Russian airship. Who invented the first airship in the world and for what purposes the airship consists of

Judicial disputes 15.10.2020

Judicial disputes

What else interests readers according to? This we will now find out after listening to the topic from luciferushka:

It would be interesting to learn about the origin, the formation and decline of the airship of the airship. And do they have a future? Was there a topic?))))))

My blog has already been a fairly interesting topic. , now we will not stop in detail in our country. Read who is interested there. Let us look at the world development of this aircraft.

Airship (from Fr. Dirigeable - manageable) - an aircraft lighter than air, a balloon with a propulsion, thanks to which the airship can move independently of the direction of air flow.

Over 250 years before our era, the Great Archimedes opened the way to flights in balloons. But only in the second half of the 20th century it was possible to create a balloon suitable for practical use. The device is lighter than air moving in the ocean by the will of wind and air currents, called the balloon. It is maintained in the air due to the lifting power of the gas enclosed in its shell.

June 5, 1783 in the French city of Sider-lez-Annon Brothers Joseph Michel and Jacques Etiented Mongolfier demonstrated flight of a bowl. The shell of about 600 cube. m. rested on a lattice frame woven from the vine. The frame was installed on the stage, under which a bonfire from wet straw was divorced. Hot wet air filled the shell. After the ropes retaining her ropes were released, she rushed up. The flight lasted only 10 minutes. During this time, the ball flew two with a small kilometer.

Pictures of aerostatic launches in France

The Academy of Sciences of France decided to repeat the experience of the Mongolfier brothers in Paris. Preparation for him was commissioned to the physics of Charlery. It used not hot air to fill the ball, and the hydrogen opened in 1766, which had a small specific weight. On August 27, 1783, a start took place on the Marsfield of Paris, the ball quickly gained her height and disappeared from his eyes. Flying 24 kilometers, he fell to the ground due to the shell rupture.

In the future, the balls filled with hot air were called Mongolfiers, and hydrogen - Charles.

The possibility of the flight was proved. It remained to find out how safe it is for the human body. At that time, many believed that any living being rising under the clouds even on a small height would certainly suffer. Therefore, in the first air travel on Mongolfierre, sent loyal and trouble-free friends of man. On September 19, 1783, live beings were raised from the courtyard of the Versailles Palace for the first time in the history of the air. This honor fell to the share of ram, rooster and ducks. They sank to the ground in full health. Then they started training the lifts of people on the binded aerostats. And only after a thorough preparation on November 21, 1783 in the suburbs of Paris, the Mongolifyeer was given to the crew, which included two people - Pilatr de Roste and D "Arland.

Airship Menia 1784.

There was time, the aerostats were improved, allowing you to make increasingly complex flights. In early January 1785, the Frenchman Blanshire and the Englishman Jeffries on Charliner flew from Dover to Kale. Conquer the Strait of Pa de Kale in 2.5 hours, they were the first to follow the air travel between Island England and Continental Europe.

Russian Ambassador in France Prince Baryatinsky regularly reported by Empress Catherine II on the successes of aeronautics. To them, he made his own sketchy saw. However, the Empress did not show interest in this case. She did not even allow Blanssar to come in 1786 to Russia for demonstration flights. Catherine II requested to convey to him that "here they do not engage in some or another like aeromaging, and all experiments on-eyed it is fruitless and unnecessary with us are completely difficult." Such a view of the royal personnel on the aircraft led to the fact that the Russians first saw the flight in a balloon only in the next century.

On June 20, 1803, in St. Petersburg in the presence of the imperial family name Alexander I and a large crossing of the viewers, the Frenchman J. Garneron took place. In September of the same year, the balloon rose to the Moscow sky.

With the development of science and technology, the aerostats began to involve to solve a wide range of tasks. They were used in military affairs, were used to study the atmosphere, carrying out meteorological, physical, astronomical observations.

But nevertheless, the aerostats did not meet the main goal of the aeronautics, they could not serve as a means of communication. This requires a controlled balloon, or airship. Attempts to control the flight of the balloon with the help of cheerful, sails, as it was with ships on the maritime expanses, did not bring success. It became apparent that for the controlled flight, the aerostat must be supplied by the propulsion of another kind.

Jean Baptiste Marie Charles Möne is considered the inventor of the airship. Airship Mönia should have been made in the form of an ellipsoid. Handling should have been implemented with the help of three propellers rotating manually by the effort 80 people. By changing the volume of gas in the balloon by using the balloon, it was possible to adjust the height of the airship flight, and therefore he suggested two shells - the external main and internal.

Airship Giffara, 1852

Airship with a steam engine of the design of Henri Zhiffera, who borrowed these ideas at Mönia more than half a century later, made the first flight on September 24, 1852. This difference between the date of the invention of the balloon and the first aircraft flight is due to the lack of engines for the aerostatic aircraft at that time. The next technological breakthrough was committed in 1884, when the first fully managed free flight was carried out on the French military airship with the electric engine La France Charl Renar and Arthur Krebs. The length of the airship was 52 m, the volume - 1900 m³, in 23 minutes it was covered with a distance of 8 km using an 8.5 hp engine.

He had a volume of 2500 cu. m., was equipped with a steam engine with a capacity of 3 liters. from. And developed the speed of about 10 km / h. Steam machines of those years had low power with a large mass and were unsuitable for practical use on aircraft. In the first flight, Zhiffhar could not return to the place of start. The strength of the wind exceeded the modest possibilities of its engine! The heyday of the airship began with the appearance of reliable, lungs and fairly powerful internal combustion engines and fell at the beginning of our century.

October 19, 1901 French aeronaut Alberto Santos-Drammon After a few attempts, flew at a speed of just over 20 km / h Eiffel Tower on his apparatus Santos-Dumont number 6. Then it was counted with Country, but later airship for several decades became one of the most advanced transportation funds. At the same time, when soft airship began to conquer recognition, the development of hard airship was also not in place: they were subsequently they could carry more than aircraft, and this situation was maintained for many decades. The design of such airsholes and its development are associated with the German Graph Ferdinand background with zepelin.

The development of airship went on three constructive directions: soft, semi-rigid, hard.

In the airship of a soft circuit, the housing is served by a shell made of fabric with low gas permeability. The constancy of the shape of the shell is achieved by overpressing gas, filling it and creating lifting force, as well as cylinders, which are soft air containers located inside the case. With the help of a valve system that can either be inserted into the balllors to the air, or to burst it into the atmosphere, constant redundant pressure is maintained inside the housing. If this were not, then inside the shell gas under the influence of external factors - changes in atmospheric pressure when lifting or descent of airship, ambient temperature - would change its volume. Reducing the volume of gas leads to the fact that the body loses its form. As a rule, it ends with a catastrophe.

Hard design elements are a stabilizer, a keel, gondola - attached to the shell with the help of the "paws" sewn or glued to it and connecting the sling.

As every engineering design, the dirly of a soft scheme have their advantages and disadvantages. The latter are quite serious: damage to the shell or fan failure, pumping air into the balllors, lead to catastrophes, the main advantage is a large weighty return.

The soft circuit limits the size of the airship, which, however, causes the relative ease of assembly and disassembly and transport operations.

Soft scheme conduirs were built by many aerial plates. The most successful was the design of the German Major Augustus von Paraseval. His airship climbed into the air on May 26, 1906. Since then, the dirlys are sometimes called "parsewings".

The dependence of the shape of the body from atmospheric factors in the dirijables of the soft circuit was reduced by the introduction into the structure of a rigid kille farm, which, passing from the nose to the feed along the bottom of the case, significantly increases its rigidity in the longitudinal direction. Thus appeared airships of the semi-rigid scheme.

In the airships of this scheme, the casing also serves as a shell with low gas permeability. They need and balloons. The presence of a farm allows you to mount the elements of the airship and place part of the equipment inside it. Conducts of semi-rigid schemes are characterized by larger sizes.

The semi-rigid scheme was developed by the French engineer Zhoyo, the control of sugar factories of the Swan brothers. The construction of the airship was funded by the owners of the factories. Therefore, it is not quite fair, such a scheme of airship is called "Lebodi". The first flight of the airship took place on November 13, 1902.

In the airships of the rigid scheme, the housing is applied from transverse (splint) and longitudinal (stringers) of the power elements, covered outside with a cloth, which is intended only for giving the dirling of proper aerodynamic form. Therefore, no requirements for gas permeability to it are not presented. Blinds in this scheme are not needed, since the invariability of the form is ensured by the power frame. Breaking gas is placed in separate containers inside the hull. There are also almost all ship aggregates, for servicing which "service aisles are envisaged.

The only drawback of such a scheme is that the metal frame design reduces the weight of the payload. It was the rigid scheme that the airship was made by a real ship, able to swim in the air ocean like sea liners. The creator of such airship was an outstanding German engineer and organizer of their production General Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. His first aircraft rose to the air on July 2, 1900. Since then, the name "Zeppelin" has been fixed behind the airspelin.

Mass construction and diverse use of airship, German Aristocrat and Personnel Military Ferdinand Background Zeppelin. Being in the United States during the Civil War, he became interested in the aerostats-intelligence, used by both parties, and, returning to his homeland, began to promote the idea of \u200b\u200bthe aeronautical fleet in the German army. His developments did not find, however, an understanding of the command, and in 1890. The graph, the rationalization enthusiasm of which over many years was tired of the highest ranks, was dismissed from the army in the rank of lieutenant-general on retirement age.

