FIRST STEPS TOWARD SPACE - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

My Theoretical and Experimental Work from 1930 to 1939, Which
Has Accelerated the Development of Multistage Rockets
Preamble
Preamble to Mr. Louis Damblanc's paper by L. Blosset,
Deputy Director of the National Space Research Center
(France).
Mr. Louis Damblanc, who is 78 years old today
(26 September 1967)—Chevalier of the Legion of
Honor, recipient of the International Astronautics
Prize of 1935 and the Gold Medal of the National
Research and Inventions Office, and a Laureate of
the Society for Encouragement of Progress—may be
considered as the father of our present multistage
rockets.
Passionately interested in research in fields as
different as aeronautics, astronautics, mechanics,
and optics, his inventions have aroused the interest
of scientific and technical circles, especially in the
years before World War II (multistage rocket, 1
rotary-wing airplane, 2 engine with variable stroke
and compression 3 ).
During the thirties, Louis Damblanc invented,
built, and flight-tested the powder-propelled multistage
rockets which carry his name: The "Louis
Damblanc" two- and three-stage rockets, of which
each stage became automatically detached after
the end of combustion. This development is the
subject of the paper given by him here, and it is in
this field that he is the great pioneer, recognized as
such by both the French and United States governments.
As a matter of fact, the International Patent Institute
of the Hague has confirmed the world priority
of the French patent granted to Louis Damblanc
on 26 June 1936 for automatically separable
multistage rockets: "self-propelled projectiles of
Louis DAMBLANC, France
49
which the propellant charge is distributed into
several superimposed combustion stages along the
longitudinal axis of the rocket." This priority also
holds true for his corresponding U.S. patent of 12
April 1938, which covers the marine two-stage
Terrier rocket. Another Damblanc United States
patent covers the test stands designed by him. During
World War II, both patents were sequestrated
by the U.S. Alien Property Custodian under the
"Trading With the Enemy Act," but as a result of
the Franco-American (Blum-Byrnes) agreement concluded
after the war, the French Ministry of Finance
and Economic Affairs in July 1965 granted
Damblanc an indemnity for the use of his two
patents by U.S. authorities, thus again confirming
the priority of his inventions.
In addition, his research on rockets has been
crowned with success in several other areas: he
succeeded in "taming" black powder by increasing
its combustion time and by obtaining smooth combustion;
he increased the strength of rocket bodies
by using the most modern materials available at
the time (such as the magnesium alloy, called at the
time Metal M1 or "Electron"); he perfected a means
of stabilizing rockets in flight; and, above all, he
obtained effective separation of stages by means
of a process of fuse rings of his own invention, and
by this means successfully launched numerous
multistage rockets.
Within the context of this Symposium on the
History of Astronautics, it is fitting that the Centre
National d'ELudes Spatiales, of France, pay homage
to a researcher who has contributed to the early
development of space research and who deserves a