Lech was the first
Polish 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 ...
. It was purchased from France's army surplus in 1920. The airship's type was ''
Zodiac VZ-11'', ''Vedette'' class and the
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
had used it for patrolling and escorting purposes in the area of the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
. Like other airships of that age, it was filled with flammable hydrogen. It was propelled by two
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
engines (some sources claim these were
Anzani engines), each with 80 horsepower. Altogether, the French built 63 ''Zodiac VZ-11'' airships, they were sold to various countries, such as
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
, USA, Russia and the
Netherlands
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.
Renamed ''Lech'', it was brought in parts to the port of
Danzig some time in early 1921. Then, in March of that year, it was transported to
Toruń
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, where it was assembled by
Zbigniew Burzynski. Between 1921 and 1924, it belonged to the Officer's Aeronautical School in Toruń, then it was passed over to the 1st Balloon Battalion, also in Toruń. Its first commandant was Colonel Slawomir Bilek, then he was replaced by Captain Kazimierz Kraczkiewicz. ''Lech'' made numerous flights to
Legionowo
Legionowo is a city in Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze), east-central Poland.
Location
Legionowo is located to the north-east of the center of Warsaw and only to the south of Zegrze Reservoir ( or ), near the Warsaw-Gdańsk railroad and Warsaw-Suwa� ...
and
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
's airport in the district Winiary - places, where special zeppelin halls existed. During those flights, 18 pilots as well as several members of the crew completed practice courses.
On March 2, 1928, ''Lech'' was scrapped and the bag's fabric was used for making five field air-sheds.
Specifications
General characteristics
*Capacity: 7-8 persons
*Length: 50 m
*Diameter: 12 m
*Volume: 3150 m3
*Range: 800 km
*Service ceiling: 3000 m
*Time span of engines - up to 10 hours
*Cargo - up to 320 kilograms of bombs.
Performance
*Maximum speed: 80 km/h
Sources
External links
A drawing of Lech
Airships of France
Airships of Poland
Polish Air Force
1920s in Poland