*NOT* D&D: WWII French Aviation

French aviation of the 30s always puzzled me as regards its industrial basis and organization. I decided to look this up. Here's what I found. This is a departure from my usual D&D-related focus. Wargamers amongst you may find this interesting.

Mergers & Nationalizations

Reading about post-WWII French aircraft manufacturing can be confusing because of the acronyms used in the late 40s and 50s. After some frustration, I seized the bull by the horns and drafted a diagram showing the most important manufacturers after WWI. Those wargamers among you will recognize many in the diagram’s top row. These manufacturers did not possess the industrial capacity to provide modern aircraft as quickly as the French Armée de l’Air needed them to face the growing Nazi threat in the mid-30s. Many were financially strapped due to the global economic depression at that time. In desperation, the French government nationalized almost all of these manufacturers. The plan was to reorganize the entire industry to increase production output and relocate as many manufacturing centers away from Paris, which was deemed too vulnerable to an invasion. The government also saw an urgent need to improve coordination between its military and thus-far-private corporations.

        There wasn’t a good way to cobble together fifteen or more disparate companies with workshops spread all over the country, not to mention handling disgruntled workers' unions. The reorganization was more or less based (as far as I can tell) on the location of factories, resulting in six industrial groups positioned geographically: Center (Paris), North (roughly northwest of Paris), West (Atlantic coast), Southwest (Bordeaux), Meridional (Toulouse), and Southeast (Marseille). This approximated the original intent. The acronyms roughly translate as National Air Works of (…region). In truth, those areas overlap. Most of these companies had their HQs in one Parisian suburb or another. This was hardly avoidable since the capital city is the nation’s nerve center. Several companies’ assets ended up being split among different industrial groups. For example: Potez (Southeast & North), Lioré & Olivier (Southwest & Southeast), and Breguet (Southeast, North, plus one part that escaped nationalization and kept operating independently under its brand name). One company isn’t shown on the diagram: Avions Voisin. They converted their business to build automobiles after government orders for combat aircraft dried up at the end of WWI.

        After WWII, France’s aerospace industry was in tatters, since most of its assets had been taken away by German occupiers or wiped out during Allied bombing raids. Over the following sixty years, much of all this was rebuilt and eventually combined to form Aérospatiale (the folks working with the Brits to build the Concorde). Finally, Aérospatiale became the foremost part of establishing the multinational corporation called Airbus, now competing directly with Boeing. Much of the latter’s assembly work is completed in Toulouse.

        The exact status of these nationalized businesses isn’t all that clear (to me). Some managed to continue operating under their brand names after WWII (such as Potez). Most were swallowed entirely and ceased to exist as separate business entities. Marcel Bloch was the primary owner and administrator of Bloch Aircraft. The government bought him out but put him in charge of SNCASE (Southeast Aviation). He left in 1941 after disagreements with the Vichy government. He had been sent to a concentration camp during WWII, survived, and resumed control of his company after the war under his new name: Marcel Dassault. His new business lived on to produce the famous French Mirage fighters. One final corporation escaped nationalization altogether: Latécoère. It was best known for its transatlantic seaplanes. It still operates to this day, a world-spanning business specializing in airplane parts (fuselage sections, doors, electrical equipment, and so forth).

Engine Manufacturers

        Oddly, these companies weren’t nationalized in the 30s, despite a dire need for modern aircraft engines at that time. Salmson (Société des Moteurs Salmson, SMS) exited the aerospace business after WWI and began building automobiles. It ceased operations in 1962; its brand name ended then, and the remaining assets were bought out by other businesses. Renault was another source until 1936, when it spun off its Caudron subsidiary and other aircraft engine divisions to focus on its core automotive business. Lorraine-Dietrich provided engines until 1935, when financial failure enabled Amiot and Bloch to acquire its aircraft engines business. Gnome et Rhône bought out the remainder of Lorraine-Dietrich in 1941. Another small engine manufacturer of WWI, Société Clerget-Blin et Cie., was eventually acquired by SNECMA in 1947 and ceased to operate under its brand name.

