Timothy Birdnow

Dana Mathewson and I had a conversation about lighter than air travel, particularly the old zeppelins, which offered true luxury in the sky but had serious drawbacks. Below is our conversation:

Dana Mathewson


Airships would have been great, except that they were so damn vulnerable to storms. So were prop-driven planes. Gotta be able to get above them-there storms for safety.

The generally-accepted skinny on the Hindenberg was that it was sabotaged but the bomb was meant to go off when it was safely "at rest," with nobody on board. However, it docked a few hours late because of weather (and the German propensity for safety).

TIM REPLIES:

I know the Graf Zeppelin - the Hindenberg's sister ship - had a long service life with no problems. Something fishy about that Hindenberg.

I saw a special on PBS where they claim the engineers changed materials they used to act as a reflective coating. The new material was aluminum oxide - thermite! It still begs the question of why it went up, which the bomb theory explains.

Yep - flying through storms in a giant gas bag isn't a good idea. Too bad; that would have been a great way to fly otherwise.

Dana Replies:

When you recall how static electricity was such a problem with airships of all kinds -- how they used draglines that had to hit the ground first to discharge it -- and how hydrogen was such dangerous stuff anyhow, you wonder how anybody dared get into one of those things. And with any turbulence, that gas was surging around in the bags, not just sitting there quietly. For an interesting account of the problems with zeppelins, read "The Airmen Who Would Not Die," an account of (among other things) the last British airship, one that never actually got into service before its fatal crash; an event that spelled doom to Britain's attempt at lighter-than-air flight.

Still, the Germans were very, very methodical about everything. As you say, the Graf Zeppelin had a pretty good service record. There were only two times a day that the Krauts would dock a zeppelin in Lakehurst. On the day of the Hindenburg disaster, it arrived in a rainstorm and sailed around for a few hours, missing its first scheduled time. On the second time, the storm had ceased and the landing could take place. IF the sabotage story is correct, the explosion was set for a time when nobody was expected to be near the ship, instead of being on it and not yet landed. Remember the Hindenburg had made ten successful round trips prior to the explosion.

BTW, you're aware that yesterday (I believe) is the anniversary of the Hindenburg disaster, and there is still one survivor alive?


end

Here are a few good websites about the disaster, which "celebrated" its 80'th anniversary yesterday:

http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster/

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-hindenburg-disaster

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-93241465/

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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