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[[Image:Édouard Surcouf.jpg|thumb|Édouard Surcouf, detail from a photograph taken in Prague in 1891]]
'''Édouard Surcouf''' (1862–1938) was a French engineer, maker and pilot of [[dirigible]]s, and industrialist.

== Biography ==
[[Image:Luftskib1902.jpg|thumb|The dirgible ''[[:fr:Le Lebaudy (dirigeable)|Lebaudy]]''.]]
[[Image:Ville_de_Paris-1906.jpg|thumb|The ''Ville de Paris'' in 1906.]]
[[Image:1911 AstraTorres airshipNo1 crop.jpg|thumb|The Astra-Torres dirigible No. 1 from 1911.]]
[[Image:Astra CM sk.jpg|thumb|Astra CM biplane]]
[[image:Triplan Astra concours militaire Champagne 1911.jpg|thumb|Astra triplane, participant at the military concours d'aviation, 1911]]

Édouard Surcouf, an aeronautics enthusiast from an early age, made his first flight in a hot-air balloon in 1879 at the age of 17.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

The following year, 1880, he started as an apprentice at the "Grands Ateliers Aérostatiques du Champ-de-Mars", the biggest aeronautic manufacturer at the end of the 19th century. He collaborated with engineers [[Eugène Godard]], his brother Louis Godard and Gabriel Yon.<ref>{{cite web |last=Biguet |first=Adeline |year=2010 |title=Une famille illustre: les Godards |website=L'aérostat nantais |language=French |publisher=archives.nantes.fr |url=http://www.archives.nantes.fr/PAGES/DOSSIERS_DOCS/aerostats_nantais/pages/famille_godard.html |access-date=23 March 2016 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003347/http://www.archives.nantes.fr/PAGES/DOSSIERS_DOCS/aerostats_nantais/pages/famille_godard.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1889 he was named president of the School of Aeronautics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Histoire : biographies|url=https://acdf-meaux.fr/histoire-biographies/|access-date=2021-10-12|website=Aéronautique Club de France à Meaux|language=fr-FR}}</ref> With Gabriel Yon he published a reference work, ''Aérostats et aérostation militaire à l'Exposition universelle de 1889'' (éditions Bernard et Cie., Paris, 1889).<ref>Described as a sort of ''catalogue raisonné'' of the aerial navigation Exposition. See {{harvnb|Labrousse|1891|p=56}}</ref> Surcouf married [[Marie Surcouf]] who became the first French woman to gain her sporting pilot's license. She later set up [[Aéroclub féminin la Stella]], a women's ballooning organisation.<ref name=":0" />

In 1889 he became the successor to his godfather (see ''Urania'', a balloon made by the Ateliers Surcouf, Crystal Palace 1889) <ref group=n>''Urania'', a balloon made by the Ateliers Surcouf - See the aerial acrobat [[Leona Dare]], flying beneath a balloon in 1887 at the [[Crystal Palace, London]]. See [[:File:Spelterini_LeonaDare.JPG|Leona Dare]]</ref>
This new company would be a pioneer in the introduction of rubberised fabric for the construction of envelopes of [[dirigibles]]. He continued Gabriel Yon's enterprise in providing equipment for the Spanish Army.

On 27 July 1900 he was appointed Technical Instructor at the first Swiss military aérostiers training school in Geneva.<ref>{{cite web |title=Création de la 1ère compagnie suisse d'aérostiers aux ordres de Théodore Schaeck (1897) |last=Cailliez |first=Jean-Claude |date=14 August 2006 |language=French |url=http://www.pionnair-ge.com/spip1/spip.php?article179 |access-date=23 March 2016}}</ref>

In 1902 Surcouf built his first dirigible, ''Lebaudy I'', for the brothers Paul and Pierre Lebaudy (see [[:fr:famille Lebaudy]]), designed by [[:fr:Henri Julliot]] and nicknamed "le Jaune" ('Yellow').<ref>[http://www.blimp-n2a.com/lebaudy.htm Les dirigeables Lebaudy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105235644/http://www.blimp-n2a.com/lebaudy.htm |date=2009-01-05 }}. Blimp Europa N2A (in French). Retrieved 23 March 2016</ref> The ''[[:fr:Le Lebaudy (dirigeable)]]'' was a hydrogen-filled, cigar-shaped airship pointed or thinning at the sides, {{convert|57|m}} long, powered by a {{convert|40|hp}} engine with a propellers on each side.<ref>[http://www.aero-mondo.fr/aviation-grand-papa/le-raid-du-lebaudy "Le Raid du Lebaudy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171916/http://www.aero-mondo.fr/aviation-grand-papa/le-raid-du-lebaudy |date=2016-03-03 }} ''Lecture pour tous'', October 1904. Aero-mondo.fr (in French).</ref> In 1904 the industrialist [[Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe]] ordered the dirigible ''Le Ville de Paris'', which had a bad accident during its inaugural flight in December 1904. It was rebuilt, and ''Le Ville de Paris'' flew again in 1906.