        Hispano-Suiza was an important source of aircraft engines in WWI. France’s branch, known as Société Française Hispano-Suiza, was established in 1923 and cut ties with its Spanish parent company at the French government’s behest. It designed aircraft engines and cannons up until WWII, especially for the MS-406, Dewoitine 520, and Arsenal VG33. It later built foreign manufacturers’ engines under license. SNECMA bought the French division in 1970 and renamed it Safran Transmission Systems in 2016. The division continued since then to build aircraft engines, thrust reversers, and other equipment. The original Spanish company, still under its Hispano-Suiza brand, survives to this day, specializing among other things in gnarly-looking concept and sports cars.

        Gnome et Rhône built aircraft engines, especially during WWI. Much of its business fell victim to WWII. They built engines for M4 Sherman tanks for a short period, but to salvage what was left of the company, it was nationalized in 1945 and rebranded as Société Nationale d'Etude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation, otherwise known as SNECMA. The latter went on to build the Atar jet engine powering Dassault Mirages, and the Concorde’s Olympus 593. In 1974, the company established a joint venture with General Electric called CFM International to build the highly successful CFM-56 engines used on Boeing and Airbus aircraft. It changed its brand name to Safran in 2016 and now operates as a world supplier of commercial and military jet and turboprop engines, as well as the propulsion system for the space-bound Ariane 5 Vulcain rocket.

Click on the image, open it in another tab, & enlarge it to get the full-resolution version.

Calidar: Dwarven Ironclad Main Turret

Dwarves of Kragdûr fly large, armored, steampunk-style gunboats, mostly in Calidar’s outer space. My plan is to draft a whole ship in detail and make it available in digital format on DTRPG, both labeled and unmarked for gameplay. Specs are intended to be: 300 dpi, 1" squares, 1 sq. = 5 ft. The file could be printed as a large poster at your local printer's, or used digitally for any D&D-like game. This article shows my present draft of the main gun assembly. 

Overall. Since it is a space-faring vessel, the Iron Queen is wholly pressurized and somewhat heated or cooled. Thanks to gnomish slaves, permanent deck enchantments provide artificial gravity. Dwarven ships do not enjoy the benefit of electrical power. No live fire, be it open or enclosed inside a lantern, is permitted anywhere in the turret assembly. Some things aboard occasionally suffer a je ne sais quoi of “ish-ness,” adding adventurousness to life on board. The crew strives to address mishaps with all the celerity and ad hoc means determined dwarves can muster.

Work Space: Armor above deck runs about 12” forward of the turret, 8” on the sides and on the top, and 6.4” astern. Decks lie 7.5 ft. above one another, minus several inches to a foot for vents, steam pipes, and various mechanisms the turret requires. Anyone taller than 6 ft. needs to watch their heads. Doorframes offer a maximum clearance of 5½ ft. Hatches are about 2½ ft. wide and airtight if locked, although connecting conduits (air ventilation, steam ducts, and voicepipes) can be manually shut in an emergency (with uneven results).

Operating Conditions: Sallow, flickering light radiates from glowing quartz rods fastened near the tops of the bulkheads. The smells of metal, oil, grease, burned powder, stale damp air, and dwarven sweat suffuse the turret’s oppressive atmosphere. Diffuse vibrations and the muted sound of the ship’s Fetzgrim engines thrum unrelentingly through the turret’s thick bulkheads. The crew’s rocky bellows, the gritty ratchets and rumbles of machines, sporadic jets of steam, and the strident whistles of brass voicepipes commanding attention yield to the main guns’ overwhelming roar. Amid the warship's din, like an incongruous punctuation, a bell rings. The Iron Queen’s metal structures are known to groan, creak, and bang under the strain of sudden maneuvers defying a nearby world’s gravity.

Crew Demeanor: Gray coveralls, suitably smudged and stained, are in order. A shoulder patch representing a flaming cannonball is sewn on the right. Tightly braided and sleeked with fire-retardant grease, hair and beard are tied neatly to prevent them from getting caught in machinery. A black beret with a silver badge bearing the Iron Queen’s arms is worn or usually tucked under a shoulder strap while at work. Most carry short-term breathing devices on their belts in the event of a catastrophic decompression. Outsiders often recoil at the thought of being assigned to one of the most dangerous spots on the ship. On the other hand, turret crews take pride in it. Woe be to anyone else crossing this edgy, close-knit bunch. When not engaged in combat, the turret crew undergoes training, performs maintenance and repairs, and handles nuisances.

