Astra-Torres airship

Astra-Torres AT-1 at an air show in 1911

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.[1][2][3] They had a highly characteristic tri-lobed cross-section rather than the more usual circular cross-section. This was the result of moving most of the blimp's bracing wires inside the envelope in an attempt to minimise drag. Early Astra-Torres airships could be trimmed by moving the entire gondola fore and aft.

Astra-Torres airships, like Alsace, were used by the French Navy during the First World War and for a few years before and after. A few of these were transferred to the American expeditionary forces in Europe, and AT-1, AT-13 and AT-17 were eventually taken back to the United States.

Britain's Royal Naval Air Service purchased AT-14, AT-17 and AT-19, these becoming HMA No. 3, HMA No. 8 and HMA No. 16 respectively. They went through testing and evaluation at RNAS Kingsnorth before all were later taken out of service in May 1916,[4] although the Astra-Torres design was imitated in Britain's own Coastal class, and North Sea blimps that served through to the end of the war.[5]

After the war, AT-16 was operated by Transaérienne, carrying sightseeing passengers over Paris, and AT-24 was purchased by the Japanese Navy.

Operators

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 France
 Japan
 United Kingdom

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "La dirección de globos y un inventor español". La Época. 1902.
  2. ^ Francisco A. González Redondo.Leonardo Torres Quevedo, 1902-1908. The Foundations for 100 years of Airship designs In book: Proceedings of the 7th International Airship Convention, pp.1-12, Publisher: German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics (DGLR), October 2008.
  3. ^ Ambrose Talbot, Frederick Arthur (2020). "Airships of War". Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War. Prabhat Prakashan. pp. 30–32. ISBN 978-8184305012.
  4. ^ "Airshipsonline:Sheds: Kingsnorth".
  5. ^ Whale, George (2013). "Airship design". British Airships - Past, Present And Future. Read Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1473391529.
  6. ^ Starkings, Peter. "Japanese Military Airships 1910-1945". Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 82.
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