Misplaced Pages

#174825

94-748: His Majesty's Airship R100 was a privately designed and built British rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop a commercial airship service for use on British Empire routes as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme . The other airship, the R101 , was built by the British Air Ministry , but both airships were funded by the Government. R100 was built by the Airship Guarantee Company,

188-418: A 17 ft (5.18 m) diameter tractor propeller, a second driving a 15 ft (4.57 m) diameter pusher propeller , and a third smaller engine in the middle of the car driving a dynamo for electrical power. The engines driving the pusher propellers were fitted with a gearbox to provide reverse thrust for docking the airship. The passenger and crew accommodation were arranged on three decks occupying

282-523: A 2 hp (1.5 kW) single cylinder Daimler engine and flew 10 km (6 mi) from Canstatt to Kornwestheim . In 1897, an airship with an aluminum envelope was built by the Hungarian - Croatian engineer David Schwarz . It made its first flight at Tempelhof field in Berlin after Schwarz had died. His widow, Melanie Schwarz, was paid 15,000 marks by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin to release

376-647: A boat if the vehicle was forced to land in water. The airship was designed to be driven by three propellers and steered with a sail-like aft rudder. In 1784, Jean-Pierre Blanchard fitted a hand-powered propeller to a balloon, the first recorded means of propulsion carried aloft. In 1785, he crossed the English Channel in a balloon equipped with flapping wings for propulsion and a birdlike tail for steering. The 19th century saw continued attempts to add methods of propulsion to balloons. Rufus Porter built and flew scale models of his "Aerial Locomotive", but never

470-495: A central longitudinal girder running the length of the ship. A further consequence of the new rules for airframe stress design was that a new way of harnessing the lifting force of the gasbags had to be found. Wallis's solution to this problem later led to his innovative geodesic airframe fuselage and wing design for the Wellesley , Wellington , Warwick and Windsor bombers. The elevators were aerodynamically balanced but

564-505: A civil airship development programme to be subsidised by the Government and carried out by a specially established subsidiary of Vickers . When the General Election of 1923 brought Ramsay MacDonald ’s Labour administration to power, the new Air Minister, Lord Thomson formulated the Imperial Airship Scheme in its place. This called for the building of two experimental airships: one, R101, to be designed and constructed under

658-625: A crucial role in determining the mechanical properties of duralumin. Optimal aging conditions lead to the formation of finely dispersed precipitates, resulting in peak strength and hardness. Aluminium alloyed with copper (Al-Cu alloys), which can be precipitation hardened , are designated by the International Alloy Designation System as the 2000 series. Typical uses for wrought Al-Cu alloys include: German scientific literature openly published information about duralumin, its composition and heat treatment, before

752-432: A crucial role in maintaining stability and controlling the airship's attitude. Airships require a source of power to operate their propulsion systems. This includes engines, generators, or batteries, depending on the type of airship and its design. Fuel tanks or batteries are typically located within the envelope or gondola. To navigate safely and communicate with ground control or other aircraft, airships are equipped with

846-437: A disposable lift of 51.00 long tons (51.82 t). Deducting 18 long tons (18 t) for the service load (crew, stores and ballast) this meant the weight available for fuel and payload was 33.00 long tons (33.53 t). It had originally been intended to design special engines for R100 which would be fuelled by hydrogen and kerosene but after a year's work it was realised that the engine would not be developed in time and it

940-462: A fashion similar to hot air balloons . The first to do so was flown in 1973 by the British company Cameron Balloons . Small airships carry their engine(s) in their gondola. Where there were multiple engines on larger airships, these were placed in separate nacelles, termed power cars or engine cars . To allow asymmetric thrust to be applied for maneuvering, these power cars were mounted towards

1034-620: A heavier-than-air aircraft structure occurred in 1916, when Hugo Junkers first introduced its use in the airframe of the Junkers J 3 , a single-engined monoplane "technology demonstrator" that marked the first use of the Junkers trademark duralumin corrugated skinning. The Junkers company completed only the covered wings and tubular fuselage framework of the J 3 before abandoning its development. The slightly later, solely IdFlieg -designated Junkers J.I armoured sesquiplane of 1917, known to

SECTION 10

#1732772152175

1128-409: A large proportion of the workers were local people who had to be trained. Conditions in the unheated airship shed were also poor: the roof leaked, ice formed on the girders in winter, and condensation caused corrosion of the airship's duralumin structure, so that the girders had to be varnished. For three years the assembly work was close behind that of the designers, and the progress of the design work