But Zeppelin and did not think to give up. Returning to the places of his childhood - on the shores of the Lake of the Lake - he and he began to spend the money of the family to create the production of airship. Eight years of work were crowned with the launch of the floating assembly shop right on the water stroit of the Lake, the creation of the team of young talented engineers and the acquisition of the Count-Fool's nickname.

First flight of an experimental sample of the airship LZ1 (LZ - Luftschiff. Zeppelin.) I took place on June 2, 1900. The device had a length of 128 m, a tough design (covered with a metal frame with a cloth, inside which was placed in gas-tight cylinders) and driven by two Daimler engines with a capacity of 14.5 hp. Pilotted the aircraft personally count. After a long finalization and improvements by 1906, he managed to create a completely functional model of the LZ2 airship, and in 1908 and the LZ4, where a seventieth-year-old aristocrat lasted in the air as many as 8 hours, flying into the neighboring Switzerland.

Unfortunately, the device was completely destroyed during a thunderstorm, and here the point could be put in the history of the zeppelins, since their creator would be pretended to be pretended by that time. But a miracle happened: fellow citizens suddenly began to help the inventor financially, and Wilhelm II Württemberg ordered to highlight 500,000 brands on the airships. So after the creation of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH Count Fool, according to the same Kaiser Wilhelm II, became the "the greatest German of the XX century."

In 1909, Ferdinand von Zeppelin founded the world's first transport airline in Deutsche Luftschiffahrt AG, and after a year four airships made regular flights inside Germany, for which the appropriate infrastructure with hangars and military masts was created.

Since the beginning of World War II, the Fleet of the airship was actively used by Germans for intelligence, propaganda, and even for bombing of cities, including London and Kale. On August 14, 1914, as a result of one German airship, 60 houses were completely destroyed on Antwerp, another 900 were damaged. Yes, the possibility is slow, at a speed of 80-90 km / h, overcome a couple of thousand kilometers on an inaccessible to aviation and artillery height and engage on the enemy tons of bombs - a powerful deterrent factor.

But, in addition to the advantages, the blatant shortcomings of the air giants appeared. The hydrogen filled with zepelins was fire hazardous, maneuverability left much to be desired, and the dependence on the weather conditions also did not add.

It is interesting to note that Zeppelin himself, perfectly understanding the advantages of a tough scheme, gave proper airships and other structures. He said that "one type of vessel does not exclude the other. It is important only to ensure that they are as best designed, and defects are corrected in the interests of all mankind and culture." Further development of the airships confirmed the validity of his words.

As it often happens, the new achievement of engineering thought served, first of all, not flowing culture, but directly opposite goals. For the first time in combat actions, the airships were used by the Italians in 1911-1912. During the war with Turkey. With their help, intelligence operations were carried out and bombing strikes were applied. During the First World War, Germany was an unconditional leader in the field of dijalker. During the war years, it was built: in the UK - 10 airships, in Italy - 7, in France - 1, in the USA - 6. Kaiserovskaya Germany has built about 76 airships, of which 63 zeppelin and 9 designs of Professor Schute Lanz with a wooden frame. Russia used three aircraft "Chernomor" aircraft. Germany entered into a war with three airships: L3, L4, L5.

In total, 1210 combat departures were committed on the German chapels. Of the 75 warships are lost during the war years as a result of the fighting 52: destroyed with the crew 19, 33 due to shelling or accidents captured by the British after landing. By the end of the war, Germany remained only 7 airships. The Germans widely used zeppelins for bombardments of England. The first fall took place on January 15, 1915. According to the training directive, the airships should begin bombardment from the Buckingham Palace and government residences, then the Military Factory and residential neighborhoods turn. In one of the night feet, the Airship L-22 (36000 m³ volume) took on board 24 bombs 50 kg, 2 bombs of 100 kg and 2 to 300 kg. At the pickle to York, a huge cigar came across the rays of the spotlights and was shot down by fire of anti-aircraft guns. Fighter aviation has become a big danger of the airship. Since on January 31, 1916, 9 chapelins were shot down by English aircraft over the sea. To escape from fighters and anti-aircraft guns, the airships rose at a height of up to 5 km, where the crew suffered from low temperatures and lack of oxygen.

Airship accompanies German warships squadron

Due to the constantly increasing protective measures, the enemy of the chapelins for the front was built two sizes, like "L 50" and "L 70".

The main distinguishing features "L 50" were: five engines, each 260 hp, which could develop sufficient speed even in rarefied high atmospheric layers; four propeller (two rear engines joined one propeller); central passage, vessel length 196.5 m; width 23.9 m; Gas volume is 55,000 cubic meters. m; speed of 30 m / s (approximately 110 km / h); Run weight 38 tons. Type "L 70": seven engines, each at 260 hp; six propellers; central passage, vessel length 211.5 m; The largest diameter of 23.9 m; Gas volume 62,000 cubic meters. m; speed, 35 m / s (130 km / h); Running weight 43 tons.

"L 50" had a team of 21 people, and "L 70" out of 25. The crew consisted of: 1 commander, 1 officer - observer, 1 apartment, 1 Chief Engineer, 2 rigging (senior signaleler), 2 people on balancing mechanisms (Boatswain), 2 Motorists (junior officers) for each engine, 1 steering, 1 telegraphist, and 1 telegraph for wireless telegraph. The names of posts are not accidental, the airships were part of the Kaiser Marine Fleet.

The airships carried two machine guns, and later than 20 mm cannon. The ammunition consisted of incendiary bombs weighing 11.4 kg, and fugasically fragmentation bombs weighing 50, 100, and 300 kg.

The airships were used by the German army for sea intelligence. At the beginning of the war, the hydroslists did not exist. Later, the airships were able to rise to a height of 6,000 meters, which was not available for airplanes.

The base of the aircraft were posted as close as possible to the coast, and had enough area for takeoff and landing; But they had to be deep enough on land to eliminate the danger of an unexpected attack from the sea. The fleet had the following airships on the North Sea coast: Nordholz under Cuxhaven, Ahlhorn near Oldenburg, Wittmundshaven (East Friesland), Tondern (Schleswig-Holstein). The base of Hage, south of Norderney, was thrown.

In January 1918, when, due to spontaneous self-burning of one of the airships in Ahlhorn, the fire was spread to neighboring hangars, and four "zeppelin" and one Schute-Lantz were lost. All hangars, except one, were in disrepair. After that, the German fleet had only 9 aircraft at their disposal. From Autumn 1917, the construction of airship was limited, because the material necessary for the construction of airship was necessary for more promising airplanes. From this date, only one airship was ordered per month.

In peacetime, the achievement of the airship continued to surprise the world. In 1928, Zeppelin LZ-127 made a flight in the United States through antlaitik, and next year, he flew around the globe with three landings. These successes attracted the attention of the Soviet community to the airships. The "airship-based boom" reached Moscow with a arrival of LZ-127 to the capital. In September 1930, he sank at the central airfield. Regarding this event, N. Allyluweva wrote I. Stalin, who was on vacation in the south: "All of us in Moscow entertained the arrival of Zeppelin, it was a spectacle, really worthy of attention. I looked at all Moscow on this wonderful machine." The arrival of LZ-127 left a deep mark in our society that in 1991 to the 50th anniversary of this event, the USSR Ministry of Communications has released a series of postage stamps dedicated to the airships. At one of them, "Graph Zeppelin" is depicted against the background of the christ of Christ the Savior.

Ferdinand von Zeppelin died in 1917, and his company was headed by her former press attache Hugo Ecker. Although, according to post-war agreements, Germany was forbidden to have double-purpose aircraft, the ecienter managed to persuade the authorities to build a transatlantic giant airship of a rigid design on helium. By 1924, LZ126 appeared. It is curious that he was transferred to the United States to the reparations account and under the name "Los Angeles" stood in service with the American Navy.

By that time, the English Aircraft R-34 was already flewing at the Atlantic (in 1919), and in industrialized powers began the rapid growth of the airships. Used as a communal mast. The 102nd floor of this building was initially a moral platform with similar lifting on airship. The popularity of the airship was reflected even in one of the films Stephen Spielberg on the adventures of Indiana Jones, in one of which hero Harrison Ford and his father performed by Sean about "Connery flew on the chapel. But the giants from the giants were the creations of all the same Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH . The first of them - the Airclab "Graf Zeppelin" (LZ127), built to the 90th anniversary of his "father", in September 1929 began transatlantic flights. In the same year, LZ127 with three intermediate landings made the legendary circulation flight, overcoming 20 days more than 34,000 km with an average flight rate of about 115 km / h. He performed regular flights until 1936, awarded the image on the postage stamp during the Pan American tour and graduated from "Life" in 1940, being destroyed by order of Hitler's Aviation Minister Germany German Gering.

The largest creation of the company Zeppelin was LZ129 "Hindenburg": 245 m in length, the maximum diameter - 41.2 m, 200,000 cubic meters of gas in cylinders, 4 Daimler-Benz engine at 1200 hp Each, up to 100 tons of pay and speed up to 35 km / h. Flights with passengers, including Northern and South America, Gindenburg began in May 1936. In the same 1936 he made the fastest, just 43-hour, flight through the North Atlantic. By May 1937, 37 flights across the Atlantic Ocean, transporting about 3,000 people.

