Jane's All the World's Aircraft. 1913 by Fred T. Jane

9. New ship of 17,000 m cubed building. " "

To Lebaudy designs:-- ~ONE~ ~Austrian Military Airship.~ ----------------------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------ | | ~CAPITAINE~ | ~SELLE DE~ | New ship. Name | ~LIBERTE~ | ~MARECHAL.~ |~BEAUCHAMP.~ | _Building._ Date | ~1909.~ | ~1911.~ | ~1911.~ | ~1913-14.~ Service | Military. | Military. | Military. | Military. ----------------------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------ ~Volume~ c. feet (m cubed)| 4800 | 7500 | 8000 | 17,000 ~Length~ feet (m.)| 220 (67) | 279 (85) | 292 (89) | ~Diameter~ feet (m.)| 35-1/2 (10.80) | 42 (12.80) | 48 (14.00) | {fabric | Lebaudy | Lebaudy | Lebaudy | ~Gasbags~ { | | | | {ballonets | 1 | ... | ... | {total tons| 4-1/2 | ... | 9 | ~Lift~ { | | | | {useful tons| ... | ... | ... | ~Motors~ h.p.| 1--135 Panhard | 2--80 Panhard | 2--80 Panhard | {number | 2 wood | 2 wood | 2 wood | ~Propellers~ {blades | 2 | 2 | 2 | {diam. feet (m.)| ... | 16-1/2 (5) | 16-1/2 (5) | ~Speed~ max. m.p.h. (km.)| 31 (50) | 28 (45) | 28 (45) | ~Endurance~ hrs.| ... | ... | ... | ~Complement~ | ... | ... | 5 | ----------------------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------ [Illustration] [Illustration: LIBERTE.] [Illustration] =ZODIAC CLASS.= Societe francaise de ballons dirigeables et d'aviation, Zodiac, 10 route du Havre, Puteaux (Seine). These dirigibles were intended primarily for private pleasure purposes. Consequently they are designed to fly when filled with coal gas if necessary. Every effort is made to render them easily transportable; the long girder frame by which the weight is distributed is made to take to pieces. It is held in France that numbers of this class of vessel would form an invaluable asset in time of war, as each could be transported in a single cart, filled with a very few bottles of hydrogen, and when so filled could man[oe]uvre for some 6 hours at a speed which compares favourably with that of the standard types. When the service of reconnaissance was performed, the vessel could be packed up and sent out of harm's way in an hour, whereas this could scarcely be done with a larger vessel on account of the quantity of hydrogen that would be required if it had to be filled afresh for each service. The mooring of an airship in the open during war requires such an amount of preparation and attention as to be a serious drawback to the alternative plan of keeping such vessels unfilled, while the sending of an airship back to its distant shed on each occasion means doubling the work that the ship is called upon to perform. Ships of class are:--