Maurice Mallet / Zodiac airships

[hesham]

Thank you my dear Apophenia,

and here is a more Info about him.

 

[Maveric]

I found this short article in an older issue of Le'Fana. I'm curious if the aircraft has been identified. Does anyone know more about it?

 

[PhR]

I found this short article in an older issue of Le'Fana. I'm curious if the aircraft has been identified. Does anyone know more about it?

This is not an aircraft, but an airship nacelle.

 

[Maveric]

This is not an aircraft, but an airship nacelle.

Thx for your fast answer, do you have more informations?

 

[PhR]

Thx for your fast answer, do you have more informations?

Not really. This is another photo from ebay.
This site provides discussions and photos on this topic: https://aviation-ancienne.forumactif.com/t8972-moto-ballons-zodiac

 

[Cy-27]

I am trying to confirm the manufacturer of the E.9 French Navy airship from 1933. The E denotes Escorteur (Escort).

The type features in two YouTube videos, one of which calls it the Zodiac E.9 but I understood the Zodiac types ceased airship production around 1913.

The E.8, E.9 and E.10 are mentioned in a Flight article as well (see image), where Zodiac is also mentioned.

The pilot of the E.9 is given as Monsieur Debroutelle and a Pierre Debroutelle invented one of the first prototypes of the Zodiac inflatable boats in the late 1930's.

Would some of our French lighter-than-air experts be able to confirm the manufacturer?

Apologies if this type is on the forum elsewhere but E.9 does not return very much in the way of Airships!

Sources:

Flight 26 January 1933 issue

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkwBMR9atfo

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5le3MTHwsI

 

[fortrena]

The following links seem to confirm that the E.8 and E.9 were manufactured by Zodiac. The E.10 was presumably made by the same firm.

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65548869/f63.itemhttps://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65548869/f195.item

 

[dan_inbox]

I understood the Zodiac types ceased airship production around 1913.

Absolutely not. Maybe you got this impression from their changes of name: Ateliers M Mallet, établissements aéronautiques Maurice Mallet, Société Zodiac, etc.
They produced the ZD (Zodiac-Destroyer) successful models, and even exported some to the US Navy after the war: ZD-US-1 and -2.

(table credit @Marc_91 on aviation ancienne)

Then Zodiac went on to produce the Escorteur series in the interwar, and the MBZ which served into WW2.
Moto-Ballon Zodiac MBZ-3 1936:

 

[Stargazer]

Absolutely not. Maybe you got this impression from their changes of name: Ateliers M Mallet, établissements aéronautiques Maurice Mallet, Société Zodiac, etc.

Exactly. Here are two images showing an Zodiac-built airship nacelle from 1922:



Here is a 1924 item presenting the company's products:


Also from 1924, a Flight article on the V.Z.24 "Vedette":
("V.Z." meaning "Vedette Zodiac"—no connection with Zeppelin whatsoever!)


A 1931 advertisement:


A December 1931 item on the V.Z. 27:


A 1938 advertisement showing that the company was still pretty much alive before World War 2:

They produced the ZD (Zodiac-Destroyer) successful models, and even exported some to the US Navy after the war: ZD-US-1 and -2.

The company designation for the ZD-US-1/-2 was ZD-6. The airships were redesignated RN-1 by the U.S. Army.

Maurice Mallet's Zodiac company was also active as a contractor, building aircraft for others, for instance:

• Maurice Farman MF.1 (1908)
• Gabriel Voisin
• Peyret-Mauboussin PM.XII (Mauboussin M.12) (1931)
• Mauboussin M.112 (also known as the Mauboussin-Zodiac 17) (1932)
• Mauboussin M.120/32 Corsaire (1932)

Although the company no longer built airships after WW2, references to the company delivering parachuting material can be found as late as 1961-62 n the Direction technique des constructions aéronautiques archives:

• 5944/61 Fourniture de paquetage ZODIAC
• 5503/62 Livraison de documents techniques relatifs à la chaîne largable ZODIAC, type 461 et variantes

It is really sad that the French Wikipedia page seems to consider Mallet and his company as a purely pre-WW1 footnote in history!

 

[Stargazer]

I've renamed the topic's title as "Maurice Mallet / Zodiac airships" to reflect all the variety of material that's been shared.

Maurice Mallet also produced four airplanes (Nos. 1 to 4) before the company specialized in lighter-than-air material, but these will eventually get a topic of their own.

 

[dan_inbox]

It is really sad that the French Wikipedia page seems to consider Mallet and his company as a purely pre-WW1 footnote in history!

Yes it is, but you can improve it: If you register a free account, you can edit pages and contribute. I've done so myself a few times.
And frankly, IMO many of your research summaries here would deserve a new entry page. Thorough, precise, incredibly detailed. Encyclopaedia quality.
But of course this is your own decision.

 

[Stargazer]

Yes it is, but you can improve it: If you register a free account, you can edit pages and contribute. I've done so myself a few times.
And frankly, IMO many of your research summaries here would deserve a new entry page. Thorough, precise, incredibly detailed. Encyclopaedia quality.
But of course this is your own decision.

The reasons I never bothered all those years to contribute anything to Wikipedia are simple:

1. The site demands that every assertion be documented by a reference, but on many occasions I didn't note down the source of all the information I have gathered over the past five decades...
2. There is a lot of information that I know is sound, because I heard it from valuable researchers or firsthand testimonies, but since I do not have a "source" to show for it, I know it will be discarded or be labeled as having "insufficient data"...
3. On several occasions I saw valuable writeups be messed up by ignorants erasing correct info and repeating mistakes instead, just because they had a "source" for it. Any rubbish data is acceptable for Wikipedia is you have a "source" to show for it...

Am I wrong here?

 

[dan_inbox]

the company was still pretty much alive before World War 2

Indeed. Also during ww2. Their products were appreciated not only by the French military, but also by the tourists:

An unfortunate Moto-Ballon Zodiac MBZ-3 as Nazi beute, ca 1941.

Zodiac dirigibles were adopted by the military of many countries, even before WW1. They served with the French, Belgian (Zodiac II & III), Dutch (Duindigt), pre-Soviet Russia (Tchaika, Korchoune), USA (Navy VZ-3, -7, -13, Army RN-1), and Nazi. Maybe others too.

@Stéphane:
The Mallet page at wiki is indeed underwhelming, but there are other more useful pages:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Zodiac_airshipshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_airships_operated_by_the_USN
If you chose to improve or add entries, you do have most excellent sources you can refer to: your own masterpieces here on SPF. (Just maybe do not use the 'Stargazer' username on wiki).
And if you decide to contribute, IME the English-language mods are far less petty-provincial than the French-language clique (Pity, but...). And cherry on the cake, once there is an accepted page in English, then no probs making a French version of it.