Approximately $ 400 "Graph Zeppelin" and "Hindenburg" offered their passengers very comfortable conditions. Travelers relied a separate cabin with a shower. Kind time in flight was possible, taking care of the spacious glazed salon, to the services of passengers - a restaurant with real tables, chairs, mandatory silver appliances and piano (though, a little reduced in size). For smokers, a special room decorated asbestos, where at the same time up to 24 people could simultaneously taking advantage of the only lighter on board. The remaining flammable items were withdrawn at the entrance to the board, and this was the only serious restriction for travelers.

This flying airship was created and named after the Reich Spronsident of Germany, Paula von Hindenburg. Its construction was completed in 1936, and a year later, at that time airship in the world, crashed.

Construction of Zeppelin Lz 129 "Hindenburg" took about five years.

The first rise in the air, and the test flight took place the fourth of March 1936.

The giant waterfowl shocked its scale: 245 meters long, and 41.2 meters in diameter.

At the same time, the volume of gas in the cylinders was 200 thousand cubic meters!

The speed of the airship at zero wind could reach 135 km / h.

For passengers on board were equipped with a restaurant with a kitchen, an observation deck, 25 bedrooms, showers, a lounge, a reading room and a smoking room.

Most metal elements were made of aluminum. Even the piano.

At that time, Gindenburg became a record holder, overcoming the path from Europe to America in 43 hours.

The last flight for Zeppelin was the 38th in the account.

Safely overcome for 77 hours atlantic ocean, the airship failed.

This happened during the landing on the American military base of the Leukhurst of the sixth of May 1937.

In his last flight, he went on May 3, 1937. By morning, on May 6, he had already arrived in New York. After several laps above the city and span over the crowd of journalists on the top platform, Empire State Building "Hindenburg" headed towards the Baza Leukhurst, where he should have landed. Since the thunderstorm raged in the city, the landing permission was received only in the evening. Already when the landing cables were reset, an explosion occurred in the 4th gas compartment area and the airship instantly caught fire. The efforts of Captain Max Prussa The burning "Hindenburg" still managed to plant, thanks to which 62 of the 97 passengers were on board.

The causes of the disaster so completely and have not been identified. Versions There are several.

This catastrophada did not become the largest in the history of the airship, and the Zeppelin himself did not remain the largest in history. However, the history of its existence and death is one of the most famous vessels in the history of waterfowl.

It was a disaster for the entire airships. In 1938, LZ130 was built, the second "Graph Zeppelin", but almost immediately in Germany, a law was adopted, prohibiting the passenger flights of airships on hydrogen, and it was not possible to fly. However, during World War II, US Navy used small conduits of the class "K", which could be in the air to 50 hours to detect German submarines. One of them on the night of July 18 to July 19, 1943 attacked the submarine U-134 in the surface position and as a result of the battle was shot down. This is the only clashing in World War II with the participation of airship.

In the USSR, during the Great Patriotic War in ensuring combat operations, according to some data, four airships are "USSR B-1", "USSR B-12", "Kid" and "Victory". One of the most important of their tasks was to transport hydrogen to refuel the balloon's balloon. One of the departure of the airship with a passing cargo was enough to refuel 3-4 aerostats. The airships transported 194 580 cubic meters of hydrogen and 319 190 kg of various goods. In total, over the years of World War II, Soviet airships performed more than 1,500 flights. And in the Soviet Union in 1945, a special aeronautic detachment was organized on the Black Sea to search for mines and sunken ships. For this purpose in September 1945, all the same "victory", with which the observers happened to find mines and after repeated trawling of the bay were blocked in Sevastopol.

Projects using airship periodically appear in different countries so far. For example, "AeroPraft" from NASA is a airship capable of holding on the surface of the water. It is assumed that the AeroPraft will fly mainly over the ocean expanses, transport and passengers are faster than sea vessels, and cheaper than aircraft. British engineer and inventor Roger Mank, the last twenty years, offers several interesting ideas at once. Among them, for example, submitted in three modifications SkyCat with a carrying capacity of 15, 200 and even 1000 tons. There are also developments of Swiss Prospective Concepts AG. Count Count Background Lives. Although still does not wins.

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Aeros Aviation Company, based in Montebello, California, USA, presented the first frames of the fully finished aircraft Aeroscraft. This is not a plane, not a helicopter and not a airship, but something average - a real revolution in industry a hundred years ago, how to assure the CEO company Igor Pasternak. In the next two months, Aeroscraft will be tested in flight mode. ...

End of the article about modern airships . Well, no way wants to fit in the frame of the post LJ,

Let me remind you now any aviation theme, for example, long time already or

Airship, drawn by Albert Robid in Steampunk style.

First flights

Nevertheless, these devices were short-lived and extremely fragile. Regular controlled flights were not performed until the internal combustion engine appears.

On October 19, 1901, the French aeronaut Alberto Santos Dramon after several attempts had sunk at a speed of just over 20 km / h Eiffel Tower on his apparatus Santos-Duram number 6. Then it was counted with cuisia, but later the airship for several decades has become one of the most advanced Vehicle. At the same time, when soft airship began to conquer recognition, the development of hard airship was also not in place: they were subsequently they could carry more than aircraft, and this situation was maintained for many decades. The design of such airsholes and its development are associated with the German Graph Ferdinand background with zepelin.

Zappelins

Zeppelin over summer garden

The construction of the first diro-chapels began in 1899 on a floating assembly workshop at the Lake Bodensky in the Gulf of Manzelle, Friedrichshafen. It was organized on the lake in order to simplify the start procedure, since the workshop could sail in the wind. The experimental Airship "LZ 1" had a length of 128 m and was balanced by way of moving between two gondolas; On it were installed two engine daimler with a capacity of 14.2 hp ..

The first flight of the chapelin took place on July 2, 1900. It lasted only 18 minutes, because LZ 1 was forced to land on the lake after the weight balancing mechanism broke. After repairing the apparatus, the hardwood technology was successfully tested in subsequent flights, beats the record record of the French airship of La France on 3 m / s, but this was still not enough to attract significant investments in the airshipustation. Required financing has received in a few years. Already the first flights of his airship convincingly showed the prospects for their use in military affairs.

By 1906, Zeppelin managed to build an improved airship that was interested in the military. For military purposes, initially semi-rigid, and then soft airships "Parseval", as well as the "Zeppelin" airspelin; In 1913, a tight airship "Schute-Lantz" was adopted. Comparative tests of these aeronautics in 1914 showed the superiority of the airship of a rigid type. The latter at a length of 150 m and the volume of the shell of 22,000 m³ raised to 8,000 kg of payload, having a maximum height of lifting of 2200 m. With three motors with a capacity of 210 hp Each they reached the speed of 21 m / s. The payload included 10-kilogram bombs and 15-centimeter and 21-centimeter grenades, as well as radio telegraph equipment. In 1910, the first air passenger line of Friedrichshafen-Düsseldorf was opened in Europe, which was running by the airship "Germany". In January 1914, Germany on the total and the combat qualities of their airship had the most powerful aeronautical fleet in the world.

Tsiolkovsky project

The first technically sound project of a large cargo dirojabl was proposed in the 1980s of the XIX century by the Great Russian scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.

Model Aerostat Tsiolkovsky

Unlike many of its contemporaries, Tsiolkovsky offered to build a huge even for today's standards - the volume of up to 500,000 m³ - airship of a rigid design with a metal trim.

The design studies of the ideas of the Tsiolkovsky, held in the 30s by the employees of the "Doriizbestroy" of the USSR, showed the validity of the proposed concept. However, the airship could not be built: for the most part of work on major airships due to numerous accidents, not only in the USSR were cooled, but also throughout the world. Despite the numerousness of the projects for the revival of the concept of large airships, they are still not going to the constructors from the Klamans.

German Naval Zepelin L 20 after a forced landing near the coast of Norway, 1916

Baptism of fire

View from the Gondola of French Airship in 1918.

Dirijabl raid on Kale

The prospect of the use of airship as bombers was understood in Europe long before the airships were used in this role. G. Wells in his book "War in Air" described the destruction of whole fleets and cities by combat airships.

Unlike airplanes, the airships at the beginning of the world war were already a formidable force. Russia was the most powerful airproof powers, which had a large "aeronautical park" in St. Petersburg with more than two dozen apparatuses, and Germany, which had 18 airships. Of all the countries participating in world war, Austro Hungarian air forces were among the weakest. The Military Air Fleet of Austria-Hungary on the eve of the First World War included only 10 airships. Military airships were directly subordinate to the main command; Sometimes they attached to the fronts or armies. At the beginning of the war, the airships carried out combat mission under the leadership of the officers of the General Staff sent to the airships. In this case, the director of the airship was assigned the role of a watched officer. Due to the success of the design solutions of the graph of Zeppelin and the firm, Schute-Lantz Germany had significant superiority over all other countries of the world in this area, which, with proper use, could bring much benefit, in particular for deep intelligence. German devices could overcome with a speed of 80-90 km / h during 2-4 thousand km and enter the target several tons of bombs. For example, on August 14, 1914, as a result of one German airship, 60 houses were completely destroyed on Antwerp, another 900 were damaged. However, by September 1914, losing 4 apparatus, German airships switched only for night operations. Huge and smooth, they were an excellent goal for the enemy's armed airplanes, although to protect against attack on top on the upper part of their housing there was a platform with several machine guns, moreover, they were filled with extremely fire hazard hydrogen. Obviously, they were inevitably needed to replace cheaper, maneuverable and resistant to combat damaging devices.

