, in
conjunction with Julliot, an engineer, and Surcoup, an aeronaut,
commenced building an airship of a new type. This ship was a semirigid
and was of a new shape, the envelope resembling in external appearance
a cigar. In length it was 178 feet with a diameter of 30 feet and the
total capacity was 64,800 cubic feet. This envelope was attached to a
rigid elliptical keel-shaped girder made of steel tubes, which was
about a third of the length of the ship. The girder was covered with a
shirting and intended to prevent the ship pitching and rolling while in
flight. A horizontal rudder was attached to the under side of this
girder, while right aft a large vertical rudder was fixed.

A small car was suspended by steel rods at a distance of 17 feet 9
inches from the girder, with a framework built up underneath to absorb
the shock on landing.

A 35 horse-power Daimler-Mercedes motor, weighing some 800 lb. without
cooling water and fuel, drove two twin-bladed propellers on either side
of the car.

In the year 1903 a number of experimental flights were made with this
ship and various details in the construction were continually
introduced. The longest flight was 2 hours 46 minutes. Towards the
end of that year, while a voyage was being made from Paris to Chalais
Meudon, the airship came in contact with a tree and the envelope was
badly torn.

In the following year it was rebuilt, and the volume was slightly
increased with fixed and movable planes added to increase the
stability. After several trips had been made, the airship again on
landing came in contact with a tree and was burst.

The ship was rebuilt and after carrying out trials was purchased by the
French Army. The Lebaudy airship had at that time been a distinct
success, and in 1910 one was purchased for the British Government by
the readers of the Morning Post.

In the ten-ton Lebaudy the length of the keel framework was greatly
extended, and ran for very nearly the full length of the envelope. The
disadvantage of this ship was its slowness, considering its size and
power, and was due to the enormous resistance offered by the framework
and rigging.

Airships known as the "Clement-Bayard" were also built about this time.
They were manufactured by the Astra Company in conjunction with
Monsieur Clement, a motor engineer.

In later days vessels were built by the Astra Company of the peculiar
design introduced by Senor Torres. These ships, some of which