Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . ; it could beturned about a verticalaxis, slightly inclinedtowards the back. Thecar was boat-shapedwith a flat bottom ; itwas 16 ft. long, 5 , and 3 ft. framework was ofsteel, and it wascovered with thin sheets of aluminium. In order to increasethe rigidity and at the same time to diminish the shock causedby reaching the ground, an arrangement of steel tubes, shapedlike a pyramid, was placed below the car, with the apex down-wards. A gui
Airships past and present, together with chapters on the use of balloons in connection with meteorology, photography and the carrier pigeon . ; it could beturned about a verticalaxis, slightly inclinedtowards the back. Thecar was boat-shapedwith a flat bottom ; itwas 16 ft. long, 5 , and 3 ft. framework was ofsteel, and it wascovered with thin sheets of aluminium. In order to increasethe rigidity and at the same time to diminish the shock causedby reaching the ground, an arrangement of steel tubes, shapedlike a pyramid, was placed below the car, with the apex down-wards. A guide-rope and an anchor were also carried. The car,which was only 10 ft. below the body, was more or less rigidly sup-ported by steel ropes about 02 in. in diameter. The 40 motormade 1,200 revolutions per minute, and consumed 31 lbs. ofbenzine per hour, the reservoir holding 48 gallons. At the frontof the car an acetylene lamp was mounted ; by daylight this wasreplaced by a photographic camera, which was worked electri-cally. The total height of the balloon from the apex of thepyramid to the upper surface of the main body was 44 Fig. 41.—Car of Lebaudys balloon. 80 AIRSHIPS PAST AND PRESENT. The first experimental run was made on August 4th. How-ever on the 28th of the month an accident happened. As thedescent was being made, the balloon dashed into a tree, and wascarried away by the wind, leaving its passengers behind. Fourhours afterwards, it came to the earth, and it was found thatlittle damage had been done. The Yellow, as the first balloonwas called, made 12 ascents in 25 days. In all it made 63ascents. It had carried 26 different persons, among whomwere the wives of the brothers Lebaudy, and altogether it tookfrom first to last 195 passengers. The longest journey was madeat Moisson on June 24th, 1903, when 60 miles were coveredin 2 hours 46 minutes. The repairs necessitated by the aboveaccident were completed on October 11th, 1904, and further testswere carried
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpubl, booksubjectaeronautics