1222-526: A mixture of solar-powered engines and conventional jet engines, would use only an estimated 8 percent of the fuel required by jet aircraft . Furthermore, utilizing the jet stream could allow for a faster and more energy-efficient cargo transport alternative to maritime shipping . This is one of the reasons why China has embraced their use recently. In 1670, the Jesuit Father Francesco Lana de Terzi , sometimes referred to as

1316-482: A paper entitled " Mémoire sur l'équilibre des machines aérostatiques " (Memorandum on the equilibrium of aerostatic machines) presented to the French Academy on 3 December 1783. The 16 water-color drawings published the following year depict a 260-foot-long (79 m) streamlined envelope with internal ballonets that could be used for regulating lift: this was attached to a long carriage that could be used as

1410-566: A payload of 1.5 tons. Bland believed that the machine could be driven at 80 km/h (50 mph) and could fly from Sydney to London in less than a week. In 1852, Henri Giffard became the first person to make an engine-powered flight when he flew 27 km (17 mi) in a steam-powered airship . Airships would develop considerably over the next two decades. In 1863, Solomon Andrews flew his aereon design, an unpowered, controllable dirigible in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and offered

1504-497: A public demonstration flight in 1878 of his hand-powered one-man rigid airship, and went on to build and sell five of his aircraft. In 1874, Micajah Clark Dyer filed U.S. Patent 154,654 "Apparatus for Navigating the Air". It is believed successful trial flights were made between 1872 and 1874, but detailed dates are not available. The apparatus used a combination of wings and paddle wheels for navigation and propulsion. In operating

1598-435: A range of instruments, including GPS systems, radios, radar, and navigation lights. Some airships have landing gear that allows them to land on runways or other surfaces. This landing gear may include wheels, skids, or landing pads. The main advantage of airships with respect to any other vehicle is that they require less energy to remain in flight, compared to other air vehicles. The proposed Varialift airship, powered by

1692-485: A rigid framework covered by an outer skin or envelope. The interior contains one or more gasbags, cells or balloons to provide lift. Rigid airships are typically unpressurised and can be made to virtually any size. Most, but not all, of the German Zeppelin airships have been of this type. A semi-rigid airship has some kind of supporting structure but the main envelope is held in shape by the internal pressure of

1786-412: A single bay of the structure and entirely contained within the airship's envelope. The lower deck contained the crew accommodation. The second deck had a dining room, which doubled as the passenger lounge, plus the kitchen, 18 four-berth passenger cabins and a gallery on either side for passengers to enjoy the view through the windows built into the skin. The third deck consisted of a gallery running around

1880-475: A solution for each frame. The thoroughness of the stressing calculations was a consequence of new Air Ministry criteria for the strengths required of airships, formulated after the catastrophic structural failure of R38 in 1921. Fewer longitudinal girders resulted in larger unsupported panels of fabric in the envelope , and flight trials were to prove that the R100's covering was barely adequate. The envelope of R101

1974-457: A specially created subsidiary of the armaments firm Vickers-Armstrongs , led by Commander Dennis Burney . The design team was headed by Barnes Wallis , later famous for his invention of the bouncing bomb . The design team also included Nevil Shute Norway as the senior stress engineer . R100 first flew in December 1929. It made a series of trial flights and a successful return crossing of

SECTION 20

#1732772152175

2068-518: A successful full-size implementation. The Australian William Bland sent designs for his " Atmotic airship " to the Great Exhibition held in London in 1851, where a model was displayed. This was an elongated balloon with a steam engine driving twin propellers suspended underneath. The lift of the balloon was estimated as 5 tons and the car with the fuel as weighing 3.5 tons, giving

2162-435: A test on 16 January 1930, R100 achieved a speed of 81.5 mph (131.2 km/h). At speed, a problem with the outer covering became apparent: it tended to ripple and flap excessively in the form of a standing wave . During a fourth flight on 20 January, a film was taken of this phenomenon, which occurred because of the large areas of unsupported fabric; the effect is also visible in some photographs. A further short flight

2256-410: A thin gastight metal envelope, rather than the usual rubber-coated fabric envelope. Only four metal-clad ships are known to have been built, and only two actually flew: Schwarz 's first aluminum rigid airship of 1893 collapsed, while his second flew; the nonrigid ZMC-2 built for the U.S. Navy flew from 1929 to 1941 when it was scrapped as too small for operational use on anti-submarine patrols; while

