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Astra “Conte”

Type : airship , non rigid

Role : Eclaireur (reconnaissance)

Built at : Issy-les-Moulineaux

Length : 65m

Volume : 7000 m3

Engines : 2x Chenu 80 hp

The fate of Éclaireur Conté could not be more different. Based at Épinal, her mission on 09 august 1914 came to an abrupt halt when brought down by fire from French troops. Mistaking the airship for a German machine, they scored 1,300 hits on her within ten minutes of her appearing over French lines.  The crew returned Éclaireur Conté to base only with enormous difficulty and she is no longer airworthy.

Adjudant Réau and Éclaireur Conté were built by the Astra company of Billancourt. Adjudant Vincenot, Dupuy de Lôme and Montgolfier were all built by Clément–Bayard of Levallois-Perret. Fleurus was built by the army itself, at its Chalais-Meudon workshop. Tissandier is under construction by Lebaudy.

Set record for height : 3025m at 18 June 1912

Literature : They fought for the sky page 62