Nuisances: Typical issues in dwarven ironclads spending months in outer space apply to their turrets’ steamy confines. These include space-born slimes, oozes, and fungi that can damage ship components. Internal rust remains a concern as well. For these reasons, some critical, hard-to-reach parts may be plated with gold. Various small pests inadvertently picked up on Kragdûr hide in crawlspaces, discreet nooks, and rusted containers, hunting for food or possibly infesting the crew. They are the bane of a ship’s hold, and Kragdûras cats commonly dwell there. Ship sanitation generally deserves an “ish” label, especially inside a turret, as heads may not lie conveniently nearby.

1. Gun House

This part of the turret lies above deck and can rotate a bit more than 90 degrees to port and starboard. It houses two 9” cannons, the crew needed to load, aim, and fire them, and two escape pods in the back.

1A. Turret Commander Station. It sits on a platform raised about 3 ft. above the gun house’s deck. The seat is fitted with pedals to rotate the turret, a retractable periscope to sight targets and estimate their ranges, a crank controlling gun elevation, and two levers to trigger the main weapons. Chains running below deck connect the pedals and the crank to the steam-powered apparatus that rotates the turret and runs its internal components. Two voicepipes enable communication with the ordnance and the powder flats on the decks below.

The commander, called an “Ishkhân” (First Master), enjoys a great deal of leeway during battle. Communication between the bridge and the turret’s crew is limited to voicepipes. The rotating turret prevents a direct link with its commander. If need be, the bridge can reach the powder master in the powder flat, two decks below, who can relay orders to the turret commander. Meanwhile, the latter assumes what targets the bridge intends to attack based on the ship’s maneuvers. Once the order to open fire is given, the commander is at liberty to select one of several possible targets, usually the most threatening or valuable. These experienced combat officers are always in demand and paid well. The turret’s command station is the most exposed at the front and top. Escaping past surrounding equipment is difficult, leaving the ladderwell behind the hapless commander to climb down in a hurry and evacuate the turret structure through the powder flat.

1B. Gunnery Stations. Each gun includes three crew members, collectively known as gunners. The primer, a senior crew, handles the breach and primes the weapon. The loader operates the powder hoist and ensures that the charge is properly positioned. The rammer maneuvers the ramming device that secures the cannonball and its powder charge in the gun’s breach.

The powder packed in a bag is called Klutnul, otherwise known as Kragdûr’s darkpowder, which can ignite and burn in the vacuum of space. Before firing, the gun’s muzzle plug must be in the open position. Any leftover smoldering debris ejects into the void when a shot is fired. The primer then closes the plug, allowing air to fill the barrel before opening the breach. When ready, the primer shouts in the dwarven vernacular, “Rosh’kea fohr,” or “Give her Iron!” through the opening in the deck beneath the gun. The ordnance flat’s crew on the deck below responds “Fohr klogal,” or “Iron Coming,” at which time their loading arm (2C) swiftly inserts a cannonball directly into the open breach.

The loader standing near the powder hoist activates his apparatus after the cannonball is in place. Pulling the lever down opens the hoist compartment and drops the powder charge onto the loading gondola just under the turret’s overhead. Pushing up the lever closes the hoist’s compartment and sends its empty tray back to the powder flat.

The gondola and its ramming apparatus are then lowered behind the gun’s breach. The air-compressed ram pushes the charge behind the cannonball with a loud “ah-CHOO” sound, to which the gun crew bawls a heartfelt “Ahrog’kloss” or “Strong Blood!”, meaning “Gesundheit.” The primer closes the breach, cutting the air intake, arms the mechanical firing pin, opens the muzzle plug, and hollers “Ulzh’alt soth,” translated as “Live on Portside!” (or “Ulzh’alt purf” for the starboard gun). The warning alerts the turret commander sitting less than 15’ away that the gun is ready to be fired. Since the guns recoil noticeably, everyone steps back, waiting for the Ishkhân to pull the trigger. And yes, they’re supposed to act and sound like Star Trek Klingons.