2350-415: A type of aerostat. The term aerostat has also been used to indicate a tethered or moored balloon as opposed to a free-floating balloon. Aerostats today are capable of lifting a payload of 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) to an altitude of more than 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) above sea level. They can also stay in the air for extended periods of time, particularly when powered by an on-board generator or if

2444-496: A vessel is propelled in water. An instrument answering to a rudder is attached for guiding the machine. A balloon is to be used for elevating the flying ship, after which it is to be guided and controlled at the pleasure of its occupants. More details can be found in the book about his life. In 1883, the first electric-powered flight was made by Gaston Tissandier , who fitted a 1.5 hp (1.1 kW) Siemens electric motor to an airship. The first fully controllable free flight

2538-625: A “Duralinox” model that became an instant classic among cyclists. The Vitus 979 was the first production aluminium frameset whose thin-wall 5083/5086 tubing was slip-fit and then glued together using a dry heat-activated epoxy. The result was an extremely lightweight but very durable frameset. Production of the Vitus 979 continued until 1992. In 2011, BBS Automotive made the RI-D, the world's first production automobile wheel made of duralumin. The company has since made other wheels of duralumin also, such as

2632-525: Is a type of aerostat ( lighter-than-air ) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power . Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air to achieve the lift needed to stay airborne. In early dirigibles, the lifting gas used was hydrogen , due to its high lifting capacity and ready availability, but the inherent flammability led to several fatal accidents that rendered hydrogen airships obsolete. The alternative lifting gas, helium gas

2726-435: Is generally hydrogen, helium or hot air. Hydrogen gives the highest lift 1.1 kg/m (0.069 lb/cu ft) and is inexpensive and easily obtained, but is highly flammable and can detonate if mixed with air. Helium is completely non flammable, but gives lower performance-1.02 kg/m (0.064 lb/cu ft) and is a rare element and much more expensive. Thermal airships use a heated lifting gas, usually air, in

2820-611: Is known as a vacuum airship . In 1709, the Brazilian-Portuguese Jesuit priest Bartolomeu de Gusmão made a hot air balloon, the Passarola, ascend to the skies, before an astonished Portuguese court. It would have been on August 8, 1709, when Father Bartolomeu de Gusmão held, in the courtyard of the Casa da Índia , in the city of Lisbon, the first Passarola demonstration. The balloon caught fire without leaving

2914-646: Is not flammable, but is rare and relatively expensive. Significant amounts were first discovered in the United States and for a while helium was only available for airship usage in North America . Most airships built since the 1960s have used helium, though some have used hot air . The envelope of an airship may form the gasbag, or it may contain a number of gas-filled cells. An airship also has engines, crew, and optionally also payload accommodation, typically housed in one or more gondolas suspended below

R100 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3008-450: Is relatively soft and ductile. Solution Annealing: Duralumin undergoes solution annealing, a high-temperature heat treatment process that dissolves the alloying elements into the aluminium matrix, creating a homogeneous solid solution. Quenching: Rapid cooling (quenching) after solution annealing freezes the high-temperature solid solution, preventing the precipitation of strengthening phases. Aging (Precipitation Hardening): During aging,

3102-399: Is the more recent, following advances in deformable structures and the exigency of reducing weight and volume of the airships. They have a minimal structure that keeps the shape jointly with overpressure of the gas envelope. An aerostat is an aircraft that remains aloft using buoyancy or static lift, as opposed to the aerodyne , which obtains lift by moving through the air. Airships are

3196-490: The Franco-Prussian war and was intended as an improvement to the balloons used for communications between Paris and the countryside during the siege of Paris , but was completed only after the end of the war. In 1872, Paul Haenlein flew an airship with an internal combustion engine running on the coal gas used to inflate the envelope, the first use of such an engine to power an aircraft. Charles F. Ritchel made

3290-672: The Parc Saint Cloud to and around the Eiffel Tower and back in under thirty minutes. This feat earned him the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize of 100,000 francs . Many inventors were inspired by Santos-Dumont's small airships. Many airship pioneers, such as the American Thomas Scott Baldwin , financed their activities through passenger flights and public demonstration flights. Stanley Spencer built

3384-594: The St-Hubert, Quebec Airport (outside Montreal) in 78 hours, having covered the great circle route of 3,300 mi (5,300 km) at an average ground speed of 42 mph (68 km/h). The R100 remained in Montreal for 12 days with over 100,000 people visiting the airship each day while it was moored there, and a song was composed by La Bolduc to mock the people's fascination with the airship. While in Canada,

