GIFFARD

FRANCE (see also List of Individuals)

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8.2.1825 Paris/F - 14.4.1882 Paris/F

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Henri Giffard was an engineer from Ecole Centrale in Paris interested in the motion of air balloons. After engineering studies he improved the steam machine that made him a rich man. He eventually created the world's first passenger carrying powered and steerable airship referred to as a Dirigible. The hydrogen-filled airship was equipped with a 3 HP steam engine that drove a propeller. Steering was based on a rudder located at the airship's rear between the balloon and the passengers' cabine. The cigar-shaped airship had a length of 44 m. The first flight was on September 24, 1852 from Paris to Trappes covering 27 km at a speed of 9 km/h. A second airship was launched in 1855 but crashed on its first flight. The gas of the airship exploded, yet Giffard was lucky and escaped uninjured from the flames. Only in 1872 Giffard's design was improved. Giffard continued with his aeronautical researches and left his money to the state for humanitarian and scientific purposes.

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Giffard also developed the water supply to steam locomotives. A lover of locomotives, he noted on trips strange sounds from air losses, and proposed a steam injector which left the boiler completely closed during maneuvering and no steam could thus escape. This invention patented in 1858 led in 1859 to the award in mechanics from Académie des Sciences and the Cross of Légion d'Honneur in 1863. This invention was installed within a short time in most locomotives and boats worldwide and thus returned Giffard a large amount of money that he invested in the airship tests. Towards the end of his life, Giffard turned blind and committed suicide to end his life.

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_{Dwiggins, D. (1980). The complete book of airships: Dirigibles, blimps and hot balloons. Tab Books: Blue Ridge Summit PA.}

_{Giffard, H. (1858). Note sur l'injecteur des chaudières à vapeur imaginé par M. Giffard et construit par M. H. Flaud. Annales des Mines Série 5 15: 169-184.}

_{Krebs, A. (1982). Giffard, Baptiste-Henry-Jacques. Dictionnaire biographique française 15: 1490-1491, R. d'Amat, ed. Letouzey: Paris. Mondini, A. (1964). La gloriosa parabola del dirigibile. Rivista Aeronautica 40(2): 239-269. P Rolt, L.T.C. (1966). The aeronauts: A history of ballooning 1783-1903. Walker: New York. Toland, J. (1972). The great dirigibleshttp://www.pilotundluftschiff.de/Hgiffard.htm : Their triumphs and disasters. Dover: New York. http://www.pilotundluftschiff.de/Hgiffard.htm P}