Baptiste Jules Henri Jacques Giffard (8 February 182514 April 1882) was a French engineer. In 1852 he invented the steam

injector An injector is a system of ducting and nozzles used to direct the flow of a high-pressure fluid in such a way that a lower pressure fluid is entrained in the jet and carried through a duct to a region of higher pressure. It is a fluid-dynamic ...

and the powered Giffard dirigible airship.

Career

Giffard was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1825. He invented the

and the Giffard dirigible, an

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

powered with a steam engine and weighing over 180 kg (400 lb). It was the world's first passenger-carrying airship (then known as a dirigible, from French). Both practical and steerable, the hydrogen-filled airship was equipped with a 3 hp steam engine that drove a propeller. The engine was fitted with a downward-pointing funnel. The exhaust steam was mixed in with the combustion gases and it was hoped by these means to stop sparks rising up to the gas bag; he also installed a vertical rudder. On 24 September 1852, Giffard made the first powered and controlled flight travelling 27 km from

Élancourt Élancourt () is a commune in the Yvelines department, and the Île-de-France region, north central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, 30.6 km (19.0 mi) from the center of Paris, in the "new town" of Saint-Quentin-e ...

. The wind was too strong to allow him to make way against it, so he was unable to return to the start. However, he was able to make turns and circles, proving that a powered airship could be steered and controlled. Giffard was granted a patent for the injector on 8 May 1858. Unusually, he had thoroughly worked out the theory of this invention before making any experimental instrument, having explained the idea in 1850. Others had worked on using jets, particularly Eugène Bourdon who patented a very similar device in 1857. In 1863, he was appointed a Chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Death and commemoration

In response to his declining eyesight, Giffard committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

in 1882, leaving his estate to the nation for humanitarian and scientific purposes.

Gallery

File:Captive balloon of Henri Giffard over Paris 1878.jpg, Balloon of Henri Giffard over Paris rooftops, 1878., ''...Blank form for passengers to record "observations" (data) during ascents in Giffard's giant captive balloon from the Tuileries courtyard in the Paris Exposition of 1878...'' File:GiffardAirship.JPG, A model of the Giffard Airship at the London Science Museum. File:Ballooning Bronze Medal Paris 1878 Giffard..jpg, Medal of Giffard's balloon over Paris in 1878.

References

Bibliography

* * * , ''...Correspondence, notes, design drawings, broadsides, newspapers, printed illustrations, articles about Giffard, and newspaper clippings relating chiefly to Giffard's exhibition of a large captive balloon in the courtyard of the Tuileries in Paris in 1878. Includes his notes on hydrogen gas and design drawings for balloons...''

External links