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Édouard Surcouf (1862 - 1938) was a French engineer and industrialist, best known for his activities in the field of airship construction.
Career
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Édouard Surcouf made his first balloon flight in 1879 when he was 17, and the same year enrolled at the Acadamie d'Aerostation. In 1886 he joined Gabriel Yon and Eugène Godard's "Grands Ateliers Aérostatiques du Champ-de-Mars", a leading manufacturer of balloons.[1]
In 1888 he became the director of the École d'aérostation. He collaborated with Yon on a reference book titled Aérostats et aérostation militaire à l'Exposition universelle de 1889 (éditions Bernard et Cie, Paris, 1889). Édouard Surcouf married Yon's daughter Marie, who became the first woman balloonist to receive a sporting balooning license. As a result of the marriage, Surcouf inherited Yon's balloon manufacturing business.
En 1899 the company changed its name to Ateliers aéronautiques Édouard Surcouf. The company pioneered the use of rubberised fabric for balloon construction. Édouard Surcouf continued à maintenir sa société comme fournisseur d'équipements pour l'armée espagnole comme l'était déjà l'entreprise de Gabriel Yon. In 1900 il participe à la creation of the first school for ballonists in Switzerland.
In 1902 Surcouf, working with the engineer Henri Juillot, produced his first dirigible, built for the Lebaudy brothers. Called the Jaune (English: Yellow)[2][3] Le Lebaudy 57 m (187 ft) long, powered by a 40 hp Daimler engine driving two propellors. [4]. In 1904 Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe ordered a dirigible from Surcouf, le Ville de Paris qui aura a serious accident lors de son vol inaugural en December 1904. He rebuilt et le [[La Ville de Paris (airship)|Ville de Paris s'envolera pour de bon en 1906.
In 1905 Surcouf established a company with Gabriel Voisin to manufacture heavier-than-air aircraft. The company produced the Voisin-Archdeacon glider, which was successfully flown in July 1905, and also manufactured a glider for Louis Blériot. [5]
In 1906 he was one of the officials of the Aéro-Club de France responsible for ratifying Alberto Santos Dumont's flight[6]
In 1908 Deutsch de la Meurthe and Surcouf founded the Société de Constructions Aéronautiques Astra , which later became the Société Astra de constructions aéronautiques. The new company extended its activities to heavier-than-air aviation, building Wright biplanes under license, and also aircraft of its own design. Mais aussi des aérostats, avec de nouveaux sites et ateliers de construction, notamment à Meaux and also in the industrial suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt. Surcouf s'entoure d'ingénieurs en aéronautique, Henry Kapférer, who became manager of the new company. Sortent de ses ateliers de nouveaux dirigeables, tels que le Ville de Bordeaux, shown at the Salon de l'aéronautique de Paris au Grand Palais, mais qui ne volera pas et sera même détruit. Puis, en 1909, le dirigeable Ville de Nancy (Astra III). Ensuite viennent le Clément Bayard (Astra IV), le Colonel Renard (Astra V), l' Espagne (Astra VI) et le Ville de Pau-Ville de Lucerne (Astra VII). In 1910 it produced the Ville de Bruxelles (Astra VIII), Ville de Pau (Astra IX), Lieutenant Chaura (Astra X), Adjudant Réau (Astra XI), Éclaireur Conté (Astra XII), and the 'Astra XIII (Astra XIII).
In July 1911 Surcouf and Deutsche de la Meurthe established the Institut Aérotechnique de Saint-Cyr, which was affiliated with the Université of Paris. La même année, Henry Deutsche de la Meurthe s'attaque au marché de l'aviation en rachetant la Société Générale d'Aéro-Locomotion Deplante-Nieuport, dont le président Édouard Nieuport vient de mourir. The new company le nom de Société Anonyme des Établissements Nieuport.
In 1911 Édouard Surcouf worked with the Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo on his innovative system of construction for airship envelopes. dans les ateliers d'Issy-les-Moulineaux. Il y aura ensuite d'autres "Astra-Torres", dont le Pilâtre de Rozier (Astra-Torres N° XV), en l'honneur de l'aérostier Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, qui atteindra 23,000 cubic metres (30,000 cu yd), les dimensions du Zeppelin.
The company also manufactured the only rigid airship produced in France, the Speiss airship.
During the First World War, les établissements Surcouf fourniront du matériels de guerre pour le front.
After the war the company continued to produce airships. In 1919 Henry Deutsche de la Meurthe died. La Société Astra de Constructions Aéronautiques combined with the Nieuport company, forming the Société Astra-Nieuport. In 1923 Édouard Surcouf resigned his derectoship, being replaced by Gustave Delage.
Published works
edit- YON (Gabriel) et SURCOUF (Édouard), "Aérostats et aérostation militaire à l'exposition universelle de 1889", éditions Bernard et compagnie, Paris, 1889.
Notes
edit- ^ Portraits d'Aéronauts Contemporians l'Aérophile August-October 1897, pp. 145-7
- ^ The Lebaudy Airships
- ^ [1] l'Aérophile
- ^ Aero-mondo.fr Le Raid du Lebaudy dans Lecture pour tous - Octobre 1904
- ^ [2],l'Aérophile July 1905, p. 160
- ^ Comission d'Aviation l'Aérophile, November 106, p. 279