Édouard Surcouf (1862–1938) was a French engineer, maker and pilot of

dirigible 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 ...

s, and industrialist.

Biography

Astra triplane, participant at the military concours d'aviation, 1911 Édouard Surcouf, an aeronautics enthusiast from an early age, made his first flight in a hot-air balloon in 1879 at the age of 17. The following year, 1880, he started as an apprentice at the "Grands Ateliers Aérostatiques du Champ-de-Mars", the biggest aeronautic manufacturer at the end of the 19th century. He collaborated with engineers Eugène Godard, his brother Louis Godard and Gabriel Yon. In 1889 he was named president of the School of Aeronautics. With Gabriel Yon he published a reference work, ''Aérostats et aérostation militaire à l'Exposition universelle de 1889'' (éditions Bernard et Cie., Paris, 1889). Surcouf married Marie Surcouf who became the first French woman to gain her sporting pilot's license. She later set up La Stella, a women's ballooning organisation. In 1889 he became the successor to his godfather (see ''Urania'', a balloon made by the Ateliers Surcouf, Crystal Palace 1889) ''Urania'', a balloon made by the Ateliers Surcouf - See the aerial acrobat

Leona Dare Leona Dare (1854/55 – May 23/24, 1922''New York Times'', May 25, 1922.) was an American trapeze artist and aerial acrobat, billed often as the "Queen of the Antilles" or the "Pride of Madrid".''New York Times'', June 9, 1879. She was famous ...

, flying beneath a balloon in 1887 at the

Crystal Palace, London Crystal Palace is an area in south London, England, named after the The Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace Exhibition building, which stood in the area from 1854 until it was destroyed by fire in 1936. Approximately south-east of Charing Cross, ...

. See

This new company would be a pioneer in the introduction of rubberised fabric for the construction of envelopes of

dirigibles 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 d ...

. He continued Gabriel Yon's enterprise in providing equipment for the Spanish Army. On 27 July 1900 he was appointed Technical Instructor at the first Swiss military aérostiers training school in Geneva. In 1902 Surcouf built his first dirigible, the Astra I, ''Lebaudy I'', for the brothers Paul and Pierre Lebaudy (see :fr:famille Lebaudy), designed by :fr:Henri Julliot and nicknamed "le Jaune" ('Yellow'). The '' :fr:Le Lebaudy (dirigeable)'' was a hydrogen-filled, cigar-shaped airship pointed or thinning at the sides, long, powered by a engine with a propellers on each side."Le Raid du Lebaudy"
''Lecture pour tous'', October 1904. Aero-mondo.fr (in French). In 1904 the industrialist Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe ordered the dirigible ''Le Ville de Paris'' (Astra II), which had a bad accident during its inaugural flight in December 1904. It was rebuilt, and ''Le Ville de Paris'' flew again in 1906. Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe joined with Surcouf in 1908 to found the

Société Astra ''Société Astra des Constructions Aéronautiques'' was a major French manufacturer of balloons, airships, and aeroplanes in the early 20th century. It was founded in 1908 when Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe purchased Édouard Surcouf's

(Société Astra de constructions aéronautiques). This new company increased production, making Wright brothers aircraft under licence and their own models such as the CM. The firm also made dirigibles, notably at

Meaux Meaux () is a commune on the river Marne in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is east-northeast of the centre of Paris. Meaux is, with Provins, Torcy and Fontaineblea ...

and at the industrial site of

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department an ...

. Surcouf surrounded himself with aeronautical engineers, among which :fr:Henry Kapférer would become the administrator of this new industrial firm. New dirigibles appeared: ;1909 : ''Ville de Nancy'' (Astra III) : '' Clément Bayard'' (Astra IV) : ''Colonel Renard'' (Astra V) : ''l'Espagne'' (''España'') (Astra VI) : ''Ville de Pau-Ville de Lucerne'' (Astra VII) Frédéric Airault, technical director of

Compagnie générale transaérienne The ''Compagnie générale transaérienne'' (CGT: General Trans-Air Company) was a predecessor of Air France, founded in 1909. At first it operated airships in France and Switzerland, then added float planes and direct flights from Paris to London ...

(later

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airl ...

), was associated with Astra from 1909. He skilfully avoided a disaster while flying in ''l'Espagne'' (VI), and piloted ''Ville de Lucerne'' (VII) on commercial flights in Switzerland in 1910 as Transaérienne's chief pilot. ;1910 : ''Ville de Bruxelles'' (Astra VIII) : ''Ville de Pau'' (Astra IX) : ''Lieutenant Chaura'' (Astra X) : ''Adjudant Réau'' (Astra XI) - made a record-breaking round flight of 850 km from Paris to the German border and back, piloted by Surcouf. : ''Éclaireur Conté'' (Astra XII), : (Astra XIII) On 6 July 1911 Surcouf inaugurated the l'Institut aérotechnique de Saint-Cyr, affiliated with the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

. De la Meurthe bought the Société Générale d'Aéro-Locomotion Deplante-Nieuport when Édouard N. died in 1911, renaming it the Société Anonyme des Établissements Nieuport. From 1911 Surcouf collaborated with the Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo on a new semi-rigid dirigible in the

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...

works. Their ''

Astra-Torres airship The Astra-Torres airships were non-rigid airships built by Société Astra in France between about 1908 and 1922 to a design by the Spaniard Leonardo Torres Quevedo. They had a highly-characteristic tri-lobed cross-section rather than the more us ...

'' was much faster with better performance than previous airships. Other Astra-Torres dirigibles followed, including the ''Pilâtre de Rozier'' (Astra-Torres XV) named after the aerostier

Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier () was a French chemistry and physics teacher, and one of the first pioneers of aviation. He made the first manned free balloon flight with François Laurent d'Arlandes on 21 November 1783, in a Montgolfier b ...

, which at 23,000 m3 was the same size as a

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, ...

. On 18/19 September 1911 Surcouf piloted the ''Adjutant Reau'' (Astra XI) on a record-breaking non-stop round flight of 850 km from Paris (

) - Chalons - Verdun - Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) -Epinal - Versoul - Troyes -Paris. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Surcouf's firms supplied war material. After the Great War, the company continued to produce dirigibles. In 1919 Henri de la Meurthe died. The Astra company merged with Nieuport to form Astra-Nieuport. In 1923 he retired from the company in favour of Gustave Delage.

Partial list of publications

* ''Aérostats et aérostation militaire. Marine et arts militaires'', Paris, Bernard et compagnie, 1889 (with Gabriel Yon) — Extrait de la « Revue technique de l'Exposition universelle de 1889 »
''L'aéronautique militaire''
1910 * ''Les aéroplanes marins (hydroaéroplanes)'', 1913

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Sources * *

External links

Création de la première compagnie d'aérostiers suisses.

Les dirigeables Astra-Torres
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surcouf, Edouard French industrialists Airship aviators 1862 births 1938 deaths Balloon flight record holders French aviation record holders