Imperial Russian Airship "Giant" - Currell.net

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Compared to other European powers, Russia was relatively late entering the field of lighter-than-air craft. However in the first years of the 20th century the military recognized the potential of airships, and over the next decade Russia was to acquire 20 of various types. Though many ships were purchased from other countries, over time Russian engineers began experimenting with their own designs. The largest of these was a semi-rigid ship appropriately called Giant.

The ship as originally designed was 114 m long, with a diameter of 17 m and four 215 horsepower engines. It was intended to fly up to 2500 m altitude, carrying 9000 kg for 20 hours. During construction the number of engines was reduced to two, placed in the middle of the ship.

The end of Giant's only flight.

The first flight occurred on February 10, 1915, but after half an hour aloft the airship sagged in the centre, weighed down by the re-positioned engines. With its keel broken, the damaged Giant dropped gently into a forest and the crew escaped with no injuries. Although the ship was rebuilt, the success of the aeroplane bomber had made military airships largely obsolete and the Giant was scrapped in 1916.

Compared to other European powers, Russia was relatively late entering the field of lighter-than-air craft. However in the first years of the 20th century the military recognized the potential of airships, and over the next decade Russia was to acquire 20 of various types. Though many ships were purchased from other countries, over time Russian engineers began experimenting with their own designs. The largest of these was a semi-rigid ship appropriately called Giant.

The ship as originally designed was 114 m long, with a diameter of 17 m and four 215 horsepower engines. It was intended to fly up to 2500 m altitude, carrying 9000 kg for 20 hours. During construction the number of engines was reduced to two, placed in the middle of the ship.

Giant crashed
The end of Giant's only flight.

The first flight occurred on February 10, 1915, but after half an hour aloft the airship sagged in the centre, weighed down by the re-positioned engines. With its keel broken, the damaged Giant dropped gently into a forest and the crew escaped with no injuries. Although the ship was rebuilt, the success of the aeroplane bomber had made military airships largely obsolete and the Giant was scrapped in 1916.

Information on the Giant from other sites:

Dirigibles of Imperial Russia - photos and information about Russia's early airships. This is a Russian language site.

Information on the Giant from other sites:

Dirigibles of Imperial Russia - photos and information about Russia's early airships. This is a Russian language site.

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Imperial Russian Airship Giant

Illustration of the Giant

Photo of the Giant model

Skill Level 3/5
Previous experience recommended.

This model builds into a 1:350 scale replica of the Giant. The completed model is approximately 13 inches (33cm) long.

You will need a colour printer capable of handling card or cover stock to print the parts sheets. 67 lb cover stock (approx 8.5 thousandths of an inch or 0.2 mm thick) is recommended.

See photos of the finished model.

Brief history and related links.

The model files

giant_instr.pdf - 238 KiB - This document contains the instructions only (4 pages).

giant_parts.pdf - 1.55 MiB - This document contains the parts layout (4 pages).

The parts and instructions are in Adobe PDF format. Your web browser may allow you to read and print these files, otherwise you'll need a PDF reader such as Adobe's Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader.

Last updated on 5 February 2021
Copyright 2006-2021 by Ralph Currell.