7.30 matte_kudasai
6.00 Cruze
6.00 Flamingo
6.00 YavorD
5.50 Airarticles
**************
(those above this section must wait 12 hours before answering,
those below - and everyone else - may answer immediately)
**************
3.30 berman
3.00 Lodzermensch
3.00 joegertler
2.00 sobrien
2.00 Doc
1.10 Froggy
1.00 paolomiana
2.00 sodium
0.40 Wind In The Wires
0.20 Willi Von Klugermann
0.20 EricGoedkoop

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Cheers

[Rod_Filan]

Full view of "Capitaine Ferber" - originally with 4-bladed propellers - probably at St. Cyr by the looks of the landscape...



Leaving the shed while on military maneuvers...



The gondola and ground crew at Epinal...



In-flight at Epinal (second shed under construction)...



...and a beautiful scale-model, which if you notice, is constructed to represent the airship in its original configuration - elevators operating aft of horizontal stabilizers on the gondola - later moved up to the vertical stab/rudder. (Although this has 2-bladed propellers, and I'm not sure if that is a mistake or if they were changed before the elevator switched location...



-
Cheers

[Rod_Filan]

Apparently yes - three distinct configurations. The first photo above must be a rare photo from probably the airship's first (or second) flight - December 6-7, 1911. Another flight was not made until December 27th.

2nd config: monoplane gondola empennage with 2-bladed propellers...


-
Cheers

[sodium]

Hello Rod, sorry, I don’t see time
french airships, Astra, Clément-Bayard, Lebaudy, Zodiac, some airships that I know a little
a book that I recommend


amitiés
philippe