3478-443: The "Father of Aeronautics ", published a description of an "Aerial Ship" supported by four copper spheres from which the air was evacuated. Although the basic principle is sound, such a craft was unrealizable then and remains so to the present day, since external air pressure would cause the spheres to collapse unless their thickness was such as to make them too heavy to be buoyant. A hypothetical craft constructed using this principle

3572-767: The "Great Airship" era of the 1920s and 1930s: the British-built R100 , the German passenger Zeppelins LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin , LZ 129 Hindenburg , LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II , and the U.S. Navy airships USS Los Angeles (ZR-3, ex-LZ 126) , USS Akron (ZRS-4) and USS Macon (ZRS-5) . Duralumin was used to manufacture bicycle components and framesets from the 1930s to 1990s. Several companies in Saint-Étienne, France stood out for their early, innovative adoption of duralumin: in 1932, Verot et Perrin developed

3666-417: The 1929 nonrigid Slate Aircraft Corporation City of Glendale collapsed on its first flight attempt. A ballonet is an air bag inside the outer envelope of an airship which, when inflated, reduces the volume available for the lifting gas, making it more dense. Because air is also denser than the lifting gas, inflating the ballonet reduces the overall lift, while deflating it increases lift. In this way,

3760-401: The 1937 burning of the German hydrogen -filled Hindenburg . From the 1960s, helium airships have been used where the ability to hover for a long time outweighs the need for speed and manoeuvrability, such as advertising, tourism, camera platforms, geological surveys and aerial observation . During the pioneer years of aeronautics, terms such as "airship", "air-ship", "air ship" and "ship of

3854-570: The 1940s; their use decreased as their capabilities were surpassed by those of aeroplanes. Their decline was accelerated by a series of high-profile accidents, including the 1930 crash and burning of the British R101 in France, the 1933 and 1935 storm-related crashes of the twin airborne aircraft carrier U.S. Navy helium-filled rigids, the USS ; Akron and USS Macon respectively, and

R100 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3948-409: The Airship Guarantee Company, faced substantial difficulties. The contract for R100's construction was a fixed price one and it was obvious from very early on that the project would incur a loss, and so economies were made; for instance, only a dozen machine tools were in use for construction of the airship. There were also difficulties in finding skilled workers due to the remoteness of the location, and

4042-810: The Atlantic in July–August 1930, but following the crash of R101 in October 1930 the Imperial Airship Scheme was terminated and R100 was broken up for scrap. R100 was built as part of a British government programme to develop airships to provide passenger and mail transport between Britain and the countries of the British Empire, including India, Australia and Canada. This had its origin in Dennistoun Burney 's 1922 proposal for

4136-572: The Cardington engineers suggested that the long flights of the R100 to Canada and R101 to India might be postponed until 1931 on the grounds that neither of the airships was fit to make a lengthy flight at their current developmental stage. The R100 team replied that their airship was perfectly capable of flying to Canada, and that the Canadian flight was a part of their contract. R100 departed for Canada on 29 July 1930, reaching its mooring mast at

4230-749: The Luftschiff Zeppelin LZ1 made its first flight. This led to the most successful airships of all time: the Zeppelins, named after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin who began working on rigid airship designs in the 1890s, leading to the flawed LZ1 in 1900 and the more successful LZ2 in 1906. The Zeppelin airships had a framework composed of triangular lattice girders covered with fabric that contained separate gas cells. At first multiplane tail surfaces were used for control and stability: later designs had simpler cruciform tail surfaces. The engines and crew were accommodated in "gondolas" hung beneath

4324-589: The R100 also made a 24-hour passenger-carrying flight to Ottawa , Toronto , and Niagara Falls . On 13 August, the airship departed Montreal on its return flight, reaching Cardington 57½ hours later. Nevil Shute Norway later suggested in Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer that the success of R100's Canadian flight indirectly led to the R101 disaster. Prior to the transatlantic flight, R100's engineers could have suggested that neither airship

4418-560: The R100 was scheduled to set off for Canada on 25 May; however, during the flight of 21 May, the conical tail section of the airship collapsed due to unexpected aerodynamic pressure, and the R100 was returned to the shed where the original tail section was replaced by a hemispherical cap designed and made by the Royal Airship Works, reducing the airship's length by 15 ft (4.6 m) Shortly before R101's flights in June 1930,

4512-491: The air" meant any kind of navigable or dirigible flying machine. In 1919 Frederick Handley Page was reported as referring to "ships of the air", with smaller passenger types as "air yachts". In the 1930s, large intercontinental flying boats were also sometimes referred to as "ships of the air" or "flying-ships". Nowadays the term "airship" is used only for powered, dirigible balloons, with sub-types being classified as rigid, semi-rigid or non-rigid. Semi-rigid architecture

