View source for Tissandier, 1878, Le grand ballon captif à vapeur de M. Henri Giffard

:[[Gaston Tissandier]], "Le grand ballon captif à vapeur de M. Henri Giffard", ''[[La Nature]]'', Vol. 6 (1878), pp. 295–298. 

(Actually this proves to be a lengthy series, with articles published in issue after issue of ''La Nature'' (of which Tissandier was editor in chief) describing in detail the various technical elements of the balloon.)

[[w:fr:s:Projet de construction d’un grand ballon captif à vapeur par M. Henry Giffard]]

Describes [[Henri Giffard]]'s huge balloon at the [[1878 Exposition Universelle]]. (Let's call it [[Ballon Giffard, 1878]] for the sake of a page name.)

Follows up from [[Tissandier, 1876, Exposition internationale de 1878]]. The great balloon was now in place between the Arc de triomphe du Carrousel and the ruins of the Palais des Tuileries. Which is to say here: ~[https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/48.86160/2.33157 48.86208 N, 2.33184 E]

<blockquote>Le ballon formera une sphère de 36 mètres de diamètre, d’un volume de 25 000 mètres cubes. Arrimé à terre, la partie supérieure de la sphère sera située à 55 mètres au-dessus de la surface du sol et dépassera par conséquent de 10 mètres le sommet de l’Arc de triomphe de Paris. Cet aérostat enlèvera dans les airs à l’extrémité d’un câble de 600 mètres, pesant 3000 kilogr., 50 voyageurs environ. Deux machines à vapeur de 300 chevaux actionneront le treuil autour duquel s’enroulera le câble.</blockquote>

[[File:La Nature - 1878 - S1 - p296- Ballon Giffard- détail filet.png|thumb|Detail from the netting]]
[[File:La Nature - 1878 - S1 - p296- Ballon Giffard- confection du filet.png|thumb|Construction of the netting]]

Tissandier comments on the netting (''filet'') for the balloon:

<blockquote>J’ai visité récemment la fabrication de ce filet immense ; elle s’opère à Vincennes, à la corderie centrale de MM. Fretet et Cie sous l’intelligente direction de MM. Yon et Dardaud.</blockquote>

We know that [[Gabriel Yon]]'s father was a ropemaker, so the workshop could well be his father's. At the same time, we know that the son had a relationship with Giffard dating back to 1855, when Giffard took him along on a balloon trip at age ~20.<ref name=Andre>[[André, 1902, Les Dirigeables]], p. [https://archive.org/stream/lesdirigeablest02andrgoog#page/n275 262]–268.</ref> (Being now ~43, it's possible that Yon ''fils'' had was working in the same line.) How Giffard became associated with the family is an open and possibly answerable question. (We don't yet know [[Fretet]] or [[Dardaud]].)

=== References ===
<references />

[[Category:Articles]]
{{Publication
|Original title=Le grand ballon captif à vapeur de M. Henri Giffard
|Simple title=The large captive steam balloon of Mr. Henri Giffard
|Authors=Gaston Tissandier
|Date=1878
|Countries=FR
|Languages=fr
|Keywords=captive balloon; steam; Henri Giffard
|Page count=6
|Related to aircraft=1
}}
*  
=== Sources ===
* [[Brockett 1910]], page 828, entry 11942: Tissandier, Gaston. Le grand ballon captif à vapeur de M. Henri Giffard. Paris, G, Hasson, 1878, 8°, pp. 68, ills. 42. (11942