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The Astra-Torres non-rigids were designed by a Spaniard, Senor Torres, and built by the Astra Company. The envelope was of trefoil shape, this being due to the interior rigging from the suspension band; the exterior appearance is that of two lobes side by side, overlaid by a third.
The North Sea type of non-rigid was capable of travelling over 20 hours at full speed, or forty hours at cruising speed, and the number of non-rigids belonging to the British Navy exceeded that of any other country. It was owing to the incapacity apparent or real of the British military or naval designers to produce a satisfactory rigid airship that the 'N.S. airship was evolved.
This airship, which was named 'Dupuy de Lome, may be ranked as about the most successful non-rigid dirigible constructed prior to the War. Experiments with non-rigids in Germany was mainly carried on by Major Parseval, who produced his first vessel in 1906.
The Clement Bayard, and subsequently the Astra-Torres, non-rigids, followed on the early Lebaudys and carried French dirigible construction up to 1912. The Clement Bayard was a simple non-rigid having four lobes at the stern end to assist stability.
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