La France (airship)

The 1884 La France, the first fully controllable airship.
The 1884 Krebs & Renard first fully controllable free-flights with the LA FRANCE electric dirigible near Paris (Krebs arch.)
Artist's depiction of La France

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]

  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.