French aircraft operations

[maddox]

Airbase Gravelines

Early 1917 a fully equiped 1917 lvl Airbase, and expanding.

100 SE Scout/Fighters (Italian Macchi HD1)
15 LR bombers (Italian Macchi recon bomber)
15 Twin engine heavies (Italian multi purpose aircraft)

50 SE remain in storage  -50 for the Garibaldi  Independend Indochina educational affair
5 LR and 5 Twin engine planes in storage.

Airbase Marseilles
100 SE Scout/Fighters (Italian Macchi HD1)
15 LR bombers (Italian Macchi recon bomber)
15 Twin engine heavies (Italian Caproni GF4/1 multi purpose aircraft)

50 SE remain in storage.
6 LR and 7 Twin engine planes in storage.


Operational losses during 1916
70 SE Fighter/Scouts; 

• 40 total loss Haida airstrip Kolkata:
• 12 combat losses  28 weather related losses. 
• 26 pilots killed, 8 crippled, 6 returned to service

                         

• 30 training losses at Gravelines 
• 8 planes lost above sea, 12 crashed during landing ,10 operational losses
• 11 pilots killed, 12 crippled, 7 returned to service 



• 9 LR bombers, training loses*
• 8 Twin engine heavies, training losses*
• 6 pilots 16 crew killed 4 crippled 9 pilots and 34 crew members returned to service

* patrols are seen as training

[maddox]

Long distance air travel is known to France, and the large airships have a regular patern of flights, ranging up to Saigon, Indiochina.

Most of the infrastructure is based on the succefull type 2 sized airships.
Paris        
2 Hangars, 3 airships.
Bordeaux
2 Hangars, 3 airships.


Colombo, Ceylon
2 Hangars, 3 airships

Djibouti Island
2 Hangars, 3 airships.

Suez
2 Hangars, 3 airships.

Kolkata
2 Hangars, 3 airships.



1916 gave France 2 shocks.  
1) The sudden war in Kolkata
2) The Iberian warplan Oro

The lack of dependable and sufficient ranged scouting forces- currently only 18 modern cruisers are available- is a hindrance.
The French shipyards are building balls out, but as a stopgap messure a string of blimp bases is being build, and the first patrols are expected to start- weather permitting early 1917.

Blimp bases are build during 1916 every 250 km along the French coast and contain 1 size 0 Hangar, a blimp maintenance shop, a landingfield and barracks for a garrizon.
Each base has 1 blimp. Size 0, 10 000m³ envolope size.

Based on these (albeit developed earlier, adapted data to fit the Blimp rules)
Length 80 m
Diameter 17.5m
Speed 30 kts (54 km/h) 2 100 Hp Bayerische Motoren Werke 6 in line engines
Endurance max 20 hours
Normal patrol load 250 kg/15 hours endurance
Night binoculars
Spotlight/signal lamp
2 Chauchat machineguns 2*1000 rounds
2 Guiraud 30 kg depth charges





Atlantic coast bases from north to south
The Big airbase at Gravelines has next to the 2 giant hangars 1 small blimp hangar.
Le Havre
Cherbourg-Octeville
Guernsey
Brest
St-Nazaire
La Rochelle
Andernos-Les-Bains
Biarritz

Mediterranean Sea bases coast, from west to east.
Argeles-Sur-Mer
Frontignan
Marseilles
Saint-Tropez
Menton

French North border, first blimp base ready january 1917
Sedan, part of the Citadel