Astra-Torres trilobed airship
Dirigible trilobulado Astra-Torres
- Date
- 1902-1911 · confidence high
- Place
- Sartrouville, Yvelines, France
- Credited to
- Leonardo Torres Quevedo; Société Astra
- Field
- Movement
What it is
Torres Quevedo's non-rigid airship, whose trilobed envelope is held in shape by internal cables that distribute the load and avoid deformation without a framework. Built in series by the Astra company from 1911, they served France and Britain in the First World War.
Torres Quevedo patented the system in 1902 and, with Alfredo Kindelán, directed the building of the airship “España” at Guadalajara (1908); the Astra company (Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe) bought the patent for all countries except Spain. Astra-Torres no. 1 flew in February 1911.
What it led to
- Allied anti-submarine patrol airships in the First World War
- a speed record of 83 km/h in 1913
- a mooring-mast system that became standard