"Golden Age" airship

LZ 127 "Graph Zeppelin"

restaurant at "Hindenburg"

salon on "Hindenburg"

After graduating from the First World War in the USA, France, Italy, Germany and other countries, the construction of airships of various systems continued. The years between the first and second world wars are noted by significant progress in the airship technology. The first apparatus is easier than air, the British airship R34 became the British Aircraft R34, which in July 1919, with a team on board, made a flight from East Lothian, Scotland to Long Island, New York, and then returned to Pulham, England. In 1924, the transatlantic flight of the German airship LZ 126 took place.

In 1926, the joint Norwegian-Italian-American Expedition under the leadership of R. Amundsen on the "Norway" airship of the design of Umberto Nobile was carried out by the first transacctic flight about. Spitsbergen - North Pole - Alaska. By 1929, the airship technology has advanced to a very high level; Airship Count Zeppelin in September and October began the first transatlantic flights. In 1929, LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin" with three intermediate landings made his legendary round-the-world flight. In 20 days, he overcame more than 34 thousand kilometers with an average flight speed of about 115 km / h.

German chapels caused great interest in the 1920s and 1930s, and in 1930, the US post office released special dijage mail stamps for use during the Pan American Flight of the Airclab "Count Zhepelin".

In the summer of 1931, his famous flight took place in the Arctic, and soon the airship began to fulfill relative to regular passenger flights to South America, which was continued until 1937. Traveling in the airship of this era for comfort significantly exceeded the then airplanes. A restaurant with a kitchen and a salon often had a restaurant with a kitchen and a salon. The weight of this equipment was certainly tried to reduce, so instead of the baths were offered a soul, and everything that was possible was made of aluminum, and the piano on "Hindenburg" was made of it. British hard airship R101 had 50 single, two- and four-bed passenger cabins with bedrooms located on two decks, dining room for 60 people, two walking decks with windows along the walls. Passengers were used mainly upper deck. On the bottom there were kitchens and toilets, and also accommodated the crew. There was even a decisive room for smoking room for 24 people. At "Hindenburg" there was a ban on smoking. Everyone who was on board, including passengers, were obliged to pass matches, lighters and other devices that can cause a spark. One of the largest airships in the world - the American "Acron" nominal volume of 184 thousand m³ - could carry up to 5 small aircraft, several tons of cargo and theoretically was able to overcome about 17 thousand km away.

Airship "USSR-B6"

In the Soviet Union, the first airship was built in 1923. Later, a special organization "Dirijabestra" was created, which built and put into operation more than ten airshabled soft and semi-vegetable systems. In 1937, the largest Soviet Airship "USSR-B6" volume of 18,500 m³ set the world record of flight duration - 130 hours 27 minutes. The last Soviet airship was "USSR-B12 BIS", built in 1947.

Sunset era of airship

It is believed that the airship era was over in 1937, when the German passenger airship-liner "Hindenburg" burned down when landing in Lakehurst. Hindenburg, as well as the earlier fight for the WinGed Foot Express dijajabl on July 21, 1919 in Chicago, in which 12 civilians died, had a negative effect on the reputation of airships as reliable aircraft. The aunts filled with explosive gas was rarely burned and endured an accident, but their catastrophes caused much greater destruction compared to the aircraft of that time. Public resonance from the Airship catastrophe was incomparably higher than from the disaster of airplanes, and the active exploitation of the airship was discontinued. Perhaps this would not have happened if the Zeppelin company had access to a sufficient amount of helium.

Grade airship gondola

Class K. airship

At that time, the USA had the highest reserves of helium, however, the German company at that time could hardly expect to deliver helium from the USA. However, ambitious soft airships, such as soft conduits of class M and class to the nominal volume of 18 thousand m³ and 12 thousand m³, the US Navy was actively used during World War II as an intelligence aircraft intended to combat German submarines. . Their tasks included not only the detection of submarines, but also the defeat of their deep bombs. In this role they were quite effective and applied before the appearance of reliable helicopters. These airships developed speed up to 128 km / h and could be in flight up to 50 hours. The last airship class K-43 was removed from weapons in March 1959. The only airship shot down in World War II was the American K-74, which on the night of July 18 to July 19, 1943 attacked the U-134 submarine at the highest-east coast of Florida. The submarine noticed a airship and opened the fire first. Airship, without dropping deep bombs because of the operator's error, fell into the sea and sank in a few hours, 1 member of the crew of 10 drowned. During the Second World War, the following types of airship were used in the US Navy

ZMC: airship, with metallized sheath
Znn-g: airship type G
ZNN-J: Dirirt type J
ZNN-L: Airship type L
Znp-k: airship type K
Znp-M: Airship type M
Znp-n: Dirizhable type n
ZPG-3W: Trouble Airship
Zr: airship of a rigid construction
ZRS: Hard construction diirship

In 1942-1944, about 1400 aircraft pilots and 3,000 crew members were trained in military schools, the number of persons serving in the units engaged in the exploitation of airship increased from 430 to 12400. In the US, the US conducted at the Goodyear factory in Akron, Ohio . From 1942 to 1945, 154 airships were issued for the US Navy and, moreover, five L-class airships for civil customers.

ZPG-3W in 1960 Volume: 23648 m³

In the late 1950s, the US Navy received ZPG-3W - the largest soft airship in history. It was used to fill the radar space between ground radar stations in the North American Early Warning Network during the Cold War. ZPG-3W is a rare example of using the internal space of the airship - a huge radio antenna was located inside the helium cylinder. Four such airship were delivered to US Navy. The first flight of ZPG-3W took place in July 1958. The case of the airship was used as a fairing for a 12.8 m radar antenna, thereby ensuring the aigendum of the airship. The airship was more than 121.9 m long and almost 36.6 m height. Airship could be in flight for many days. ZPG-3W were the last of the airship created for the US Navy, they were written off in November 1962, when the US Navy stopped using airship. It is believed that the Radar type AN / APS-70 with its huge antenna is still the best on-board radar system for detecting aircraft, since due to the use of low frequency radio filters, it did not depend on good weather for optimal work.

The Soviet Union used only one airship during the war. Airship B-12 was built in 1939 and entered into order in 1942 to prepare paratroopers and transport equipment. Until 1945, he made 1432 flights. On February 1, 1945, the second airship of the class B was built in the USSR - he was used as a mine trailer in the Black Sea. He broke on January 21, 1947. Another airship of this class - B-12Bis "Patriot" - was commissioned in 1947 and was mainly used to prepare crews, parades and propaganda events.

Catastrophe

Wheel "Hindenburg"

The creators of the airship neglected elementary safety measures, filling them in unsafe, but cheap hydrogen instead of an inert, but expensive and low-cost helium.

In March 1936, the successor of the aging "chapeline graph" was created - airship LZ 129 "Hindenburg", designed to use a safe helium. However, the required quantities of helium were at the time only in the United States, which introduced an embargo on the export of military materials in Hitler's Germany. I had to fill the "Hindenburg" cylinders affordable hydrogen.

The incessant series of accidents and disasters seriously undermined faith in the reliability and feasibility of using the airship. On May 6, 1937, Gindenburg burned down in front of the audience, 35 people on board and one on Earth died. In peacetime, American hard airships "Shenandoa", Akron and Maison, British "R.38" and "R.101", Dixmunde, died in a peacetime in catastrophes. As long as the causes of the disaster, the further progress of aviation left the alarm era behind.

Among the experts who studied the causes of the death of large airships, in particular "Acron" and "Hindenburg", the opinion was expressed about the shell or containers with gas that occurred on the maneuver with a small radius of circulation.

Russia, USSR

On the territory of large countries there are many places where it is extremely problematic to deliver cargo in the land by land or using other types of aircraft. Airsholes can benefit, for example, in the study of the Arctic, with geo-survey in Siberia and Polar. The Arctic has long attracted the attention of the bold naturalists who studied it especially intensively since the end of the XIX century. Important oceanic observations were made by the expedition of Norwegian polar researchers F. Nansen on a sailing ship "Fram" and R. Amundsen on the mod "mod". The latter also led in 1926 the first flight on the Norway airship through the North Pole from Svalbard to America. The warrior of the airship was the Italian engineer W. Nobile. In 1928, Wobile was headed by the Italian expedition to the North Pole at the ITALY Airship, the injured accident.

"... There is still at least one country in the world, where the airships could develop and are widely used. This is the Soviet Union with its extensive territory, for the most part of the plain. Here, especially in the north of Siberia, the huge distances separate one settlement from the other. This complicates the construction of highways and railways. But meteorological conditions are very favorable for airship flights. "
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The commemorative coin of the Bank of Russia dedicated to the research of the Russian Arctic. At the top of the left - airplane, on the right - airship, in the center - a sailing ship in the ice, to the right of it - the portrait of R. Amundsen, below - dates in two lines: "1918 1926."

In the second half of the XIX century, the airplane gradually occupied its place in the Russian army - air balloons were in service. At the end of the century, a separate aeronautical park operated at the disposal of the commission on aeronautics, pigeon mail and watchdogs. On maneuvers of 1902-1903 in Red Selo, Brest and wine, methods for using balloons in artillery and for air intake were checked. Making advantage of the feasibility of applying binding balls, the military ministry decided to create special divisions in the fortresses in Warsaw, Novgorod, Brest, Kovno, Osovo and the Far East, which included 65 balls. The production of airship in Russia has begun in 1908.

