Erwin Aebersold,    ingénieur REG                 >>>"home"...)

Joined Jacques Piccard in 1962 to become
the engineer of the last Swiss submarines to be built.
He designed more than fifteen submarine projects, of which several were actually built, and used.
(See below).

Here at the Musée du Léman in Nyon, on 28th July 2011,
at the reception of the Russian Science Team of the MIR , Jacques Piccard's anniversary.

Note:
Erwin Aebersold is seen in front of his designer desk ,
50 years later,
with the plans of the Auguste Piccard, mesoscaphe which he himself designed for the Swiss National Exhibition in 1964.
Expo 64.                   

(l'idée de demander à Y. Volodin de faire cette photo, à cette occasion, unique, est de G.P.) .                                                      

Erwin Aebersold, ingénieur en sous-marins, réception équipe des MIRs anniversaire Jacques Piccard, Nyon 2011

The best-known among the submersibles which Aebersold conceived, calculated and designed for Jacques Piccard, were :

1 -The “Auguste Piccard” mesoscaphe (PX-8), for the Expo 64 in Switzerland.

This tourist submersible weighing 165 tons was built by Jacques Piccard at the Giovanola plant in Monthey, Switzerland, as the principal attraction of the Swiss National Exhibition in Lausanne in 1964. It was baptized "Auguste Piccard" in honour of Jacques' father, Prof. Auguste Piccard.
Available seats: 40 passengers, one commander, one pilot and one co-pilot.
It transported on board 33'000 passengers and performed 1'100 dives.
                                                                                   The “Auguste Piccard” in pictures:      12 photos                                                                                                                     Lucerne, Oct 2013:                              4 photos mésoscaphe Jacques Piccard Expo 64


2 -The “Ben Franklin" (PX-15), a manned submersible built in Switzerland for exploring the Gulf stream,
This research vessel weighing 135 tons was built by Jacques Piccard at the Giovanola plant in Monthey, for Grummann (Long Island, USA). It was specifically designed for exploring and studying the Gulf stream by drifting along at neutral buoyancy for 30 days without surfacing, in 1969. It covered a distance of 2700 km (1444 Nautical Miles) and was steered by E. Aebersold, who had also conceived, calculated and designed it. .
There were six people on board:
- Jacques Piccard, chief of the expedition,
- 2 scientists of the US Navy, in charge of the oceanographic research,
- 1 NASA scientist, responsible for studying life in close confinement, in preparation for long space flights,
- 1 engineer/captain from Grummann for studying the behaviour of the submarine,
- 1 pilot and project engineer, in charge of technical aspects: E. Aebersold.
E. Aebersold kept a board journal for the test dives and for the entire expedition. See here for a 2-page extract of this journal
                                                                                         The “Ben Franklin” in pictures:      2 pages                                 
                                                                                           in pictures:                                   4 photos du Ben Franklin de Jacques Piccard et Erwin Aebersold 2nd set         
                         I present to you here the more as harrowing anecdote of the launching : knowing the anecdote  30.06.21
                                                                                           3 of the awards Erwin became:   2 pages                              04.01.15

New : after more as 30 years "secret", a movie redrawing
           the saga of the Ben-Franklin finally available :
click on that page... The-PX-15-Ben-Franklin-and-its-engineer-Erwin-Aebersold then on the link which shall appear...

.
Récent : have a look at "Ocean Color Web" les 30 jours du journal d’Erwin showing
           the epic of the Ben-Franklin, mode "movie" :
click on that link... Le PX-15 Ben-Franklin, le journal de la plongée dérive par Erwin-Aebersold from Gene Carl Feldman, seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov)


3 -The "F.-A. Forel" (PX-28)
The "F.-A. Forel", with 3 places, was in service between 1978 and 2005.

On an idea of Erwin, it was built by Jacques Piccard. at the Giovanola plant in Monthey, a scientific submarine weighing 10 tons, transportable by lorry.
Available spaces: one pilot and two researchers.
Conceived, calculated and designed by E. Aebersold.
                                                                                           The “F.-A. Forel” in pictures:       7 photos

Nouveau :

En dehors des projets ci-dessus, qui ont été réalisés, et parmi les quelque cinquante autres projets de Jacques Piccard...

pour montrer un peu de ce que furent ses recherches, E. Aebersold m'a remis ce plan :
                                                 un sous-marin... catamaran

Pour en savoir un peu plus, voir encore : des sous-marins... à sphères           26.12.16

Et voir encore :                                         quelques-uns de ses calculs...            26.12.16

deux articles de presse:

24Heures,     3.6.2014 quelques mots...            27.03.17

24Heures, 10.10.2014 quelques mots...            27.03.17


(back to "submarines"...)