La France (airship)

The 1884 *La France*, the first fully controllable airship.

The La France was a French Army non-rigid airship launched by Charles Renard and Arthur Constantin Krebs on August 9, 1884. Collaborating with Charles Renard, Arthur Constantin Krebs piloted the first fully controlled free-flight with the La France. The 170-foot (52 m) long, 66,000-cubic-foot (1,900 m³) airship, electric-powered with a 435 kg (959 lb) zinc-chlorine flow battery^[1] completed a flight that covered 8 km (5.0 mi) in 23 minutes.^[2] It was the first full round trip flight^[3] with a landing on the starting point. On its seven flights in 1884 and 1885^[4] the La France dirigible returned five times to its starting point.^[5]^[6]

^ Winter, Lumen & Degner, Glenn, Minute Epics of Flight, New York, Grosset & Dunlap, 1933, pgs. 49–50
^ La France dirigible
^ "Le Ballon dirigeable LA FRANCE de Renard et Krebs – 1884". Retrieved 7 October 2014.
^ "Ballon dirigeable LA FRANCE : Plans, croquis et photos". Retrieved 7 October 2014.
^ "9 August 1884". 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016.
^ "9 August 1884". 9 August 2020. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021.

[1] Winter, Lumen & Degner, Glenn, Minute Epics of Flight, New York, Grosset & Dunlap, 1933, pgs. 49–50

[2] La France dirigible

[3] "Le Ballon dirigeable LA FRANCE de Renard et Krebs – 1884". Retrieved 7 October 2014.

[4] "Ballon dirigeable LA FRANCE : Plans, croquis et photos". Retrieved 7 October 2014.

[5] "9 August 1884". 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016.

[6] "9 August 1884". 9 August 2020. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021.

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