[[Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe]] joined with Surcouf in 1908 to found the [[Société Astra]] (Société Astra de constructions aéronautiques). This new company increased production, making [[Wright brothers]] aircraft under licence and their own models such as the CM. The firm also made dirigibles, notably at [[Meaux, France|Meaux]] and at the industrial site of [[Boulogne-Billancourt]]. Surcouf surrounded himself with aeronautical engineers, among which [[:fr:Henry Kapférer]] would become the administrator of this new industrial firm. New dirigibles appeared:
;1909
: ''Ville de Nancy'' (Astra III)
: ''[[Adolphe Clément-Bayard|Clément Bayard]]'' (Astra IV)
: ''Colonel Renard'' (Astra V)
: ''l'Espagne'' (''España'') (Astra VI)
: ''Ville de Pau-Ville de Lucerne'' (Astra VII)

[[Frédéric Airault]], technical director of [[Compagnie générale transaérienne]] (later [[Air France]]), was associated with Astra from 1909. He skilfully avoided a disaster while flying in ''l'Espagne'' (VI), and piloted ''Ville de Lucerne'' (VII) on commercial flights in Switzerland in 1910 as Transaérienne's chief pilot.

;1910
: ''Ville de Bruxelles'' (Astra VIII)
: ''Ville de Pau'' (Astra IX)
: ''Lieutenant Chaura'' (Astra X)
: ''Adjudant Réau'' (Astra XI) - made a record-breaking round flight of 850 km from Paris to the German border and back, piloted by Surcouf.{{sfn|Hoernes|1912|pp=433-4}}
: ''Éclaireur Conté'' (Astra XII),
: (Astra XIII)

On 6 July 1911 Surcouf inaugurated the l'Institut aérotechnique de Saint-Cyr, affiliated with the [[University of Paris]]. De la Meurthe bought the [[Nieuport|Société Générale d'Aéro-Locomotion Deplante-Nieuport]] when Édouard N. died in 1911, renaming it the Société Anonyme des Établissements Nieuport.

From 1911 Surcouf collaborated with the Spanish engineer [[Leonardo Torres Quevedo]] on a new non-rigid dirigible in the [[Issy-les-Moulineaux]] works. Their ''[[Astra-Torres airship]]'' was much faster with better performance than previous airships. Other Astra-Torres dirigibles followed, including the ''Pilâtre de Rozier'' (Astra-Torres XV) named after the aerostier [[Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier]], which at 23,000 m3 was the same size as a [[Zeppelin]].

On 18/19 September 1911 Surcouf piloted the ''Adjutant Reau'' (Astra XI) on a record-breaking non-stop round flight of 850 km from Paris ([[Issy-les-Moulineaux]]) - Chalons - Verdun - Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) -Epinal - Versoul - Troyes -Paris.{{sfn|Hoernes|1912|pp=433-4}}

During [[World War I]] Surcouf's firms supplied war material.

After the Great War, the company continued to produce dirigibles. In 1919 Henri de la Meurthe died.  The Astra company merged with Nieuport to form Astra-Nieuport. In 1923 he retired from the company in favour of Gustave Delage.

==Partial list of publications==
* ''Aérostats et aérostation militaire. Marine et arts militaires'', Paris, Bernard et compagnie, 1889 (with Gabriel Yon) — Extrait de la « Revue technique de l'Exposition universelle de 1889 »
* [http://hdl.handle.net/1908/3698 ''L'aéronautique militaire''], 1910
* ''Les aéroplanes marins (hydroaéroplanes)'', 1913



==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist|group=n}}
;Citations
{{Reflist|30em}}

;Sources
* {{cite book
|last=Labrousse
|first=Ch.
|title=Navigation aérienne en 1889
|place=Paris
|publisher=Michelet
|year=1891
|language=French
|url=https://archive.org/stream/navigationarien00labrgoog#page/n60/mode/2up}}
* {{cite book
|last=Hoernes
|first=Hermann
|title=Das Buch des Fluges, Volume III
|place=Vienna
|publisher=G. Szelinski
|year=1912
|language=German
|url=https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_94jmAAAAMAAJ#page/n453/mode/2up }}

==External links==
* [http://www.pionnair-ge.com/spip1/spip.php?article179 Création de la première compagnie d'aérostiers suisses.]
* [http://aeronavale-porteavions.com/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=2207 Les dirigeables Astra-Torres]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surcouf, Edouard}}
[[Category:French industrialists]]
[[Category:Airship aviators]]
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1938 deaths]]
[[Category:Balloon flight record holders]]
[[Category:French aviation record holders]]

Édouard Surcouf - Revision history

Admin: 1 revision imported

wikipedia>Gatobardo at 09:07, 22 September 2024