The Lebaudy Morning Post was a French semi-rigid airship built for the British Army in Moisson , France, by manufacturers Lebaudy Frères . The airship was commissioned by the newspaper The Morning Post , who created a fund to purchase the airship and present it to the British Army. The airship's envelope was damaged on the delivery flight and then it was destroyed on a subsequent trial flight after repair. At the time of construction it was the largest airship that had been built in France.
24-409: The Morning Post was designed by Henri Julliot to the same principles as the earlier Lebaudy République and Lebaudy Patrie but was larger and faster. The envelope was made of panels of waterproof canvas with two valves at the bottom to allow the hydrogen to be released, either automatically or by hand. An additional manual valve on the top of the envelope could be used to completely deflate
48-455: A gondola suspended from the frame on steel cables. Contained within the envelope was a ballonet, which ensured that sufficient gas pressure was maintained in the envelope at all times, irrespective of the degree of expansion or contraction of the lifting gas . These components were essentially the same as for the Patrie , the only differences initially being in the dimensions of the envelope and
72-765: The French army , the Russian army and the Austrian army . They constructed an airship hangar at Moisson, near the River Seine downstream from Paris and were instrumental in the development of airships in the first decade of the twentieth century. Their semi-rigid airships were considered useful for military purposes and several were ordered by the French War Ministry. Lebaudy Frères, Moisson près Mantes (Seine-et-Oise). Builders of pressure airships of
96-615: The Liberté , already under construction, was modified by the addition of a second engine following the loss of the République. She was to be based at the garrison of Belfort . A new airship, named Capitaine-Marchal, in honor of the deceased commander of the République , was presented to the French government by Lebaudy Frères. After the accident, criticism was voiced that the aircraft should not have been allowed to fly and regarding
120-738: The Russian and Austrian armies each ordered an airship of the same design. The Russie and Lebed saw service in Russia, and the Autrichienne (built under license in Vienna by the Motor-Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft) was operated by the Austrian army under the designation M.II . The main structural components of the République , like those of the Patrie , was the gasbag, a nickel-steel frame (or keel ), and
144-430: The République was assigned to this task. A temporary hangar, consisting of a fabric skin draped over a metal frame, was constructed at Lapalisse to accommodate the airship. On 3 September 1909, the République set off from Chalais-Meudon for the flight to Lapalisse. After 62 miles (105 km), while over La Charité-sur-Loire , her motor overheated due to poor water circulation and had to be stopped immediately. With
168-610: The Army Balloon School Major Sir A. Bannerman , and a representative of The Morning Post . By two o'clock it had reached Brighton on the English southern coast, it then travelled north over Horsham towards Aldershot . It soon approached North Camp at Farnborough for an attempted landing on the common close to the Army Balloon Works. Due to the strong winds it took a number of approaches to
192-514: The airship Patrie , had been so successful that three further airships of the same design were ordered by the French government in March 1907. Two of them saw service under the names République and Liberté . The République was completed in June 1908, flew for the first time on 24 June, and was handed over to the French army on 31 July of that year. Other governments had been equally impressed, and
216-406: The airship headquarters at Chalais-Meudon . She trained pilots and the support team that also assessed the airship's capabilities. These test flights included a long flight on 4 August 1909, during which she covered 130 miles (209 km) in 6 hours. In 1909, the army decided to integrate airship reconnaissance into its military maneuvers of that year ("Les grandes Manoeuvres du Bourbonnais") and
240-482: The ballonet. The modular structure enabled the envelope volume to be varied without affecting the keel or the gondola. The République's first flight took place at the Lebaudy base at Moisson on 24 June, 1908. She was flown to Chalais-Meudon to take up her station on 31 July 1908. During the autumn of 1908 and the spring and summer of 1909, the République was engaged in two peacetime campaigns from her base at
264-472: The car, also made from steel tubes was suspended. This had a single landing pivot in the bow. and was divided into compartments and could carry 20 persons. Also inside the car were two Panhard four-cylinder water-cooled piston engines rated at 135 hp, driving a pair of two-bladed pusher propellers through clutches and a gearbox. The propellers, which rotated in opposite directions, were 16 ft 5in (5 m) in diameter and revolved at about one third of
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#1732793282949288-460: The common before troops managed to grab the ropes and secure the airship. The airship was towed to a balloon works shed specially built to house it. It was soon realised it would be a close fit but as it had been measured to fit for the Morning Post all that was required was that care was taken in moving the airship into the shed. With all but ten feet inside the shed, a large hiss was heard as