4606-435: The airship remained in the shed until 21 May, when it made a 24-hour flight intended to test the new engine installation and modifications to the cover. R100's contract had originally called for a demonstration flight to India. The decision to use gasoline engines resulted in a change in destination to Canada, as it was considered that a flight to the tropics with gasoline aboard would be too hazardous. Barring any difficulties,

4700-634: The aviation and aerospace industry. However, it is susceptible to corrosion, which can be mitigated by using alclad-duralum materials. Duralumin was developed by the German metallurgist Alfred Wilm at private military-industrial laboratory Zentralstelle für wissenschaftlich-technische Untersuchungen  [ de ] (Center for Scientific-Technical Research) in Neubabelsberg . In 1903, Wilm discovered that after quenching , an aluminium alloy containing 4% copper would harden when left at room temperature for several days. Further improvements led to

4794-410: The ballonet can be used to adjust the lift as required by controlling the buoyancy. By inflating or deflating ballonets strategically, the pilot can control the airship's altitude and attitude. Ballonets may typically be used in non-rigid or semi-rigid airships, commonly with multiple ballonets located both fore and aft to maintain balance and to control the pitch of the airship. Lifting gas

SECTION 50

#1732772152175

4888-508: The company. The term zeppelin originally referred to airships manufactured by the German Zeppelin Company , which built and operated the first rigid airships in the early years of the twentieth century. The initials LZ, for Luftschiff Zeppelin (German for "Zeppelin airship"), usually prefixed their craft's serial identifiers. Streamlined rigid (or semi-rigid) airships are often referred to as "Zeppelins", because of

4982-601: The design of the Campbell Air Ship, designed by Professor Peter C. Campbell, was built by the Novelty Air Ship Company. It was lost at sea in 1889 while being flown by Professor Hogan during an exhibition flight. From 1888 to 1897, Friedrich Wölfert built three airships powered by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft -built petrol engines, the last of which, Deutschland , caught fire in flight and killed both occupants in 1897. The 1888 version used

5076-518: The device to the U.S. Military during the Civil War. He flew a later design in 1866 around New York City and as far as Oyster Bay, New York. This concept used changes in lift to provide propulsive force, and did not need a powerplant. In 1872, the French naval architect Dupuy de Lome launched a large navigable balloon, which was driven by a large propeller turned by eight men. It was developed during

5170-474: The dining room and 14 two-berth cabins. R100 made its maiden flight in the morning of 16 December 1929. After departing Howden at 07:53, it flew slowly to York then set course for the Royal Airship Works at Cardington, Bedfordshire , running on five engines since one of the engines had to be shut down because of a cracked water jacket, and completing the mooring process at 13:40. A second flight

5264-656: The direction of the Air Ministry , and the other, R100, to be built by the Vickers subsidiary under a fixed price contract. R100 was constructed at the former RNAS Air Station Howden in Yorkshire , a remote location 3 mi (5 km) from Howden and 25 mi (40 km) from Hull . Design work began in 1925 while at the same time the somewhat rundown site was put in order and a hydrogen-generating plant installed. The specially established subsidiary of Vickers,

5358-412: The engine controls, throttle etc., mounted directly on the engine. Instructions were relayed to them from the pilot's station by a telegraph system , as on a ship. If fuel is burnt for propulsion, then progressive reduction in the airship's overall weight occurs. In hydrogen airships, this is usually dealt with by simply venting cheap hydrogen lifting gas. In helium airships water is often condensed from

5452-515: The engine exhaust and using auxiliary blowers. The envelope itself is the structure, including textiles that contain the buoyant gas. Internally two ballonets are generally placed in the front part and in the rear part of the hull and contains air. The problem of the exact determination of the pressure on an airship envelope is still problematic and has fascinated major scientists such as Theodor Von Karman . A few airships have been metal-clad , with rigid and nonrigid examples made. Each kind used

5546-416: The envelope. The main types of airship are non-rigid , semi-rigid and rigid airships . Non-rigid airships, often called "blimps", rely solely on internal gas pressure to maintain the envelope shape. Semi-rigid airships maintain their shape by internal pressure, but have some form of supporting structure, such as a fixed keel, attached to it. Rigid airships have an outer structural framework that maintains

