Henri Giffard was born
in France in 1825. He became an engineer and carried out research
into air balloons.
Giffard eventually created
the world's first passenger-carrying powered and steerable airship,
called a dirigible. The hydrogen-filled airship was equipped with
a 3-hp steam engine that drove a propeller. He also installed a
vertical rudder.
The dirigible made its
first flight took place on 24th September 1852. It travelled from
Paris to Trappes and covered 16.78 miles (27 km) at a speed of 5.6
mph (9 kph).
Giffard's 1852 Airship
Giffard also invented
an injector to feed water into a steam-engine boiler to prevent
it running out of steam when not in motion. He used the money from
this invention to build another airship 1855. This was unsuccessful
and crash-landed on its first flight.
Henri Giffard died in
1882.
