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The airship shown is known as the de Marçay-Kluytmans airship and it was not yet an airship but only a prototype model. It had been conceived by the Dutch Engineer J. Kluytmans (who lived in Paris), financed by the French Baron Edmond De Marçay, and built by Aeronaute Paul Leprince. Kluytmans claimed he had found a solution to the instability of conventional airships, caused when the propellers are placed at a long distance from the centre of gravity of the ship.
The prototype had a length of 24 meters and a diameter of 3.5 meters. It made its maiden flight on March 14, 1908 in Courbevoie near Paris.
I bet that "contraption" was the talk of the town in its day.
I also bet that the Baron stuck out his chest a little further on the days he played with it.
I want one.
This pic reminds me that I need to get hot dogs at the grocery this afternoon.
wow, what a weird place to mount the propeller one of the blades is visible, the oar-shaped thing sticking out... see the guards and the channel it rotates in between the front and rear sausages.
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