At the end of 1931, at the General Directorate of Slavs-valve, the organization was created by the organization "Airsportra". The airship should be designed, producing and operating airships, as well as improve the methods of their operation. In April 1932, the territory of the central aeronautical base of Osoaviahima was transferred to the Dolgoprudnaya station, where the construction of a wooden halling, a plant for the production of hydrogen and other buildings began.

The company began to work on May 5, 1932 called the "Doriizabestra". In May 1932, the airship preserved from Leningrad three airship of soft type: USSR B-1, USSR B-2 and USSR B-3. They were intended for training and campaigning and testing them in the national economy. On November 7, 1932, four Soviet airship were held over Red Square: B-1, B-2, B-3 and B-4. By 1933, the USSR took possession of the design, construction and operation of a soft type airshole. The airshill was tasked: organize the production of airship of a single-industrial type. For this, the Italian airship designer Umberto Nobile was invited to the USSR. Nobile, along with a group of Italian specialists, arrived in Dolgoprudny in May 1932. At the end of February 1933, Nobile, together with Soviet engineers, created the first Soviet semi-rigid airship of the USSR B-5. On April 27, 1933, B-5 \u200b\u200bmade his first flight lasting for 1 hour 15 minutes. In 1933, B-5 \u200b\u200bperformed more than 100 flights.

In 1940, the "Airshipster of the USSR" existed before the war was canned. During the war, his base carried out some work on the preparation of balloons, as well as modifications of existing aeronautical equipment, including soft airships. From 1940 to 1956, all works related to the creation and construction of aeronautical equipment were supervised by the 13th Laboratory of the TsAGI from Zhukovsky. In 1956, mass penetrations of the USSR of unmanned aerostats-scouts were recorded, which in the mode of permanent drift at the height carried out aerial photographs of Soviet facilities. Special decision of the USSR government was decided to recreate the industrial potential for the development and creation of a variety of aeronautical equipment. The basic enterprise of OKB-424 was formed on the territory of the former "Doriizbestroy" in the city of Dolgoprudny. The head of the OKB-424 was appointed M.I. Beeps. In the post-war time, on the basis of DCBA, the airships were created as prototypes and experimental samples. In 1958, this OKB was created by a large stratostat for testing equipment and preparation of pilots to perform SS-Volga space flights. On November 1, 1962, a record parachute jumping Andreev and Dolgov was committed on it. In the late 1970s, on request of the Air Force, a lens-shaped airship was developed in the DCBA. Within this project, a 15-meter airship prototype was created in the form of a lens, which even passed a number of tests.

In the early 1980s, the calculations of airship were made for the needs of the Navy, but because of the problems that began with financing during recreation reforms, the project was conserved.

After the collapse of the USSR, the State Enterprise "DKBA" received the status of a "federal unitary state-owned enterprise" and led the Russian branch of aeronautical technologies, or rather, became the rod enterprise of the emerging industry.

In the 1990s, DCBA develops a system of airship of a soft design of a 2DP with a lifting capacity of about 3 tons, and after revising the technical design and instructions for the need to create a device with greater lifting capacity, the project continues under the name "Dorizhable DS-3". In 2007, an externalproject of this apparatus was prepared.

Today, on the basis of FSUE DCBA, the development of airship with a lifting capacity of 20, 30, 55, 70, 200 tons is underway. A significant part of the work was carried out on the project of the "Lens-like" form of DP-70T, which is intended for transporting goods with non-elling year-round operation in all climatic zones. On a constructive basis of this airship, there are variants of airship with a lifting capacity of 200-400 tons.

The development of a multifunctional airship of a half-life DP-4 design with a lifting capacity of 4-5 tons is also underway. For greater competitiveness, FSUE DKBA is working for airshable projects using standard aircraft components and nodes, including chassis, engines, avionics, which provides high quality products with a significant decrease in production costs.

Airsholes - huge gas-filled designs - appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. For several decades, everyone perceived them with enthusiasm and considered a practical and effective solution for transportation with the comfort of a large number of people or carriage of military cargo. But in the 1930s, a tragedy happened, which radically changed the attitude towards the airships. Today, after almost a century, the airships are returned to the arena again, but already in a new guise.

The death of "Hindenburg" on May 6, 1937 became the end of the airship. View of a giant German zeppelin, falling in the flame near Leukhherst, New Jersey, frightened people. The airship burned out in seconds, 35 out of 97 passengers died, and photographs and newsreels of a terrible event caused shock in people around the world.

It is not surprising that the popularity of flights in massive structures filled with gas fell to zero, and the industry has not been restored. But the dream of traveling in the devices is lighter than air until now. Therefore, government agencies and private companies continue to experiment with huge airships to this day.

1. Aeroscraft ML866

Aeroscraft Corporation engineers took up a tremendal task - to build a airship with an internal space area of \u200b\u200b465 square meters.

Presented as a "flying yacht", Aeroscraft ML866 is currently under construction, and will be completed in 2020. CEO and chief engineer of the company Igor Pasternak stated that the size of the airship will be 169 meters in length and 29 meters in width. For comparison, the dimensions of "Hindenburg" accounted for 245 meters in length and 41 meters wide, and the internal useful area is about 557 square meters.

The Aeroscraft ML866 cylinders will be injected helium, and not flammable hydrogen, which caused a fire on "Hindenburg".

When operating, the new airship will be able to reach a cruising height of 3,658 meters and will be able to fly to 5,000 kilometers. The stated load capacity is 66 tons.

2. Airlander 10.

Currently, the world's largest aircraft on helium is Airlander 10 - designed and manufactured by the British company Hybrid Air Vehicles a device that combines helicopter and aircraft technology. In length, it reaches 92 meters (for comparison, the largest passenger aircraft AIRBUS A380 is only 71 meters long).

The cruising height of the airship is 6,100 m, while it can be in flight up to two weeks without any people on board and about five days with the crew. Airlander 10 can take off and land "almost from any surface." The stated load capacity is 9,980 kilograms.

Airlander 10 went to his first flight on August 17, 2016, flew in 19 minutes 10 kilometers in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. At the same time, it reached a height of 152 m.

3. Fireball Finder

After on April 22, 2012 in the California coast, the "Fire Ball of the Bowl with a Minibus" crashed from space, the team of scientists rose to the "Zeppelin Eurka" to take a cruise on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and find fragments of a meteorite on Earth.

On May 3 of the same year, researchers from NASA and the institute of searching for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) climbed to a height of 300 m on the airship, the length of which was 75 m (a little more of the Boeing 747 aircraft). For a 5-hour flight, they searched for crater, which could mark places where pieces of meteorite crashed into the ground.

4. Walrus.

Within the framework of the Walrus program, a hybrid airship is developed in the management of prospective research projects of the US Department of Defense (DARPA), which will be heavier than air, and the lift will be generated by a combination of aerodynamics, vector of thrust and generation of volatile gas.

Darpa representatives stated that these modern airships are designed with the help of advanced technologies to overcome the design problems faced by the airships in earlier era.

5. THE FALCON PROJECT

Can airship finally solve the mystery of the alleged existence of an elusive humanoid, known as "Bigfut" or "Snowy man." The Falcon project operators think it is possible.

To this end, representatives of the Falcon project announced in 2012 that they will start searching for a two-way beast, running the flying apparatus remotely controlled helium to observe from the sky, where it was supposedly seen this creature. Built to order 14-meter Aurora MK II will hunt by Big Foot, scanning the landscape using antennas and high-resolution cameras that are removed in different ranges and spectra.

6. Fishing airship

Unlike the zeppelins, the airship has no internal base that supports their "skin", and they retain their shape exclusively due to gas pressure, which inflates them from the inside. Such flexibility prompted researchers to start developing the type of power plant, in which artificial muscles are used to promote airship through the air, just like the fish floats in water. The so-called muscles are elastic polymer films (EAP), which are expanding and compressed when a collision with electricity.

7. Zeppelin NT.

In 2008, the design company Airship Ventures in California acquired a 12-passenger chapelin worth $ 12 million - Zeppelin NT, built by the German company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH for use on excursion purposes.

The clospelins returned to Germany's heavens in 1997, when the first prototype Zeppelin NT was launched, and this is the first chapel, which will appear in California since the 1930s (then the heavens of the Aerial Ships of the US Navy Macon and USS Akron).

Zeppelin NT air ships 75 m long significantly shorter than massive "Hindenburg" (245 m). In addition, unlike "Hindenburg", modern chapelins are pumped up with helium, which is somewhat less volatile than hydrogen, but also much less flammable.

However, on the development of one-day airship, modern constructors do not stop. One of the latest developments began when it is really necessary.

Once abandoning the airship, in our days, humanity finds more advantages in these aircraft more advantages and benefits. But the appearance of a mighty ship swimming across the sky, attracts so much to himself that it is already for the sake of this majestic spectacle that they will be returned ...

As a rule, articles about modern airships begin with memories of how almost 70 years ago, the giant German Zeppelin "Hindenburg" died on the American air base, and three years later, Herman Geering ordered the remaining airships on scrap metal and undermine the hangars. The era of the airship was then over, they usually write journalists, but now interest in controlled balloons is actively reborn again. However, the overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens if they see the "revived" airships, then only on various kinds of anelone - they are usually used as original advertising media. Is it all that these amazing air ships are capable of? To find out who and why need today, the airships had to turn to specialists building airships in Russia.