5640-610: The eventual construction of R102 ; static testing of R100 and retention of about 300 staff to keep the programme "ticking over"; or retention of staff and the scrapping of the airship. In December 1931, the R100 was broken up and sold for scrap. The framework of the ship was dismantled, flattened by a steamroller and cut up into sections, and sold for less than £600 (approximately $ 2,720) Data from Masefield General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Airship An airship , dirigible balloon or dirigible

5734-455: The exhaust and stored as ballast. To control the airship's direction and stability, it is equipped with fins and rudders. Fins are typically located on the tail section and provide stability and resistance to rolling. Rudders are movable surfaces on the tail that allow the pilot to steer the airship left or right. The empennage refers to the tail section of the airship, which includes the fins, rudders, and other aerodynamic surfaces. It plays

SECTION 60

#1732772152175

5828-490: The factory as the Junkers J 4, had its all-metal wings and horizontal stabilizer made in the same manner as the J 3's wings had been, like the experimental and airworthy all-duralumin Junkers J 7 single-seat fighter design, which led to the Junkers D.I low-wing monoplane fighter, introducing all-duralumin aircraft structural technology to German military aviation in 1918. Its first use in aerostatic airframes came in rigid airship frames, eventually including all those of

5922-528: The fame that this company acquired due to the number of airships it produced, although its early rival was the Parseval semi-rigid design. Hybrid airships fly with a positive aerostatic contribution, usually equal to the empty weight of the system, and the variable payload is sustained by propulsion or aerodynamic contribution. Airships are classified according to their method of construction into rigid, semi-rigid and non-rigid types. A rigid airship has

6016-620: The first British airship with funds from advertising baby food on the sides of the envelope. Others, such as Walter Wellman and Melvin Vaniman , set their sights on loftier goals, attempting two polar flights in 1907 and 1909, and two trans-Atlantic flights in 1910 and 1912. Duralumin Duralumin was developed in 1909 in Germany. Duralumin is known for its strength and hardness, making it suitable for various applications, especially in

6110-911: The first light alloy crank arms; in 1934, Haubtmann released a complete crankset; from 1935 on, Duralumin freewheels, derailleurs , pedals, brakes and handlebars were manufactured by several companies. Complete framesets followed quickly, including those manufactured by: Mercier (and Aviac and other licensees) with their popular Meca Dural family of models, the Pelissier brothers and their race-worthy La Perle models, and Nicolas Barra and his exquisite mid-twentieth century “Barralumin” creations. Other names that come up here also included: Pierre Caminade, with his beautiful Caminargent creations and their exotic octagonal tubing, and also Gnome et Rhône , with its deep heritage as an aircraft engine manufacturer that also diversified into motorcycles, velomotors and bicycles after World War Two. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries , which

6204-399: The gasbags, the outer covering of linen fabric painted with aluminium aircraft dope was put in place, and it was completed at the beginning of November. Lift and trim trials were carried out on 11 November: empty weight was 105.52 long tons (107.21 t) and gasbag volume was 5,156,000 cu ft (146,000 m), giving a standard gross lift of 156.52 long tons (159.03 t) and so

6298-436: The ground, but, in a second demonstration, it rose to 95 meters in height. It was a small balloon of thick brown paper, filled with hot air, produced by the "fire of material contained in a clay bowl embedded in the base of a waxed wooden tray". The event was witnessed by King John V of Portugal and the future Pope Innocent XIII . A more practical dirigible airship was described by Lieutenant Jean Baptiste Marie Meusnier in

6392-476: The hull driving propellers attached to the sides of the frame by means of long drive shafts. Additionally, there was a passenger compartment (later a bomb bay ) located halfway between the two engine compartments. Alberto Santos-Dumont was a wealthy young Brazilian who lived in France and had a passion for flying. He designed 18 balloons and dirigibles before turning his attention to fixed-winged aircraft. On 19 October 1901 he flew his airship Number 6 , from

6486-524: The industrialist Carl Berg from his exclusive contract to supply Schwartz with aluminium . From 1897 to 1899, Konstantin Danilewsky, medical doctor and inventor from Kharkiv (now Ukraine , then Russian Empire ), built four muscle-powered airships, of gas volume 150–180 m (5,300–6,400 cu ft). About 200 ascents were made within a framework of experimental flight program, at two locations, with no significant incidents. In July 1900,

6580-479: The introduction of duralumin in 1909. The name, originally a trade mark of Dürener Metallwerke AG which acquired Wilm's patents and commercialized the material, is mainly used in pop-science to describe all Al-Cu alloys system, or '2000' series, as designated through the international alloy designation system originally created in 1970 by the Aluminum Association . In addition to aluminium ,

