Joseph Spiess

Joseph Spiess (10 September 1838[1] – 31 March 1917[2]) was a French engineer who filed a patent for a rigid airship in 1873, the year before Ferdinand von Zeppelin first outlined his own design.

[3] He served as a warrant officer in the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871,[4] and when Alsace-Lorraine was annexed by the German Empire, Spiess opted to retain his French nationality.

[7] It had a framework of hollow wooden spars braced with wire, and was given the name Zodiac XII but had the name "SPIESS" painted along the side of the envelope.

It first flew on April 13, 1913, but it became clear that it was underpowered and required more lift, so the envelope was extended to 140 metres to accommodate three more gas cells and a second engine was added.

[11] Joseph Spiess is buried with other family members in the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise in Paris; his gravestone has a bronze frieze depicting his airship.

Portrait of Joseph Spiess (1838-1917)
The extended Spiess airship in 1913.
First outing of the airship, December 12, 1913. View from the rear. Caption reads: "First outing of the Spiess dirigible, 200km raid. Length 146m, 2 nacelles, 2 motors of 200 hp, cube of 16000 m 3 "
The tomb of the Spiess family at Pere-Lachaise cemetery, with a depiction of the Spiess airship.