1C. Gunnery Master Station. Known as the “Rothkhân” (Master of the Flame, Second Master, or more affectionately Gunny), this officer stands astern of the two guns, overseeing their crews. The gunny may step forth should any crew become incapacitated, including the turret commander. Gunnies generally study to earn their Ishkhân promotion. Next to the gunny stands a firefighter, a junior crew strapped with a fire extinguisher fitted with a lever and a hose to put out any flames. Common jokes go around behind the gunny’s back that the firefighter might put out the Master of the Flame. The fire extinguisher can reach about 50 ft. and has the capacity to coat two 10’x10’ areas. For a bit of fun, its tank is sometimes filled with ale.

1D. Spacesuits Stowage. Should the crew need them, ten spacesuits hang is a locker abaft the guns. Large trunks lie on the port and starboard sides of the turret with miscellaneous tools and equipment, including thick, tar-coated, 3’x3’ sealing patches rolled up together, and two hand-held, 10”-long quartz rods radiating a stark, glaring white light within a 15’ radius.

1E. Escape Pods. Airlocks, shown with gray decking on the floor plan, allow the crew to access two escape pods. Each one houses four seats fitted with straps, and two containers with food, ale, handheld weapons, 1½ ft. large sealing patches, red smoke dispensers, blankets, and first aid kits. Inflatable waterskins tucked under the seats can serve as individual flotation devices. A hatch on top of the escape pods enables an emergency exit when landing in water. A set of wooden paddles is attached to the bulkhead near the overhead. Seating is cramped at best, so it is fortunate that most barrel-chested dwarves are slightly squishy. After locking shut the entry hatch, a single lever triggers explosive bolts, ejecting the pod from the turret. If not rescued within an hour of separation, pods typically drift toward the nearest world. Pods contain alchemical rebreather devices good for two days with four occupants. Parachutes and retrorockets enable a safe crash landing… ish. Airlocks hold a secondary exit abaft the turret, directly into outer space’s vacuum (hence the spacesuits nearby in 1D). Airlocks can only remain pressurized while their pods are still attached.

2. Ordnance Flat

Located below deck, this level of the turret rotates with the gun house above. It houses the mechanisms controlling gun elevation, the cannonballs, the devices loading the guns, and the crew to operate them. Personnel on this deck are collectively referred to as artillerists. The crew includes a “Fohrkhân” (Iron Master, or Third Master) standing by the voicepipe near the center bulkhead. He oversees two lock mates and two arming mates operating the deck’s equipment.

The turret’s armored barbette surrounds this level. The gun house and its barbette are vertically secured to the main shaft (in other words, the turret does not fall off under negative gravity conditions). A large bearing assembly and rollers enabling the turret to rotate lie in a crawlspace beneath the deck. Access to the crawlspace is through either of the turret’s two ladderwells. Clearance there is no more than 3 ft. Various pests nest there as much of it is unlit. The turret’s static ring is rendered in black and green on the floor plan. The rotation machinery links with the pedals at the Ishkhân’s station up in the gun house. The steam-powered plant driving the main gear lies beneath the powder flat’s deck.

2A. Gun Elevation Station. Two powerful machines control large screw-like shafts that push up or pull down the rear section of the gun cradles located just above, in the gun house. These machines connect with the Ishkhân’s station. The guns need to return to a level position for reloading. Their rear sections pivot down through deck apertures in the gun house when the barrels point upward. No crew operates here unless repairs are needed. A container at the fore contains a hand-held, 10”-long, glowing quartz rod fitted with a metal hook, rags, an oil dispenser, a can of grease, as well as tools to open the machinery’s casings and perform routine maintenance. A ladderwell close to the turret’s center leads to the gun house and to the powder flat.

2B. Ordnance Switchboard. Cannonballs are stored in individual slots at the turret’s perimeter. When the “Rosh’kea fohr,” command comes from the gun house or if ordered by the Ishkhân through the voicepipe, a lock mate selects with the right-hand dial which round to release. The lever on the left of the console either opens or closes the selected compartment. When released, a cannonball drops onto a bowling-alley-like gutter (rendered in blue on the floor plan). A slight incline drives the ordnance down along the gutter and into a loading arm’s cup (2C in the illustration below). The trunk between the two lock mate consoles holds miscellaneous tools, two hand-held, 10”-long, glowing quartz rods, five individual rebreather masks, a dozen wooden wedges, a portable prayer set dedicated to Arnmîr Tinkerbones (a demigod of healers, CC1, pg. 45), and two sets of tie-down chains to secure the loading arms on the deck when not in operation.