6674-546: The lifting gas. Typically the airship has an extended, usually articulated keel running along the bottom of the envelope to stop it kinking in the middle by distributing suspension loads into the envelope, while also allowing lower envelope pressures. Non-rigid airships are often called "blimps". Most, but not all, of the American Goodyear airships have been blimps. A non-rigid airship relies entirely on internal gas pressure to retain its shape during flight. Unlike

6768-413: The machinery the wings receive an upward and downward motion, in the manner of the wings of a bird, the outer ends yielding as they are raised, but opening out and then remaining rigid while being depressed. The wings, if desired, may be set at an angle so as to propel forward as well as to raise the machine in the air. The paddle-wheels are intended to be used for propelling the machine, in the same way that

6862-488: The main materials in duralumin are copper , manganese and magnesium . For instance, Duraluminium 2024 consists of 91-95% aluminium, 3.8-4.9% copper, 1.2-1.8% magnesium, 0.3-0.9% manganese, <0.5% iron, <0.5% silicon, <0.25% zinc, <0.15% titanium, <0.10% chromium and no more than 0.15% of other elements together. Although the addition of copper improves strength, it also makes these alloys susceptible to corrosion . Corrosion resistance can be greatly enhanced by

6956-545: The metallurgical bonding of a high-purity aluminium surface layer, referred to as alclad -duralum. Alclad materials are commonly used in the aircraft industry to this day. Duralumin's remarkable strength and durability stem from its unique microstructure, which is significantly influenced by heat treatment processes. Solid Solution: After initial solidification, duralumin exists as a single-phase solid solution, primarily composed of aluminium atoms with dispersed copper, magnesium, and other alloying elements. This initial state

7050-608: The other ship was." The tale of the design of R100 and its claimed superiority to R101 is told in Shute Norway's Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer , first published in 1954. Although flawed and not quite as overwhelmingly superior as Shute Norway implied, R100 represented the best that conventional airship technology in Britain had to offer at the time. R101 suffered in comparison partly because of its many groundbreaking but ultimately dubious innovations, and also because of

7144-489: The outbreak of World War I in 1914. Despite this, use of the alloy outside Germany did not occur until after fighting ended in 1918. Reports of German use during World War I, even in technical journals such as Flight , could still mis-identify its key alloying component as magnesium rather than copper. Engineers in the UK showed little interest in duralumin until after the war. The earliest known attempt to use duralumin for

7238-401: The rigid design, the non-rigid airship's gas envelope has no compartments. However, it still typically has smaller internal bags containing air ( ballonets ). As altitude is increased, the lifting gas expands and air from the ballonets is expelled through valves to maintain the hull's shape. To return to sea level, the process is reversed: air is forced back into the ballonets by scooping air from

7332-475: The rudders were unbalanced. When the designers learned that R101 had been fitted with servo motors at a substantial cost in weight and money they thought that they had made a mistake and rechecked their calculations. They eventually concluded that their calculations had been correct: when R100 was flown the controls proved both light and effective, and its control characteristics were compared favourably with those of R101 by Nöel Atherstone, First Officer of R101. R100

7426-468: The shape and carries all structural loads, while the lifting gas is contained in one or more internal gasbags or cells. Rigid airships were first flown by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and the vast majority of rigid airships built were manufactured by the firm he founded, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin . As a result, rigid airships are often called zeppelins . Airships were the first aircraft capable of controlled powered flight, and were most commonly used before

7520-434: The sides of the envelope, away from the centre line gondola. This also raised them above the ground, reducing the risk of a propeller strike when landing. Widely spaced power cars were also termed wing cars , from the use of "wing" to mean being on the side of something, as in a theater, rather than the aerodynamic device . These engine cars carried a crew during flight who maintained the engines as needed, but who also worked

7614-449: The supersaturated solid solution becomes unstable. Fine precipitates, such as CuAl2 and Mg2Si, form within the aluminum matrix. These precipitates act as obstacles to dislocation movement, significantly increasing the alloy's strength and hardness. The final microstructure of duralumin consists of a predominantly aluminium matrix dispersed fine precipitates (CuAl2, Mg2Si) Grain boundaries. The size, distribution, and type of precipitates play

7708-459: The tether contains electrical conductors. Due to this capability, aerostats can be used as platforms for telecommunication services. For instance, Platform Wireless International Corporation announced in 2001 that it would use a tethered 1,250 pounds (570 kg) airborne payload to deliver cellular phone service to a 140 miles (230 km) region in Brazil. The European Union 's ABSOLUTE project