312-856: The design of the airship's propellers, which was addressed in the order for replacement propellers. Opinions such as those expressed by The New York Times was that the "War Dirigibles Must Yield to the Aeroplane," reflecting a growing awareness of the relative potentials of aeroplanes over airships. However, all major powers continued to invest in military airships for some years. Airships were to be used throughout most of World War I , before their vulnerability to improved heavier-than-air aircraft led to their being abandoned for military purposes. Data from D'Orcy's Airship Manual, 1917 pp.83–85. General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Lebaudy Fr%C3%A8res Lebaudy Frères
336-478: The engine shut off, the crew had to land in poor conditions at Policards, in Jussy-le-Chaudrier . Local farm workers who saw the accident caught her guide ropes but were unable to prevent the gondola from impaling itself on an apple tree, damaging the airship's keel and gondola in several places. With the keel and gondola damaged and the loss of gas, it was decided not to risk the République suffering
360-471: The engines' speed. The airship made its first flight on 14 September 1910 and this was followed by a series of test flights before it was formally accepted by the Army. The Morning Post left Moisson on delivery to Farnborough at 10:15 in the morning of 26 October 1910, carrying eight people including the pilot Louis Capazza and three passengers: the designer Henri Julliot , the newly appointed commander of
384-457: The envelope had caught on a girder. A number of troops were under the airship as it collapsed but nobody was hurt. On 4 May 1911 the Morning Post was on its first flight since being damaged in October 1910 when it was delivered. The airship with a crew of seven was at the end of the one-hour trial flight, it had deployed ropes to allow the soldiers on the ground to bring the ship to the ground,
408-405: The envelope. Suspended below the envelope a diamond-section keel constructed from steel tubing extended nearly the whole length of the envelope. This contained a horizontal stabilising surface for the front two-thirds of its length: the rear part also had a fixed vertical surface. It carried two pairs of elevators , one pair forward and the other aft, and a single rear-mounted rudder. Below this
432-403: The envelope. Two long quick-release panels were also built into the envelope for emergency deflation. The gas bag had three ballonets , one at the front, one in the centre and one at the rear: the front and rear ballonets could be used to fly the airship up or down. Two centrifugal fans were used to inflate the ballonets. Small fixed vertical and horizontal stabilisers were mounted at the rear of
456-458: The maneuvers by 12 September 1909 as planned. After the exercise, the crew decided to fly her back to Chalais-Meudon, rather than have her deflated and dismantled for the return journey by rail. On the morning of 25 September 1909 while near the Château of Avrilly ( 46°38′34.01″N 3°16′57.98″E / 46.6427806°N 3.2827722°E / 46.6427806; 3.2827722 ), one of
480-483: The men could not hold it. The airship drifted into some trees and the envelope burst, causing the airship to collapse over the trees and a house. One of the French mechanics was badly burned but all the crew were rescued from the debris. Data from General characteristics Related lists [REDACTED] Media related to Morning Post (airship) at Wikimedia Commons Lebaudy R%C3%A9publique Lebaudy République (later known as La République )
504-443: The metal propeller blades sheared off its shaft and pierced the envelope, deflating the bag catastrophically, and caused the République to crash into ground at high speed. All four crew members were killed: Captain . Marchal, Lieutenant. Chauré, and 'Adjudants Mecaniciens', Vincenot and Réau. The French government took immediate steps to replace the République , ordering two airships to replace her. The République's sister-ship,
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#1732793282949528-421: The same fate as the Patrie (who was lost when a storm blew her away while she was moored due to mechanical problems), but to deflate the gas-bag immediately. The gondola and keel were sent on to Lapalisse for repairs and the envelope was returned for repairs to Chalais-Meudon. The necessary repairs were made sufficiently quickly for the République to be reassembled and inflated, ready to take part successfully in
552-499: Was a semi-rigid airship built for the French army in Moisson , France, by sugar manufacturers Lebaudy Frères . She was a sister ship of the airship Patrie , the main differences between the two being in the dimensions of the gasbag (or 'envelope') and the ballonet . Although she was operationally successful, République crashed in 1909 due to a mechanical failure, killing all four crew members. République's predecessor,
576-414: Was a French sugar producer based in Moisson , France. In addition to sugar, they also made a series of semi-rigid airships in the early years of the twentieth century, some of which saw service with several European armies. Paul and Pierre Lebaudy were the owners of a sugar refinery who, with the assistance of their engineer Henri Julliot as designer, built semi-rigid airships which saw service with
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