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Belgium Air Force
The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne belge). The Belgian military aviation was founded in 1909 and is one of the world's oldest air services. The commander is Major General Thierry Dupont, appointed on 17 September 2020. History Foundation and early years The Belgian military aviation was founded in 1909 as a branch of the Belgian Army, carrying the name . King Albert's interest in the military use of aircraft was the main impetus for its formation. Coincidentally, in the civil aviation sector, Baron Pierre de Caters earned the first civil pilot's brevet that same year. De Caters would promptly establish an aviation school. At approximately the same time, the War Ministry followed the French military's example and had pilots earn a civil pilot's brevet before their military one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monarchy Of Belgium
Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary, and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled king or queen of the Belgians ( nl, Koning(in) der Belgen, french: Roi / Reine des Belges}, german: König(in) der Belgier) and serves as the country's head of state. There have been seven kings since independence in 1830. The incumbent, Philippe, ascended the throne on 21 July 2013, following the abdication of his father Albert II. Origins When the Belgians became independent in 1830 the National Congress chose a constitutional monarchy as the form of government. The Congress voted on the question on 22 November 1830, supporting monarchy by 174 votes to 13. In February 1831, the Congress nominated Louis, Duke of Nemours, the son of the French king Louis-Philippe, but international considerations deterred Louis-Philippe from accepting the honor for his son. Following this refusal, the National Congress appointed Erasme-Louis, Baron Surlet de Chokier to be the Regent of Belgium o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machine Gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) are typically designed more for firing short bursts rather than continuous firepower, and are not considered true machine guns. As a class of military kinetic projectile weapon, machine guns are designed to be mainly used as infantry support weapons and generally used when attached to a bipod or tripod, a fixed mount or a heavy weapons platform for stability against recoils. Many machine guns also use belt feeding and open bolt operation, features not normally found on other infantry firearms. Machine guns can be further categorized as light machine guns, medium machine guns, heavy machine guns, general purpose machine guns and squad automatic weapons. Similar automatic firearms of caliber or more are classified as autocannons, rat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pusher Configuration
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in normal operation. Pusher configuration describes this specific (propeller or ducted fan) thrust device attached to a craft, either aerostat (airship) or aerodyne (aircraft, WIG, paramotor, rotorcraft) or others types such as hovercraft, airboat and propeller-driven snowmobiles. "Pusher configuration" also describes the layout of a fixed-wing aircraft in which the thrust device has a pusher configuration. This kind of aircraft is commonly called a pusher. Pushers have been designed and built in many different layouts, some of them quite radical. History The rubber-powered "Planophore", designed by Alphonse Pénaud in 1871, was an early successful model aircraft with a pusher propeller. Many early aircraft (especially biplanes) were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fernand Jacquet
Captain-Commandant Fernand Maximillian Leon Jacquet was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. He was the first Belgian pilot to score an aerial victory, on 17 April 1915, and became the first Belgian ace on 1 February 1917. He was also the first Belgian pilot to fly the Belgian king Albert I to the front, in 1917. Additionally, he was the only Belgian honored by the British with a Distinguished Flying Cross. Background Jacquet was the son of a wealthy landowner. He joined the Belgian Army as a cadet in October 1907, and was educated at the Royal Military Academy; he was commissioned on 25 June 1910 and then assigned to the 4ème Régt de Ligne. He qualified as a pilot on 25 February 1913 with Brevet No. 68, and at the outbreak of World War I was serving with the Escadrille Demanet (I) in Liege. Involvement in World War I 1914 When neutral Belgium was invaded by Germany in August 1914, Jacquet flew reconnaissance missions near Namur, and reported the ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albatros Flugzeugwerke
Albatros Flugzeugwerke GmbH was a German aircraft manufacturer best known for supplying the German airforces during World War I. The company was based in Johannisthal, Berlin, where it was founded by Walter Huth and Otto Wiener on December 20, 1909. The company (and its subsidiary, Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW)) produced some of the most capable fighter aircraft of World War I, notably the Albatros D.III and Albatros D.V, both designed by Robert Thelen for the firm. The works continued to operate until 1931, when it was merged into Focke-Wulf. History The company was founded in Berlin-Johannisthal the end of 1909 by Enno Walther Huth as Albatros Werke AG. The first aircraft the company produced was a French Antoinette monoplane, which they built under licence. They then produced several versions of the Etrich Taube monoplane, as well the Doppeltaube biplane which used the same basic planform. A variety of other biplanes, with more conventional wing planforms were also b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sint-Agatha-Berchem