7802-462: The weight of its diesel engines. In lifting efficiency, both dirigibles were inferior to the smaller LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin . After R101 crashed and burned in France, en route to India on 5 October 1930, the Air Ministry ordered R100 grounded. The airship remained in its shed at Cardington for over a year whilst three options were considered: a complete refit of R100 and continuation of tests for

7896-577: Was also reportedly exploring the use of tethered aerostat stations to provide telecommunications during disaster response. A blimp is a non-rigid aerostat. In British usage it refers to any non-rigid aerostat, including barrage balloons and other kite balloons , having a streamlined shape and stabilising tail fins. Some blimps may be powered dirigibles, as in early versions of the Goodyear Blimp . Later Goodyear dirigibles, though technically semi-rigid airships, have still been called "blimps" by

7990-409: Was also unsatisfactory and a failure in its cover was possibly a cause of its crash. Barnes Wallis created the frame of the airship using only 11 standard components. The 16 longitudinal girders were formed of three tubes each, formed from strips of Duralumin wound into a helix and riveted together. These connected 15 polygonal transverse frames, which were held in shape by wire bracing connected to

8084-441: Was built suspended from the roof of its shed. The individual transverse frames were assembled horizontally then lifted up and slung from roof-mounted trackways before being slid into position and attached to the adjacent frames by the longitudinal girders. The ship remained suspended until the gasbags were inflated with hydrogen. By mid-1929 the ship's structure was nearly complete and its gasbags were inflated. Following inflation of

8178-621: Was decided to fit the Beardmore Tornado diesel engine that was being developed for the Air Ministry for installation in R101. At an early stage the Tornado was judged unsuitable because of its weight and other problems, and Wallis settled on the use of six reconditioned Rolls-Royce Condor petrol engines even though the fuel, with its lower flash point , was considered to be a fire risk under tropical conditions. The engines were contained in three gondolas, each with one engine driving

8272-435: Was eliminated by reducing the amount of passenger accommodation. The work was complete by the end of April, but on 24 April, R100 was caught by a gust while being walked out of the shed, damaging the tail surfaces. The wind prevented the ship being returned to the shed, so it was moored to the mast. It was not possible to return the R100 to the shed for repairs until the morning of 27 April. Repairs took longer than expected, and

8366-580: Was made in 1884 by Charles Renard and Arthur Constantin Krebs in the French Army airship La France . La France made the first flight of an airship that landed where it took off; the 170 ft (52 m) long, 66,000 cu ft (1,900 m ) airship covered 8 km (5.0 mi) in 23 minutes with the aid of an 8.5 hp (6.3 kW) electric motor, and a 435 kg (959 lb) battery. It made seven flights in 1884 and 1885. In 1888,

8460-415: Was made on 20 January before an endurance flight, starting at 09:38 on 27 January when R100 slipped the mast at Cardington and ending at 15:26 on 29 January after more than 53 hours in the air. Following this flight, the airship was returned to the shed for work on the cover to be carried out. At the same time, the original reconditioned Condor IIIA engines were replaced by six new Condor IIIBs and some weight

8554-453: Was made the next day, with the intention of making a flight to London, but shortly after slipping the mast, a strip of fabric became detached from the lower fin, and the flight was limited to a cruise around Bedfordshire to test control response, lasting 6 hr 29 min. The following day, R100 was taken from the mast to No.2 shed at Cardington and work on modifying the wiring holding the cover in place begun: this took until 11 January 1930. During

8648-519: Was prohibited from producing aircraft during the American occupation of Japan, manufactured the “cross” bicycle out of surplus wartime duralumin in 1946. The “cross” was designed by Kiro Honjo , a former aircraft designer responsible for the Mitsubishi G4M . Duralumin use in bicycle manufacturing faded in the 1970s and 1980s. Vitus nonetheless released the venerable “979” frameset in 1979,

8742-407: Was ready for a performance of such duration; however, when R100 returned from Canada in triumph, the R101 team had to either make the flight to India or admit defeat – which would have meant discredit with the consequent danger of losing their jobs. Shute Norway later said that R100's team "guessed that their ship (R101) was a bad airship, but did not realise" (because of secrecy at Cardington) "how bad

8836-402: Was the determining factor in speed of construction. Since wind tunnel tests showed that a 16-side transverse section had about the same drag as a circular one, both R100 and R101 used a smaller number of longitudinal girders than previous airships to simplify stress calculations. Even so, the calculations for the transverse frames required hand computation that took two or three months to produce

#174825