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The Santos-Dumont No. 6 was an
airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...
designed and built by the Brazilian pioneer aviator
Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont (self-stylised as Alberto Santos=Dumont; 20 July 1873 – 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-t ...
. In 1901 it was used by him to win the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize for a flight from Parc Saint Cloud to the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...
and back within thirty minutes.


Background

In April 1900 Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe offered the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize, also simply known as the "Deutsch prize", of 100,000 francs to the first machine capable of flying from the
Aéro-Club de France The Aéro-Club de France () is one of the oldest French aviators' associations still active. It was founded as the Aéro-Club on 20 October 1898 as a society 'to encourage aerial locomotion' by Ernest Archdeacon, Léon Serpollet, Henri de la ...
's flying field at Parc Saint Cloud to the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...
in Paris and back in less than thirty minutes. The winner of the prize needed to maintain an average ground speed of at least to cover the round trip distance of in the allotted time. The prize was to be available from May 1, 1900 to November 1, 1901. To win the prize,
Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont (self-stylised as Alberto Santos=Dumont; 20 July 1873 – 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-t ...
decided to build dirigible No. 5, a larger craft than his earlier designs. On August 8, 1901 during one of his attempts, the airship began to lose gas, causing the envelope to lose shape and making it necessary to shut down the engine, which also powered the ventilator which inflated the internal
ballonet A ballonet is an inflatable bag inside the outer envelope of an airship which, when inflated, reduces the volume available for the lifting gas, making it more dense. Because air is also denser than the lifting gas, inflating the ballonet reduces ...
. It started to descend and was unable to clear the roof of the Trocadero Hotel. Santos-Dumont was left hanging in a basket from the side of the hotel. With the help of firemen he escaped without injury, but the airship was a write-off, only the engine being salvaged.


Design

After the wreck of No.5 Santos Dumont immediately started work on a replacement, which was finished by September 1. Similar to the No.5 but slightly larger, it had an
envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter (message), letter or Greeting card, card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one o ...
of varnished silk from which an elongated uncovered gondola was suspended by steel wires. The envelope was fitted with a single manoeuvering valve and two automatic pressure-relief valves: in addition there were two ripping panels to enable
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
to be rapidly vented in an emergency. The triangular section gondola was constructed of lengths of
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
connected with aluminium sockets and braced with piano wire. The 12 hp (9 kW) engine was mounted in the centre of the gondola and drove a two-bladed pusher propeller at the rear via a long driveshaft. The pilot stood in a small balloon basket at the front. The triangular rudder was carried between the rear of the gondola and the envelope.


Operational history

After some tethered trials on September 5 Santos Dumont made his first flight in the airship on September 6. After an hour and a half of trials at the Longchamps racecourse he flew the craft to meet friends at a nearby restaurant, but on attempting to return to his base at
Chalais-Meudon Chalais-Meudon is an aeronautical research and development centre in Meudon, to the south-west of Paris. It was originally founded in 1793 in the nearby Château de Meudon and has played an important role in the development of French aviation. ...
a series of mishaps ended with the gondola being damaged. However it was soon repaired and a first attempt at the Deutsch de la Meurth prize was made on September 19, ending when the airship was blown against some trees during preliminary trials, resulting in the envelope being punctured. Another more successful flight was made on October 10, followed by an attempt on the prize the following day, which was frustrated by technical problems. Another successful trial flight followed on the 13th. Further flying was ruled out by the weather until October 19, when Santos-Dumont took off from Saint-Cloud at 2:42 pm. With the wind behind him, he reached the Eiffel Tower in nine minutes, but on the return journey suffered an engine failure. To restart the engine, he had to climb back over the gondola rail without a safety harness. The attempt was successful, and he reached the finish line after 29 minutes 30 seconds. However, there was a short delay before his mooring line was secured, and at first the adjudicating committee refused him the prize, despite de la Meurthe, who was present, declaring himself satisfied. This caused a public outcry from the crowds watching the flight, as well as comment in the press. However a face-saving compromise was reached, and Santos-Dumont was awarded the prize. In a charitable gesture, he gave half the prize to his technicians and donated the other half to the poor of Paris. After winning the De la Meurthe prize Santos-Dumont took the airship to
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
in January 1902, making use of the newly built balloon shed belonging to the
Prince of Monaco The sovereign prince () is the monarch and head of state of the Principality of Monaco. All reigning princes and princesses have taken the name of the House of Grimaldi. When Prince Rainier III died in 2005, he was Europe's longest reigning mo ...
on the Boulevard de la Condamine. It was badly damaged on February 14, 1902 when superheating of the
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
caused the airship, already in a nose-up attitude, to pitch up even further, causing some of the wires supporting the gondola to break. Some of these then began to get entangled with the propeller. Santos-Dumont was forced to stop the motor and in order to prevent himself being blown out to sea, vented hydrogen to bring the airship down in the sea. The airship was salvaged and returned to Paris where it was repaired, and on Easter Monday (i.e., on March 30, 1902) it was placed on exhibition in the Concert Room in the Crystal Palace Park in south London, where it attracted 10,000 visitors on the first day it was shown. It remained on display throughout April and May, after which a series of exhibition flights were announced. During the static exhibition the envelope had been inflated with air, and when inflated with hydrogen it was found that the envelope had deteriorated and so the flights were cancelled. The airship was on display in New York during the whole summer of 1902, a plan for a trip to the Statue of Liberty and back being likewise abandoned.


Specifications


Notes


References

* {{Santos-Dumont aircraft 06 Airships of France Aircraft first flown in 1901 Single-engined pusher aircraft Standing pilot aircraft