Pros and cons

Airship is a managed self-devoid balloon. Unlike the usual air "ball, which flies" exclusively in the direction of the wind and can maneuver only in height in an attempt to catch the wind of the desired direction, the airship is able to move relative to the ambient air masses in the direction selected by the pilot. For this purpose, the aircraft is equipped with one or several engines, stabilizers and steering, and also has an aerodynamic ("cigar-shaped") form. At one time, the airships "killed" not so much a series of horrible catastrophes, how much aviation developed in the first half of the twentieth century with a super-fast pace. The airship isxicious - even a plane with piston engines flies faster. What to talk about turboprop and jet machines. Discharge the airship to aircraft speeds hinders a large sailboat of the case - the air resistance is too large. True, from time to time they speak about projects of ultra-low airships, which will rise to where the air is strongly resolved, which means that it resistance is significantly less. This allegedly will allow developing speed a few hundred kilometers per hour. However, so far such projects are worked out only at the level of the concept.

On August 17, 2006, Pilot Stanislav Fedorov reached on the thermal airship of the Russian production AU-35 ("Polar Gus") of 8180 meters. So the world record that lasted 90 years and owned by the German airship Zeppelin L-55 was broken. The "Polar Goose" record became the first step in the implementation of the high start program - the project of the Russian aeronautical society and the Metropol Group of Companies on the launch of lightweight spacecraft with high-altitude airships. In case of success of this project, an advanced aerostate-space complex will be created in Russia, which can economically take private satellite into orbit weighing up to 10-15 kilograms. One of the estimated areas of use of the "High Start" complex is the launch of geophysical missiles for the study of the indoor regions of the Arctic Ocean.

Losing aviation at speeds, controlled balloons at the same time have a number of important advantages, due to which the airship resistant is reborn. Firstly, the force that raises the air force in the air (known to everyone with a school bench the power of Archimedes) is completely free and does not require energy costs, unlike the lifting force of the wing, which directly depends on the velocity of the device, which means that the engine power. Dirifying the same engines are needed mainly to move in a horizontal plane and maneuvering. Therefore, the aircraft of this type can be done by motors of significantly lower power than they would need an aircraft with an equal amount of payload. From here, and this is already secondly, the ecological purity of airship is leaking compared to the winged aircraft, which is extremely important in our time.

The third plus airship is their practically unlimited loading capacity. The creation of super-propelled airplanes and helicopters has limitations on the strength characteristics of structural materials. For the airship there are no such restrictions, and the aircraft with a payload, for example, 1000 tons - not at all fiction. Add here the opportunity to stay in the air for a long time, the lack of necessity in airfields with long runways and greater safety of flights - and we will have an impressive list of advantages that are completely balanced slowness. However, the slowness, as it turned out, can be attributed to the advantages of the aircraft. But more on that later.

In the airships, three main types of design are highlighted: soft, rigid and semi-rigid. Almost all modern airships belong to a soft type. In the English-language literature they are denoted by the term "blimp". During World War II, the American army actively used "blime" to observe the coastal waters and convoy of ships. The rigid frames are often called "zeppelin" in honor of the inventor of this design of the Count Friedrich von Zeppelin (1838 - 1917).

Helicopter competitor

Our country is one of the world's world resurgent centers. The leader of the industry is a group of companies "Rosaerosystems". Talking with her vice-president Mikhail Tesznikov, we found out how modern Russian airships are arranged, where and how they are used and what awaits us ahead.

Today, there are two types of airships created by Rosaerosystem designers. The first type is a double airship AU-12 (shell length 34 m). The devices of such a model exist in three copies, and two of them from time to time are used by the Moscow police to patrol the Moscow Ring Road. The third airship is sold to Thailand and is used there as an advertising media.

Semi-residential type airsholes are distinguished by the presence in the lower part of the shell, as a rule, a metal farm that prevents the shell deformation, however, as in a soft design, the shape of the shell is maintained by the pressure of the lifting gas. The semi-rigid type includes modern German airships "Zeppelin NT", having inside the shell supporting carbon fiber frame.

Much more interesting work at the airships of the AU-30 system. The devices of this model are characterized by larger dimensions (shell length 54 m) and, accordingly, greater carrying capacity. Gondola AU-30 is able to accommodate ten people (two pilots and eight passengers). As Mikhail Talenikov told us, there are currently negotiations with stakeholders about the possibility of organizing elite air tours. Flying at low altitude and at low speed (here it is the advantage of slowness!) Over beautiful natural landscapes or architectural monuments and can indeed become an unforgettable adventure. Such tours are held in Germany: the airships of the revived brand Zeppelin NT ride tourists over the picturesque lake of Bodensee, in those the very edges where the first German airship eventually went to the flight. However, Russian airships are confident that the main purpose of their devices is not advertising and entertainment, but the fulfillment of serious industrial tasks.

Here is an example. Energy companies that have a power line at their disposal should regularly monitor and diagnose the state of their networks. It is most convenient to do it from the air. In most countries of the world, helicopters are used for such monitoring, however, the machines have serious disadvantages. In addition to the fact that the helicopter is uneconomical, he also has a very modest radius of action - only 150-200 km. It is clear that for our country with its many thousands of income distances and extensive energy facilities, it is too small. There is another problem: a helicopter in flight is experiencing a strong vibration, resulting in sensitive scanning equipment gives failures. Moving slowly and smoothly airship capable of overcoming thousands of kilometers at one refueling, on the contrary, is ideal for monitoring tasks. Currently, one of the Russian firms that have developed laser technology scanning equipment, as well as software to it, uses two AU-30 airship to provide services to power engineers. The airship of this type can be used for a variety of types of earth surface monitoring (including for military purposes), as well as for mapping.

AU-30 multipurpose airship (multipurpose patrol airship with a volume of more than 3000 cubic meters) is designed to perform flights for a long time, including at low height and at low speed. Crucial speed 0-90 km / h // Power of the Marsh Engine 2x170 hp // Maximum range of 3000 km // Maximum flight height 2500 m.

How do they fly?

Almost all modern airships, in contrast to the chapels of the pre-war epoch, belong to a soft type, that is, the form of their shell is maintained from the inside pressure of lifting gas (helium). This is simply explained - for the devices of relatively small sizes, the rigid design is ineffective and reduces the payload due to the weight of the frame.

Despite the fact that the airships and balloons refer to the class of devices easier than air, many of them, especially with full load, have the so-called breathtaking, that is, turn into devices are heavier than air. This also applies to AU-12 and AU-30. Above, we have already talked about what is airship, unlike the aircraft, the engines are needed mainly for horizontal flight and maneuvering. And then why "basically". "Towing", that is, the difference between the force of earth attraction and archimedean force is compensated due to a small lifting force, which appears when the counter stream of air runs on the having a special aerodynamic shape of the airship shell - in this case it works as a wing. It is worthwhile to dirify - and it will start to fall to the ground, because the Archimedean force does not completely compensate for the strength of attraction.

Au-12 double airship is designed to prepare airborne pilots, patrolling and visual control of highways and urban areas in the interests of environmental monitoring and traffic police, control over emergency situations and rescue operations, protection and observations, advertising flights, high-quality photos, cinema, television and video filming In the interests of advertising, television, cartography. On November 28, 2006, for the first time in the history of Russian aeronautics, AU-12 was issued a type certificate for a double airship. Cruising speed 50 - 90 km / h // Power of the Marsh Engine 100 hp // Maximum range of 350 km // Maximum flight height of 1500 m.

AU-12 and AU-30 conduirs have two take-off modes: vertical and low mileage. In the first case, two screw engines with a variable vector of thrust are moving into a vertical position and thus repel the device from the ground. After a set of low height, they go to a horizontal position and pushed airship forward, resulting in lifting force. When landing, the engines are re-moved to the vertical position and are included on the reversing mode. Now the airship, on the contrary, attracts to the ground. Such a scheme allows you to overcome one of the main problems of the operation of the airship in the past - the complexity with timely stop and accurate admission of the device. During the times of mighty zepelins, they had to literally catch the cables behind down down and fix the land. The seraging teams were numbered in those times dozens and even hundreds of people.

When takeoff with mileage, the engines initially work in a horizontal position. They accelerate the device before the occurrence of sufficient lifting force, after which the airship rises into the air.

"Heavenly Yacht" ML866 AEROSCRAFT Interesting airships of the new generation are developed in the North American continent. Create a "heavenly super-yacht" ML 866 intends to be in the non-flat Wordwide Aeros Corporation. This airship is constructed by a hybrid scheme: in flight about 2/3 weight of the machine will be compensated by archimedean power, and the device will rise up by the lifting force that occurs when the incident air flow of the vehicle occurs. For this shell, a special aerodynamic form will be attached. Officially, ML 866 is intended for VIP tourism, however, if we consider that Wordwide Aeros receives funding in particular from the Darpa's State Agency, which is engaged in defense technologies, the use of airship for military purposes, for example, to observe or communicate. And the Canadian Skyook company together with Boeing announced the JHL-40-40-40 truck project with a payload of 40 tons. This is also a "hybrid", but here the Archimedean will be supplemented by the four rotors that create a thrust on the vertical axis.

