Chalais-Meudon

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Chalais-Meudon was a French military facility which conducted pioneering aeronautics research in the 19th century. It was established in the 1870s following the successful use of balloons by the French military during the Siege of Paris in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.[1] (However, Meudon had been a base Cie des Aérostiers previously, in the Revolutionary era. It is also the site of a major observatory.)

There are some different accounts about the early years of the facility, which might have opened in 1872. In any case it was in 1877 that the workshop was fully prepared and that Charles Renard, the first director, and lieutenant Arthur Krebs began work. Their first construction was a balloon called the Sentinelle, with a valve of Renard's deisgn.[2]

The originally scanty budget of the facility was bolstered after Minister Leon Gambetta (a balloon escapee from Paris during the siege) was encouraged to budget 200,000 francs. Yet somehow these were diverted by colonel Laussedat, leaving only 50,000 for aeronautics, and Renard was obliged to request more money from Gambetta! Gambetta visited in 1879 and ordered the construction of 8 parks for captive balloons, the training of 8 companies of aerostatiers, and the construction of a dirigible balloon.[2]

Renard & Krebs oversaw construction of La France, a dirigible airship able to return to its starting point.[3]

Chalais-Meudon was also used as a training facility to ensure the availability of competent pilots in case of war.[4] Starting with the French war in Vietnam in 1884, the facility produced balloon units which guided the French military in colonial warfare.[5]

The first aerostatiers trained at the facility were deployed in 1884 to Indochina for the Tonkin War. This company comprised 2 officers, Aaron and Jullien, 5 sous-officers, 8 corporals, and 23 engineers (sapeurs). Another balloon was constructed, the Salin, with 260 m3 of hydrogen.[2]

In 1891, Renard set up the first French wind tunnel at Chalais-Meudon.[6] (Black, 1943 calls this the first wind tunnel and records its diameter as 2.5' and its length as 13' feet.)[7] Through 1903, Renard continued into experiments with screw-propellers for lifting.[8]

Renard was succeeded (immediately?) by Victor-Paul Bouttieaux, an engineer with an interest in meteorology.

Abbott Lawrence Rotch reported that foreign aeronauts and researchers were allowed to see the facility for the first time in 1900, at the International Aeronautical Congress in Paris.[9]

Hiram Stevens Maxim recalled that during the time of his early aero experimentation he met in Paris with Gaston Tissandier, who showed him "some models of the screws that were alleged to have been used by Captain Renard in his experiments for the French Government". Maxim "was somewhat surprised to find the form of the blades, the same as shown at h, Fig. 14, and completely without any twist." After testing models of this type and finding them relative inefficient Maxim then surmised "that this particular form of screw was probably the one that the French had for exhibition purposes, but not the one they intended to use."[10]

"Ended aero" date requires further research. May have transformed from military installation to "balloon factory". See W:Zbigniew Burzyński

References

  1. ↑ Banet-Rivet, 1898, L'Aéronautique, p. 252.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Marchis, 1904, Leçons sur la navigation aérienne, 405–406.
  3. ↑ Jéromine Gilet, Ammanuelle Mauret, Hilaire Legentil, & Agnès Chablat-Beylot, "Établissement central d'aérostation militaire de Chalais-Meudon: Fonds Renard (1872-1959): Répertoire numérique détaillé"; Service historique de la Defense / Department de l'armee de l'air; July 2012. [NB: Finding aid for presumably interesting collection.]
  4. ↑ Hildebrandt, 1908, Airships Past and Present, p. 156.

    The provision of skilled aeronauts is also a matter of importance, and this is part of the work done at Chalais-Meudon, where every year a certain number of men, principally from the educated classes, are instructed practically and theoretically in the art. They receive the title of "Aéronaute breveté" after passing an examination, and are instructed to place themselves at the disposal of the authorities of a given fortress in the event of mobilisation. The French Balloon Clubs also receive assistance from the Minister of War with a view to placing the services of their members at the disposal of the country in case of need, and they receive lessons in the art of construction for this purpose.
  5. ↑ Hildebrandt, 1908, Airships Past and Present, pp. 157–158.

    The balloonists, enrolled by Captain Renard, had their first experience of actual warfare in 1884 in Tonkin. General Courbet took a detachment with him under the command of Captain Cuvelier, consisting of two officers, 13 non-commissioned officers, and 23 men. The appliances were designed with a view to easy transport, and the gas was generated by heating granulated zinc with bisulphate of potash. The balloon, which was not of the normal type, took 9,200 cubic feet of gas, and a hand-winch for controlling its movements was carried on the tool-waggon. The commanding officer reported that the detachment had been strengthened by the addition of some artillerymen and some coolies, and that good work had been done. They were particularly useful in finding a way through more or less trackless marshes, where the cavalry were unable to penetrate, and where small reconnoitring parties were very liable to be ambushed in the dense bamboo forests. At the bombardment of the town of Hong-Hoa the firing of guns was directed from the balloon, and in the same way the retreat of the enemy was signalled, with the result that the order was given to advance to the attack. In the following year, they were attached to the reconnoitring party under General Negrier, who frequently mounted the car for purposes of observation. In all subsequent colonial wars the balloonists have been employed in the French army, as, for instance, in Madagascar in 1895, and Taku in 1900.
  6. ↑ Crouch, 1989, p. 72.
  7. ↑ Black, 1943, p. 31.
  8. ↑ Abbott Lawrence Rotch, "Aerial Engineering", Science, 12 January 1912.
  9. ↑ Abbott Lawrence Rotch, "The International Congresses of Meteorology and Aeronautics at Paris", Science, Vol. XII, No. 308; 23 November 1900.
  10. ↑ Maxim, 1909, Artificial and Natural Flight, p. 39.

A new w:Chalais-Meudon article was created on en.wp in Jan 2020.

Links


Organization names Chalais-Meudon; Central Establishment for Military Aeronautics in Chalais-Meudon; Établissement central d'aérostation militaire de Chalais-Meudon
Entity type
Country France
Locations Meudon, Paris, Seine-et-Oise
Affiliated with Etablissements d'Aerostation Militaire Francais de Chalais-Meudon (1894), Etablissements d'Aerostation Militaire Francais de Chalais-Meudon (1904), Armée française
Scope Military
Started aero 1878
Ended aero 1921?
Keywords French military
Key people Charles Renard, Paul Renard, Léon Levavasseur, Ferdinand Ferber
Wikidata id


Names Chalais-Meudon
Designation Military facility
Inside France
Includes
Wikidata id Q85751370



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