Berchem-Sainte-Agathe ( French, ) or Sint-Agatha-Berchem (Dutch, ), often simply called Berchem, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-western part of the region, it is bordered by Ganshoren, Koekelberg and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, as well as the Flemish municipalities of Asse and Dilbeek. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). , the municipality had a population of 25,298. The total area is , which gives a population density of . The municipality is known for its calm and peaceful character. It is said that Berchem is a "village in the city". History In the Middle Ages, Berchem-Sainte-Agathe was a modest village on the edge of Brussels. In 1795, it received the status of an autonomous municipality. In 1841, it separated from neighbouring Koekelberg, and in 1954, it became a part of the Brussels-Capital Region. Main sights Berchem-Sainte-Agathe has a rich cultural and ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etrich Taube
The Etrich ''Taube'', also known by the names of the various later manufacturers who built versions of the type, such as the Rumpler ''Taube'', was a pre-World War I monoplane aircraft. It was the first military aeroplane to be mass-produced in Germany. The Taube was very popular prior to the First World War, and it was also used by the air forces of Italy and Austria-Hungary. Even the Royal Naval Air Service operated at least one Taube in 1912. On 1 November 1911, Giulio Gavotti, an Italian aviator, dropped the world's first aerial bomb from his Taube monoplane over the Ain Zara oasis in Libya. Once the war began, it quickly proved inadequate as a warplane and was soon replaced by other designs. Design and development The Taube was designed in 1909 by Igo Etrich of Austria-Hungary, and first flew in 1910. It was licensed for serial production by Lohner-Werke in Austria and by Edmund Rumpler in Germany, now called the ''Etrich-Rumpler-Taube''. Rumpler soon changed the name to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roeselare
Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two Germanic words meaning "reed" and "open space", ''i.e.'', a marsh in a forest glade. Roeselare's minor seminary is famous for having hosted the famous Flemish poets Guido Gezelle, Albrecht Rodenbach and missionary Jesuit Constant Lievens. The city is also home to the Rodenbach brewery. History Origins and Middle Ages Traces of early dwellings have been found in the area, including prehistoric flint tools, Gallo-Roman wells, and a small 9th century Frankish building. The first mention of ''Roslar'' dates from a document dated 821 or 822, whereby the former domain of the Menapii, also called the ''Rollare'' villa in later documents, was given to Elnon Abbey. According to legend, Baldwin Iron Arm, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deperdussin Monocoque
The Deperdussin Monocoque was an early racing aircraft built in 1912 by the Aéroplanes Deperdussin, a French aircraft manufacturer started in 1911 and reorganized as the Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés ( SPAD) in 1913. It is so named because of the method of construction of its fuselage. The aircraft is noted for winning the Gordon Bennett Trophy in 1912 and 1913, and for raising the world speed record for aircraft to . Background The first use of monocoque construction in aviation is attributed to Eugene Ruchonnet, a Swiss marine engineer who had built an aircraft nicknamed the ''Cigare'' in 1911, which had a fuselage constructed by building up several layers of thin wood, each lamination being applied at right angle to the one underneath. The usual method of construction of an aircraft's fuselage at this time was to use a wire braced box-girder covered in fabric. Ruchonnet's technique, in which the outer surface of the structure is load-bearing, would become the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blériot Aéronautique
Blériot Aéronautique was a French aircraft manufacturer founded by Louis Blériot. It also made a few motorcycles between 1921 and 1922 and cyclecars during the 1920s. Background Louis Blériot was an engineer who had developed the first practical headlamp for cars and had established a successful business marketing them. In 1901 he had built a small unmanned ornithopter, but his serious involvement with aviation began in April 1905 when he witnessed Gabriel Voisin's first experiments with a floatplane glider towed behind a motorboat on the river Seine. A brief partnership with Voisin followed, but after the failure of the Blériot III and its modified version, the Blériot IV, the partnership was dissolved and Blériot set up his own company, "Recherches Aéronautique Louis Blériot" (Louis Blériot Aeronautical Research) at Courbevoie in March 1909. Blériot's early experiments File:Bleriot V.jpg, Blériot V File:Bleriot VI.jpg, Blériot VI File:Bleriot VII.jpg, Blér ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farman Aviation Works
Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard Farman, Richard, Henri Farman, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationalization and rationalization of its aeronautical industry, Farman's assets were assigned to the SNCAC, ''Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre'' (SNCAC). In 1941 the Farman brothers reestablished the firm as the "''Société Anonyme des Usines Farman''" (SAUF), but only three years later it was absorbed by SNCASO, Sud-Ouest. Maurice's son, Marcel Farman, reestablished the SAUF in 1952, but his effort proved unsuccessful and the firm was dissolved in 1956. The Farman brothers designed and built more than 200 types of aircraft between 1908 and 1941. They also built cars until 1931 and boats until 1930. Background In 1907, Henri Farman bought his first aircraft from Gabriel Voisin and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airship Belgique
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early dirigibles, the lifting gas used was hydrogen, due to its high lifting capacity and ready availability. Helium gas has almost the same lifting capacity and is not flammable, unlike hydrogen, but is rare and relatively expensive. Significant amounts were first discovered in the United States and for a while helium was only available for airships in that country. Most airships built since the 1960s have used helium, though some have used hot air.A few airships after World War II used hydrogen. The first British airship to use helium was the ''Chitty Bang Bang'' of 1967. The envelope of an airship may form the gasbag, or it may contain a number of gas-filled cells. An airship also has engines, crew, and optionally also payload accommodation, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