2C. Loading Arms. After a cannonball drops into position, the arming mate hollers to everyone within earshot the expected “Fohr klogal” warning before triggering the loading arm. Akin to a trebuchet, the loading arm abruptly swings up through the gun house’s deck aperture and delivers its ordnance directly into the gun’s open breach. To accomplish this feat, a gobsmacking one for anyone but dwarves, the arming mate yanks the green lever down on the nearby console. A spring returns it to its upward position immediately afterward. The red lever activates steam-powered machinery that cranks the loading arm back down. When done, the lever returns to its upright position on the console. The crew knows full well to keep their arms and heads clear of the loading device during operation, as it is strong enough to inflict serious wounds when triggered. It may catapult severed body parts into the gun house above and possibly obstruct the breach, deflecting the cannonball, which then bounces off the back of the gun or the bulkheads, inflicting further injuries or death to crew members in its way. Another hazard lies in the loading arm’s counterweight that swings down through a deck aperture into the powder flat below when the device is triggered.

A prayer set includes a round mat, a brass
cup, and a potion of extra healing.

Resupply Operation. When the ship resupplies, munitions and Klutnul charges are carted aboard from loading hatches to the powder flat. Projectiles are lifted from there to the deck above while drums containing pre-packed charges are stored in the turret’s Klutnul magazine. Arming mates operate the davits near their stations. These small cranes haul cannonballs from the deck below and rotate to deposit them on the gutter. A wedge can prevent ordnance from rolling back. The iron shots are then manually pushed along the gutter and into open compartments. The lock mate operating the closest console then closes these slots. This turret holds three circular rows of cannonballs, one atop the other. When a row is depleted, the next one comes down to the level of the gutter. When reloading is done, pressing down hard on the dial resets a row.

3. Powder Flat

The turret assembly’s lowest level, this deck does not rotate with the gun house, save for the central area shaded in red on the floor plan. This rounded section is part of the turret assembly, separate from the magazine chamber that protects the darkpowder reserve. This deck's purpose is to distribute powder charges when requested. The two aft hatches lead toward the ship’s engine room. Ladderwells straddling the deck’s center bulkhead lead up to the ordnance flat and the gun house.

Personnel on this deck are collectively referred to as powder handlers, under a “Klutkhân’s” supervision (Powder Master, or Fourth Master). This deck officer usually stands by the voicepipe on the center bulkhead to receive commands from the gun house. Quickly heading to the other voicepipe next to the starboard hatch may be needed to relay commands from the bridge. Two keepers work in the segregated magazine while two bearers carry charges to the powder hoists when ordered.

3A. Powder Hoists' Deck. The two powder bearers initially stand next to their assigned scuttles, on either side of the magazine hatch. When the deck’s master orders it, the bearers knock on the scuttles’ lids, allowing powder bags to slide out. They carry them on small carts to their assigned hoists, avoiding the spots where the loading arms’ counterweights drop through the overhead’s apertures. Forgetting this hazard may result in mild to severe cases of sudden death when a descending counterweight crushes a distracted handler. Pulling down on a hoist’s lever opens its compartment. Pushing it back up closes the compartment and sends the tray and its powder charge up to the gun house (1B). When closed, the powder hoist is hermetically sealed. Bearers never keep Klutnul bags in the open for very long. A bell sounds when the tray reaches either end.

Rate of Fire.  Up to three powder charges can be loaded on a hoist’s tray at the turret commander’s request (the loader and rammer in the gun house would have to push the bags into the gun’s breach separately). Combat in space’s airless void rarely requires so much power, but the option exists. A hoist can move its tray all the way up or down in 1 round, so requesting a maximum six bags would take at best 11 BECMI game rounds (under 2mn in real time, about two combat rounds for the AD&D game) to complete, from the moment the turret commander gives the order to the time the last bag is rammed into a gun’s breach. With only one charge, the normal rate of fire drops to 50 seconds (a real-world warship takes about 30 seconds). Powder bags are made of Kragdûras spider silk dyed bright yellow that leaves little or no residue after ignition. Klutnûl is mixed with alchemical agents reducing flash and smoke. Each charge weighs about 40 Lbs.

