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1 Piccard, Auguste
SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace[br]b. 28 January 1884 Basel, Switzerlandd. 24 March 1962 Lausanne, Switzerland[br]Swiss physicist who developed balloons to explore the upper atmosphere.[br]Auguste Piccard and his twin brother, Jean-Félix, studied together in Zurich and qualified as a physicist and a chemist, respectively. In 1913 they made a sixteen-hour balloon flight together, and in 1915 they joined the balloon section of the Swiss Army. Auguste moved to Brussels as Professor of Applied Physics in 1922 and he carried out research into cosmic radiation. He realized that he needed to ascend into the rarefied air of the stratosphere in order to study these cosmic rays. His target was 16,000 m (52,500 ft), but no one had ever ventured to this height before.Not surprisingly, Auguste Piccard turned to a balloon for his experiments, and during 1930 he designed a hydrogen balloon with a spherical gondola to house the crew. This gondola was sealed and pressurized with air, just as a modern airliner has a pressurized cabin. With Belgian finance, Piccard was able to build his balloon, and on 27 May 1931 he and his colleague Paul Kipfer reached a height of 15,781 m (51,775 ft). Although this was a world record and created great public interest, Piccard was a scientist rather than a record breaker, and as he needed further information he prepared for another ascent. His new gondola was equipped with radio and improved scientific equipment. On 18 August 1932 it ascended from Zurich and reached a height of 16,201 m (53,152 ft).Jean-Félix was also interested in high-altitude balloon flights and in 1934, together with his wife, he ascended through a clouded sky and reached 17,550m (57,579ft). Jean- Félix also tested a gondola lifted by ninety-eight small balloons, and he developed frost-resistant windows. Other balloonists followed with record-breaking high-altitude flights, but Auguste Piccard, aided by his son Jacques, turned his attention to exploration of the depths of the ocean.[br]Bibliography1950, Between Earth and Sky, London. 1956, In Balloon and Bathyscaph, London.Further ReadingD.H.de Vorkin, 1990, Race to the Stratosphere, Berlin (the first chapters describe the work of the Piccard twins).Pierre de Latil and Jean Rivoire, 1962, Le Professeur Auguste Piccard, France.JDS -
2 Aerospace
See also: INDEX BY SUBJECT AREA[br]Caproni, Giovanni BattistaDassault, MarcelGiffard, Baptiste Henry JacquesJohnson, Clarence LeonardKorolov, Sergei PavlovichSopwith, Sir Thomas Octave MurdochTsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich -
3 Yost, Paul Edward
SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace[br]b. 30 June 1919 Bristow, Iowa, USA[br]American designer of balloons who reintroduced the hot-air balloon.[br]After the early hot-air balloons of the Montgolfier brothers in the 1780s, this branch of ballooning was superseded by hydrogen, coal gas and helium balloons. Following the research by Auguste Piccard into cosmic radiation during the 1930s, a renewed interest in this branch of research arose in the United States from 1947 onwards, using helium-filled balloons. Modern plastics were available by this time, and polythene was used for the envelopes.Paul E.Yost developed an improved form of envelope using nylon fabric laminated with mylar plastic film. This provided a strong impermeable material that was ideal for balloons. Using this material for the envelope, Yost produced the Vulcoon in 1960. He also reintroduced the use of hot air to inflate his balloon and developed an easily controlled gas burner fuelled by propane gas, which was readily available in cylinders for portable cooking stoves. Yost's company, Raven Industries, developed these very basic balloons as a military project. The pilot was suspended in a sling, but they improved the design by fitting wicker or aluminium baskets and turned to a market in the field of sport. After a slow start, hot-air ballooning became popular as a sport. In 1963 Yost made the first crossing of the English Channel in a hot-air balloon, accompanied by Donald Piccard, nephew of the balloonist Auguste Piccard, and Charles Dollfus, the eminent French aviation historian. Yost's attempt to cross the Atlantic in his balloon Silver Fox during 1976 failed and he was rescued from the sea near the Azores. The popularity of hot-air ballooning increased during the 1970s, and evolved into a very original form of advertising with unusual shapes for the envelopes, including a house, a bottle and an elephant.JDS -
4 Short, Hugh Oswald
SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace[br]b. 16 January 1883 Derbyshire, Englandd. 4 December 1969 Haslemere, England[br]English co-founder, with his brothers Horace Short (1872–1917) and Eustace (1875–1932), of the first company to design and build aeroplanes in Britain.[br]Oswald Short trained as an engineer; he was largely self-taught but was assisted by his brothers Eustace and Horace. In 1898 Eustace and the young Oswald set up a balloon business, building their first balloon in 1901. Two years later they sold observation balloons to the Government of India, and further orders followed. Meanwhile, in 1906 Horace designed a high-altitude balloon with a spherical pressurized gondola, an idea later used by Auguste Piccard, in 1931. Horace, a strange genius with a dominating character, joined his younger brothers in 1908 to found Short Brothers. Their first design, based on the Wright Flyer, was a limited success, but No. 2 won a Daily Mail prize of £1,000. In the same year, 1909, the Wright brothers chose Shorts to build six of their new Model A biplanes. Still using the basic Wright layout, Horace designed the world's first twin-engined aeroplane to fly successfully: it had one engine forward of the pilot, and one aft. During the years before the First World War the Shorts turned to tractor biplanes and specialized in floatplanes for the Admiralty.Oswald established a seaplane factory at Rochester, Kent, during 1913–14, and an airship works at Cardington, Bedfordshire, in 1916. Short Brothers went on to build the rigid airship R 32, which was completed in 1919. Unfortunately, Horace died in 1917, which threw a greater responsibility onto Oswald, who became the main innovator. He introduced the use of aluminium alloys combined with a smooth "stressed-skin" construction (unlike Junkers, who used corrugated skins). His sleek biplane the Silver Streak flew in 1920, well ahead of its time, but official support was not forthcoming. Oswald Short struggled on, trying to introduce his all-metal construction, especially for flying boats. He eventually succeeded with the biplane Singapore, of 1926, which had an all-metal hull. The prototype was used by Sir Alan Cobham for his flight round Africa. Several successful all-metal flying boats followed, including the Empire flying boats (1936) and the ubiquitous Sunderland (1937). The Stirling bomber (1939) was derived from the Sunderland. The company was nationalized in 1942 and Oswald Short retired the following year.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsHonorary Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Freeman of the City of London. Oswald Short turned down an MBE in 1919 as he felt it did not reflect the achievements of the Short Brothers.Bibliography1966, "Aircraft with stressed skin metal construction", Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society (November) (an account of the problems with patents and officialdom).Further ReadingC.H.Barnes, 1967, Shorts Aircraft since 1900, London; reprinted 1989 (a detailed account of the work of the Short brothers).JDS
См. также в других словарях:
Piccard, Auguste — born Jan. 28, 1884, Basel, Switz. died March 24, 1962, Lausanne Swiss born Belgian physicist and balloon and undersea explorer. He studied and taught physics in Zürich and later at the University of Brussels (1922–54). In 1930 he designed a… … Universalium
Piccard, Auguste — ► (1884 1962) Ingeniero físico suizo. Inventó un aparato llamado batiscafo y descendió a 3 000 m en el mar. * * * (28 ene. 1884, Basilea, Suiza–24 mar. 1962, Lausana). Físico belga nacido en Suiza, explorador de la atmósfera exterior y de las… … Enciclopedia Universal
Piccard,Auguste — Pic·card (pē kärdʹ, kärʹ), Auguste. 1884 1962. Swiss physicist and aeronaut known for his experiments at extreme altitudes and depths. He designed a balloon that in 1932 carried him to 16,946.7 meters (55,563 feet) and invented a bathyscaphe that … Universalium
Piccard, Auguste — (1884–1962) Swiss physicist … Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors
Piccard — Piccard, Auguste … Enciclopedia Universal
Auguste Picard — Auguste Piccard Pour les articles homonymes, voir Piccard. Auguste Piccard en 1927 … Wikipédia en Français
Piccard: Drei Generationen im Dienst der Forschung — Nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg hätte niemand gedacht, dass von Ballonflügen noch irgendwelche bedeutenden Entwicklungen für die Technik ausgehen würden. In einer Zeit, in welcher der Zeppelin in der internationalen Luftfahrt zu dominieren begann und … Universal-Lexikon
Auguste Piccard — (1927). Auguste Piccard (* 28. Januar 1884 in Basel; † 24. März 1962 in Lausanne) war ein Schweizer Wissenschaftler, Physiker und Erfinder. Er ist der Zwillingsbruder des Chemikers … Deutsch Wikipedia
Auguste Piccard — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Auguste Piccard (1927) … Wikipedia Español
PICCARD (A.) — PICCARD AUGUSTE (1884 1962) Physicien suisse, qui enseigna d’abord à l’École polytechnique fédérale, puis à l’université de Bruxelles. Piccard est cependant beaucoup plus connu pour ses explorations, qui ont frappé le public sans représenter pour … Encyclopédie Universelle
Piccard — (Auguste) (1884 1962) physicien suisse. Il effectua plusieurs ascensions en ballon dans la stratosphère (il atteignit 16 000 m en 1932). Il conçut et fit réaliser le premier bathyscaphe (1948) … Encyclopédie Universelle
