Deutschland (1896 airship)
| Deutschland | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Experimental airship |
| National origin | Germany |
| Designer | Friedrich Wölfert |
| First flight | 1896 |
| Status | Destroyed |
| Number built | 1 |
Deutschland was an experimental, hydrogen-filled,[1] non-rigid[1] airship built in Germany in the late 19th Century by Dr Friedrich Wölfert.[2] During a test flight in Berlin in 1897, Deutschland caught fire and crashed.[3] Wölfert and his mechanic, Robert Knabe, were killed,[3] thus becoming the first two airship fatalities. It was the second of Wölfert's airships to be named Deutschland.
Design and development
[edit]Deutschland had an elliptical envelope that contained the hydrogen lift gas within itself, without the use of a ballonet.[1] Ropes passing over the top of the envelope suspended an open-framed gondola beneath. An engine drove two aluminium propellers, one at the front of the gondola for thrust,[1] and one underneath it for altitude control.[1] A large rudder was fitted to the rear of the gondola.
Power was originally supplied by a 2-kW (3-hp) Siemens electric motor.[1] When this proved inadequate,[1] Wölfert replaced it with a two-cylinder Daimler petrol engine of 6 kW (8 hp).[3][1]
Operational history
[edit]Wölfert displayed Deutschland at the 1896 Great Industrial Exposition of Berlin, where it attracted the personal attention of Kaiser Wilhelm II.[3] The Kaiser was sufficiently impressed as to arrange for Wölfert to continue his work at the Prussian Balloon Corps in Tempelhof, Berlin.[3]
Throughout 1896 and 1897, Wölfert tested the airship. He conducted the eighth flight[1] on 12 June 1897[3] at Templehof,[3] with himself and his mechanic Robert Knabe aboard. Deutschland quickly climbed hundreds of metres, then eyewitnesses on the ground saw the airship suddenly engulfed by flame.[3] The wreckage crashed nearby, and Wölfert's and Knabe's charred bodies were found among it.[3]
The fire is attributed to the open flame of the engine's Hot-tube ignition system igniting the envelope and fuel tank.[3]
Specifications (with internal-combustion engine)
[edit]Data from D'Orcy 1917, p.127
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 27.5 m (90 ft 3 in)
- Diameter: 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
- Volume: 875 m3 (30,900 cu ft)
- Powerplant: 1 × Daimler petrol engine, 6 kW (8.0 hp)
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- Collier, Basil (1974). The Airship: A History. London: Putnam.
- D'Orcy, Ladislas (1917). D'Orcy's Airship Manual: An International Register of Airships with a Compendium of the Airship's Elementary Mechanics. New York: Century.