Maneuvering in height and the control of the lifting power of the pilot performs, in particular, changing the pitch (the angle of inclination of the horizontal axis) of the airship. This can be achieved both using the aerodynamic steering steabilizers, and by changing the centering of the device. Inside the shell, pumped under slight pressure helium, there are two balloons. Blinds are bags of airproof matter in which the wounded air is injected. Managing the volume of the balloon, the pilot changes the pressure of the lifting gas. If the balllors are inflated, helium is compressed and its density grows. At the same time, the Archimedean force falls, which leads to a decrease in the airship. And vice versa. If necessary, you can pump air, for example, from the nasal ballot in the fodder. Then, when changing the centering, the angle of pitch will take a positive value, and the airship will switch to the converting position.

It is easy to note that modern airship has a rather complex control system, which provides for the work of the steering, varying the mode and vector of the thrust of the engines, as well as the change in the center of the apparatus and the values \u200b\u200bof the pressure of the lifting gas using the balllors.

Heavier and higher

Another destination in which domestic airships work is the creation of severe cargo-passenger airships. As already mentioned, for airships, limitations for carrying capacity practically does not exist, and therefore real "air barges" can be created in the future, which will be able to transport almost anything to the air, including super heavy oversized cargoes. The task is simplified by the fact that when changing linear dimensions of the shell, the carrying capacity of the airship grows in a cubic proportion. For example, AU-30, having a 54 m shell, can take up to 1.5 tons of payload. The airship of a new generation, which is now developing by the engineers "Rosaerosystem", with the length of the shell only 30 m will increase the payload of 16 tons! In promising plans of the Group of Companies - the construction of airship with a payload of 60 and 200 tons. And it was in this segment of the airship that a small revolution should occur. For the first time in many decades, a airship will rise in the air, made on a rigid scheme. The lifting gas will be placed in soft cylinders, rigidly attached to the frame, covered with an aerodynamic shell from above. The hard frame will add airship safety, since even in case of serious leakage of helium, the device does not lose an aerodynamic form.

The death of giants

The history of the air catastrophe with a large number of victims originates in the airship era. British airship R101 went to his first flight on October 5, 1930. On board, he carried the state delegation led by Minister of Airship by Christopher Berdwell Lord Thompson. A few hours after the start, the R101 decreased to a dangerous height, crashed into the hill and burned down. The cause of the catastrophe has become miscalculations in the design. Of the 54 passengers and crew members, 48 \u200b\u200bwere killed, including the Minister. 73 American Military Savory died when Acron's airship fell into the storm fell into the sea, not far from the coast of New Jersey. It happened on April 3, 1933. People killed not a blow when falling, and ice water: there was not a single rescue boat on the airship and only a few cork vests. Both dead airship were pumped up with explosive hydrogen. Helium airships are significantly safer.

Another interesting project, on which R & D enterprises has already been conducted in the Rosaerosystem Group of Companies, is the geostationary stratospheric airship "Berkut". At the heart of the idea - the properties of the atmosphere. The fact is that at an altitude of 20-22 km, the wind pressure is relatively small, and the wind has a permanent direction - against the rotation of the Earth. In such conditions, it is fairly easy with the thrust of the engines to lock the device at one point relative to the surface of the planet. Stratospheric geostationar can be used in almost all areas in which geostationary satellites (communication, television and radio programs are transmitted, and so on). At the same time, the Airship "Berkut" will, of course, are significantly cheaper than any spacecraft. In addition, if the communications satellite fails, it is no longer repaired. "Berkut" in case of any problems can always be launched on the ground to carry out the necessary prevention and repair. Finally, "Berkut" is an absolutely environmentally friendly machine. Energy for engines and retransmitting equipment Airship will take from solar panels placed on the top of the shell. At night, food will be carried out at the expense of batteries that have accumulated electricity during the day.

Airship "Berkut" Inside the shell "Berkuta" - five woven tanks with helium. At the surface of the earth, the air injected into the shell will squeeze the containers, increasing the density of the lifting gas. In the stratosphere, when "Berkut" will be surrounded by a rarefied air, the air from the shell will be died, and the tank under pressure helium will swell. As a result, the density will fall and, accordingly, Archimedean will increase, which will hold the apparatus at the height. "Berkut" is designed in three modifications - for high latitudes (HL), for medium latitudes (ML), for equatorial latitudes (ET). The geostationary characteristics of the airship allow the functions of observation, communication and transmission of data over the territory, with an area of \u200b\u200bmore than 1 million km 2.

Even closer to space

All the airships that were discussed in this article belong to the Gas type. However, there are also thermal airships - actually managed Mongolfier, in which heated air serves as lifting gas. They are considered less functional than their gas beans, mainly due to lower speed and worse handling. The main scope of the use of thermal airship is an anelope and sport. And it is in Russia that the highest achievement belongs to Russia.

On August 17, 2006, Pilot Stanislav Fedorov reached the height of 8180 m. However, practical use will be found on the thermal airship of the Russian production of Russian production. However, practical application will be found. "Polar Gus", rising to a height of 10-15 km, will be able to become a kind of first step of the system of space launches. It is known that with cosmic starts, a significant amount of energy is spent at the initial stage of lifting. The farther from the center of the Earth is the starting area, the more fuel economy and the greater payload it is possible to launch into orbit. That is why cosmodromes are trying to post closer to the equatorial area to win (at the expense of the surrendous form of the Earth) somewhat kilometers.

Recently, I visited the Museum of Airshole in Friedrichshafen, which was opened in 1996 in the building of the former river port on the shores of the Lake Bodensky and since then is the main attraction Bombed during the Second World City. The museum has the largest collection of historical artifacts in the world concerning the theme of the airship and its absolute highlight is the reconstructed part of the victim of the Airship of LZ 129 "Hindenburg" with cabins of passengers, a restaurant and a part of the frame. The museum exposition gives an excellent idea of \u200b\u200bhow the largest of ever existing aircraft is arranged.

01. The museum is located in the most beautiful building of Friedrichshafen on the main square of the city in its center. Being a visit in Friedrichshafen passing by the museum will not work - all the roads are leading to it.

02. The central part of the museum is occupied by the reconstructed part of the world's largest airship LZ 129 "Hindenburg", who has crashed in 1937. Here only part of the Gondola "Hindenburg" was restored, but the scale is still impressive.

03. For a better understanding of the dimensions of "Hindenburg", its model is presented next to the museum building layout, a modern airship Zeppelin NT, an airplane in 747 and some large ship.

04. The site under the reconstructed airship has a Maybach Zeppelin DS 8 1938 car. Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH, which specializes in the production of aircraft workers, due to the obligations under the Versailles Agreement prohibiting Germany, the production of weapons in 1921 moved to the production of own cars. MAYBACH-MOTORENBAU GmbH has been manufactured only by car chassis, and the body has already made body aperthere - at that time it was a common practice in the European automotive industry.

05. Maybach Zeppelin DS 8 was produced in Friedrichshafen for a whole decade from 1930 to 1940. The car was equipped with a 12-cylinder engine, with a capacity of 200 hp And he could develop the maximum speed of 170 km / h - incredible technical characteristics for that time. It was the top model in the manufacturing line of the enterprise.

06. In the 1920s and 1930s, Maybach and Zeppelin names were inseparable from each other and became a symbol of the highest quality and impressive reliability. As a result, for its largest and luxury limousine, Maybach gave the name of Zeppelin. Just at that time in the summer of 1929, the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was airship, equipped with Maibaj engines, made a flight around the Earth, which confirmed the reputation of Maibach's motors as powerful and reliable. Naturally, LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin flights were actively used for the advertising goals of Maybach Motorenbau GmbH.

07. But back to the main theme of the museum exposition - the airship "Hindenburg". The construction of LZ 129 was started in 1931 and lasted five years. His first flight airship committed in 1936. At the time of construction, it was the largest aircraft in the world. Its length was 246 meters, and the maximum diameter of 41.2 meters, there were 200,000 cubic meters of gas in the cylinders.

Scheme of the internal device "Hindenburg"

08. The maximum aircraft weight was 242 tons of which 124 tons were payload. The airship took on board 11 tons of mail, luggage and equipment, 88,000 fuel liters for four 16-cylinder Daimler-Benz production diesel engines, with an operational capacity of 900 hp Each, 4500 liters of lubricants and 40,000 liters of water ballast. The engines were located on external gondolas located outside the outer shell in the streamlined gondolas. Everything else, including the passenger gondola, was placed inside the outer corps. The aircraft developed a speed of 125 km / h and had a flight range at one refueling of 16,000 kilometers.

09. We will rise on board and get acquainted with the internal device of the gondola. The entrance to the aircraft was carried out through the twisted bridges.

10. Unlike other airships of that time, LZ 129 was two-layer. To improve aerodynamics, the passenger gondola was located inside the external building. The aircraft crew consisted of 50-60 people for whom 54 separate beds were provided. The carriages of the crew were not placed in the gondola, but inside the case of the airship.

11. Rise to the bottom deck. On the bottom deck were toilets, showers (for the first time on airship), electric kitchen with elevator for feeding ready-made dishes on top deck, dining room for crew, bar and salon for smokers, in which there was a single lighter on board, because before landing for purposes Safety passengers and crew members were obliged to pass matches, lighters and other flammable devices. Salon for smokers was equipped with a special ventilation system, which created inside the excess pressure in order to avoid penetration of hydrogen in the event of a leakage, and the inlet of the cabin was carried out through the gateway. Along the side of the Gondolas, panoramic windows were equipped through which the land could be observed.