Two trunks contain assortments of spare parts and six rebreather masks. The main gear driving the barbette’s static ring (located in the crawlspace between the powder and ordnance flats) is rendered as a shadow on this floor plan. Its axle (in black on the floor plan) extends down to machinery below the powder flat's deck. The static ring is rendered as a gray shadow as well.

3B. Klutnul Magazine. Darkpowder is stored here, six bags per iron drum. The drums are stacked four rows high on three sides. The bulkhead facing the powder hoists' deck features two scuttles and a hatch. This hatch is never opened during combat. The two keepers assigned to the magazine only open the scuttles when a bearer comes knocking, and quickly push out a powder bag before closing the scuttles once more. This prevents the powder reserve from exploding in the event of a flash or a fire in the gun house. The keepers are responsible for checking the powder bags for any rips exposing contents. They store damaged charges in empty containers for later disposal.

The annotated, full-resolution image is posted in the Facebook chat group.
Check the previous article about the Iron Queen’s Fetzgrim engines here. Cheers!

Calidar: Fetzgrim Engines

A few words about the dwarven Fetzgrim engine. I posted a note in the Calidar chat group on Facebook on this matter. I’m picking up here where I left off there.

Those of you with CAL1 In Stranger Skies might remember this (see page 122). The Fetzgrim engine involves spinning cylinders filled with force stones that exert telekinetic fields, which provide dwarven ships with thrust. The faster they spin, the more thrust. Steam engines mechanically rotate the cylinders. The devil is in the details, though. How does this actually work?

I updated the diagram showing the power plants' positions in the Iron Queen’s engine room. There are eight spinning cylinders—four on the port side and the others starboard. Likewise, of these eight, four lie forward of the engine room and the others aft. Cylinders are grouped in pairs, one spinning horizontally, and the other vertically.

Each cylinder is fitted with a parallel copper rod. It can be rotated alongside the cylinder to control its telekinetic field’s direction. So, if the rod lies forward of a horizontal cylinder, the exerted force will be forward of the engine room. A rod positioned above or under its (horizontal) cylinder controls vertical movement. A rod on the right or left of its (vertical) cylinder vectors thrust portside or starboard. All horizontal and vertical cylinders in the diagram are shown in the forward thrust position.

Combinations between port and starboard powerplants or forward and aft powerplants control pitch, roll, and yaw. For example, if the forward cylinders pull to port and the aft thrust pushes starboard, the ship rotates counter-clockwise. If the portside cylinders thrust upward and the starboard ones thrust downward, the ship rolls clockwise, etc. All these maneuvers can be combined with forward motion.

The force the cylinders generate affects nearby deck surfaces made of an Araldium alloy, as indicated by the green-shaded spaces on the diagram. These deck plates are solidly affixed to the ship’s structure. Araldium is a quasi-magical metal from Kragdûr, the dwarves’ ancestral moon (somewhat like Adamantite or Mithril in other worlds). The cylinders’ forces are akin to magnetic fields, except that they only affect nearby deck plates. Fortunately, the engines aren’t affected by the forces at work other than the cylinders’ mass, only the deck plates, since the torque and proportional loads required to move the entire ship would overwhelm or wear out the powerplants.

The ship’s bridge communicates commands verbally via voice pipes and with a mechanical device called an engine order throttle. This device controls engine speed: all stop and ahead (or reverse) full, half, quarter, or dead slow). The engine room officer then manipulates levers and cranks controlling the cylinders’ copper rods to execute orders from the bridge. Meanwhile, the remainder of the engine room crew stokes the two furnaces with dwarven kragnul or releases steam pressure to obtain the correct amount of thrust. Kragnul is a type of coal from Kragdûr that burns very hot and for a long time, thus reducing fuel stores. Exhausts include a system of flaps to expel fumes and steam into the space void outside the ship.

The full resolution image is posted in the Facebook chat group. Hope this helps.

From Facebook: By the way, I have a side project aimed at redrafting the Iron Maiden (the dwarven ironclad from CAL1), eventually. This will be upgraded and renamed the Iron Queen. The ship's larger and drafted at 300 dpi, 1" per square (1 sq. = 5ft). Two poster-sized files (digital only) may be needed to include all the decks and needed views. It's going to be a while before I can finish that one.

At least I got the powerplants done.

(...which prompted this article).