Jean-Baptiste Meusnier

Jean Baptiste Meusnier was a Revolutionary French army officer, ultimately a general, and the developer of an ellipsoidal LTA vessel. Wolko, 1981, p. 10:

Meusnier's airship design showed considerable promise but was rendered impractical by the absence of a suitable engine. When calculations revealed that 80 men would be required to generate the speed necessary for control effectiveness, the growth in required size precluded success. Although his concept earned Meusnier a place in history as the one responsible for the practical airship form, the vehicle was never built.

See Also

• Emmanuel Chadeau, the unpublished version of his Doctoral dissertation, in which some of Lieutenant Meusnier's work, that in his capacity within the Corps des Ingénieurs is treated as experimentation with the “Montgolfière”, and put into succinct context. That is, he proposed the employment of balloons, driven by propellers, in the furtherance of military observations. (The term “Montgolfière” was naturally applied to aircraft based upon the balloon type invented by the Frères Montgolfier.) This work, in association with others, took place between November and December of 1793, and it has fundamentally to do with the innovative leap made between balloons and dirigibles.

(Meusnier's identity is not to be confused with the related vessel "Général Meusnier" constructed by Charles Renard.)

Publications by or about Jean-Baptiste Meusnier

• Béthuys, 1888, Sur le ballonnet à compression de l'aérostat du Général Meusnier (Simple title: On the compression balloon of General Meusnier's aerostat, Journal: Rev. Aér.)
• Chadeau, Emmanuel, 1985, État, Entreprise & Développement Économique : L’Industrie Aéronautique en France (1900-1940) Thèse pour le Doctorat, unpublished version (Simple title: State, Enterprise, and Economic Development: The aeronautic Industry in France (1900-1940), Journal: Doctoral thesis)