12. This species had toilets on board.

13. On the upper deck were cabins of passengers, a large room-restaurant with panoramic windows, a room for walks as well as a library. In the photo of the corridor in the passenger cabin section.

14. For passengers, 25 double bedrooms were originally provided, but then the number of beds was increased to 72 and single cabins appeared.

It was connected with the fact that the airship was originally planned to use helium. It is a little severe hydrogen, but the fireproof. In 1930, during its first commercial flight, the largest British airship R101 crashed, in which hydrogen was used as a carrier gas. Then 48 people died from a fire that destroyed, the airship was killed. The Germans took into account this experience and designed their air "Titanic" under the use of helium. In the 1930s, the helium was able to be able only to the United States, in which the embargo on its export (Helium Control Act 1927) was operating. Nevertheless, the Germans when planning airship proceeded from the fact that helium for the airship will be obtained. After coming to power in Germany, NSDAP, the National Munitions Control Board (National Munitions Control Board) refused to remove the ban on export. As a result, Hindenburg was modified under the use of hydrogen, which made it possible to take on board even more useful loads and increase the number of passengers from 50 to 72.

15. So the single cabin looked like.

16. Equipment of the cabin was extremely Spartan - in addition to beds, there was a folding washbasin with warm and cold water, a mirror, a locker for clothes, a small table, and a person call button. Compared to the level of comfort of ocean liners, Gindenburg cabins provided only the most essential without excesses, so passengers spent almost all the time in public premises of the gondola, and the cabins used only for sleep.

17. We turn to the largest room on board - a room-restaurant equipped with large panoramic windows. It is noteworthy that the reconstructed part of the airship "Hindenburg" was restored according to original drawings and photographs, with the inherent thoroughness and attention to the details.

So the original Hall-Restaurant of the airship looked in the past:

18. During this walk, I did not leave me a feeling that I was on board the airship, and not within the reconstruction.

19. Near the restaurant's room there is a readable room where writing desks were also equipped.

20. All furniture, details of the interior and the gondola itself were made of aluminum as the issue of weight loss for airship was one of the main.

Another shot from the past:

21. A view from the panoramic window at the bottom of Maybach. Imagine what panoramas could watch passengers during the flight.

22. The museum also reconstructed part of the Karcas "Hindenburg", all the elements of which were made of light and durable duralumin.

23. Even recreated small part of the airship is impressive with its scale.

24. Diesel 16-cylinder engine DB 602 (LOF 6) Developed by the Daimler Benz AG concern due to its small weight and high fireproof, ideally suitable for use in aircraft. Four such engines were installed in Gindenburg in the gondolas made beyond the shell. The operating capacity of one such diesel engine was 900 hp, and the maximum 1200 hp The motor was articulated with a transmission, which reduced twice by its turnover and rotated a wooden screw, with a diameter of 6 meters.

"Hindenburg" during the flight over the Lake Bodensky. Each of the four Motor Gondola was connected to the main body by the bridge and the duty mechanic was pressed to each, which was followed by the engine.

Inside one of the Motor Gondola "Hindenburg"

Captain Cutting.

25. Part of the recreated duralumin carcass of the airship.

26. Inside the outer shell of the airship was located various technical equipment, tanks with hydrogen, water, fuel, and so on. Access to all elements of the aircraft provided longitudinal corridors.

27. In the restored part, the cylinders with hydrogen are not shown - the basis of the airship airplane. Before visiting the museum, I thought that all the space inside the hull was filled with hydrogen, and it turned out that there were special cylinders that were filled with light gas.

The first test flight LZ 129 made March 4, 1936. The photo is captured by Zeppelin workers in Friedrichshafen, seeing airship in the first flight.

From March 26 to March 29, 1936, "Hindenburg" together with the Aircraft Lz 127 "Graf Zeppelin" made a three-day flight over Germany, which was widely used for campaigning for the party of national socialists. During this flight, which took place on the eve of the elections, from the side of the airship was discharged by campaign materials calling for vote for the Hitler's batch. Subsequently, "Hindenburg" was still repeatedly used propaganda as a symbol of the German Empire standing from his knees, including he attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, held on August 1, 1936 in Berlin.

In the photo "Hindenburg" at the modeal mast.

"Hindenburg" was designed primarily for transcontinental flights from Germany to South and North America, in particular in Rio de Janeiro and New York and, and already on March 31, 1936, the air liner went to his first transcontinental flight from Friedrichshafen to Rio de Janeiro, who passed successfully. A month later, the first commercial flight from Friedrichshafen to New York, more precisely in the town of Lukchchst (New Jersey), where the airport was located for airships. The duration of the flight was a record 61.5 hours.

"Hindenburg" over New York.

Before the accident "Hindenburg" made 17 successful transcontinental flights - 10 in the United States and 7 to Brazil, transporting 1600 passengers across the Atlantic. The average flight time to America was 59 hours, back - 47 due to passing air currents. The airship was filled with 87% when flying to the American continent and 107% when returning to Europe, with additional passengers were placed in officer cabins. One side ticket to New York cost from 400 to 450 US dollars (both sides of $ 720-810), which is equivalent to today's 12,000 - 14,000 US dollars). So to afford such pleasure could only be very secured people.

On the photo ticket to the transatlantic flight on "Hindenburg" on the route: Frankfurt am Main - Rio de Janeiro.

In his last flight "Hindenburg" went on the evening of May 3, 1937. Successfully overcoming the Atlantic, on May 6, "Hindenburg" arrived at the appointed time in New York and, slightly convening over the city, went to the side of the Lukherst airbase, where landing was planned. On board was 97 passengers and crew members.

Because of the thunderstorm front, approaching the air base, the airship had to deal with a couple of hours along the coast, waiting for the thunderstorm front to go aside, after which he began approaching landing. At 19:11, the airship fell to a height of 180 meters, at 19:20 the airship was equalized, after which the gentle ropes dropped from its nose. At 19:25 in the area of \u200b\u200bthe stern, before the vertical stabilizer over the 4th and 5th gas compartments, marked.

In the photo burning "Hindenburg" near the moor mast.

Within 15 seconds, the fire spread 20-30 meters toward the nasal part of the zeppelin, after which the tanks with fuel and hydrogen were tanks. After half a minute after the ignition, "Hindenburg" fell to Earth next to a mooring mast.

Surprisingly, in this terrible catastrophe many have survived. Killed 36 people from 97 - 13 passengers, 22 crew members and one employee of the ground service. A part of the team, headed by the aircraft captain, Max Pruss, was pressed against the ground with flaming wreckage of the burning case, with strong burns, but they managed to get out of the debris of burning airship.

The wreck of "Hindenburg" was shot at the film chamber, this shocking newsreel flew off the whole world and contributed to the formation of public opinion against the airship, although in the number of victims it was only a fifth accident in the history of aeronautics.

The causes of the accident and remained a mystery. The German Investigation Commission and American experts, who studied the disaster and wreckage of the aircraft, agreed on the most likely version, according to which the dirling explosion was caused by the hydrogen leakage and the ignition of the air mixture from the spark resulting as a result of the potential difference between the portions of the outer shell and the frame. Supporters of the theory of conspiracies believe that the cause of the disaster was the triggering of an explosive device laid by opponents of national socialists.

The flagship of the Flotilla Flotilla and the subsequent resonance in the media, put a cross on commercial use of aircraft and caused the sunset of the era of huge aircraft. The owner of the airship Company "Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei" canceled all subsequent flights to the United States and Brazil, and soon the German government banned passenger traffic on the airships, which became the beginning of the end of the era that lasted more than thirty years. Brother "Hindenburg" - airship LZ 130, which at the time of the disaster was in the construction stage, although it was completed, but was used for several years only in military and propaganda purposes, after which in the spring of 1940, by order of the Minister of Aviation, Herman Goring was siled scrap metal.

Only 60 years after that accident in September 1997, the first airship of a new generation Zeppelin NT was rising in the sky, created immediately in Friedrichshafen. Currently, his flights over Friedrichshafen can be observed almost daily.

28. Today, from more than 30 years of world airships, there is little preserved and most of the artifacts of that period are in the best museum dedicated to aeronautics - the Museum of Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen.

29. In addition to the reconstructed part of Gindenssburg, there are also fragments that remained after the catastrophe of the largest aircraft in the world.

30. Elements of the original frame.

31. There are also various devices removed from the "Hindenburg" painted on the metal brother - LZ 130. In the photo Gyrocompass.

32. One of the five Motor gondolas painted in the same 1940 airship of LZ 127 GRAF Zeppelin. After cutting, this gondola lay no open-air protection and gradually melted on souvenirs with collectors, only in 1972, employees of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH saved what survived.

33. Inside the gondola is a 12-cylinder Motor VL 2 produced by Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH. It was the last engine concern, created for the airship, it was designed specifically for the airship LZ 127 GRAF Zeppelin and could work both on gasoline and gas. Motor power was 570 hp

34. The following exposition demonstrates the Gindenssburg model and its hangar, which is no less impressive than the airship itself.

This is how this facility looked in the pictures.

35. The top of a moisture mast with a piece of nose "Hindenburg" is being exhibited.

In general, if you are in those parts, I recommend to visit the museum, there is something to see, besides, there is no longer anything like that. Fans of the history of aeronautics are so at all should include Friedrichshafen in the program of his holiday in Germany.