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From the film Berlin 36.
The trailer has a wonderful shot of the Hindenburg passing over the olympic stadium.
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The press falls for publicity stunt… Hook, Line, & Dirigible:
What began as a fun exercise by a London design firm — to publicize the visionary creative thinking of both the firm and its client, Samsung — has been picked up as if it were a real “news story” by CNN, the Telegraph, and other media outlets.
The firm of Seymourpowell, which has previously designed vibrating sex toys and packaging for tampon applicators and cat food (but has never engineered an aircraft) recently announced “plans” for a 100-passenger, octahedron-shaped, 870-foot tall luxury airship, inflated with over 11 million cubic feet of… flammable hydrogen.
Yes, just like the Hindenburg.
This was a great publicity move, and their airship fantasy is truly beautiful; it inspires people to imagine the possibilities of the future, just as they intended, and shows that Seymourpowell and Samsung can think great thoughts and dream great dreams. In fact, it follows a long tradition of airship futurism, in which airships have been used to illustrate the promise of a brighter tomorrow. But a few media outlets now have egg on their face for passing this along as a real project without first checking the facts with aeronautical engineers or aerospace consultants.
Even the tiniest bit of journalistic skepticism would have raised some questions. The face of the airship is shaped like a giant wall (as opposed to a more streamlined form), and would require tremendous amounts of energy to overcome wind resistance for forward motion, assuming it could fly against headwinds at all. The floating diamond has no visible means of propulsion or directional control (no propellers, thrusters, or engines), no visible control surfaces, and the worst possible aerodynamic shape for flight, but various news stories claim the airship will travel at speeds up to 150 Km/hr and carry passengers from London to New York in 37 hours; even faster than the ill-fated (but at least streamlined) Hindenburg.
And then, of course, there’s the hydrogen.
In cooperation with its client, Samsung, the firm produced a lavish CGI video with depictions of the ship’s modern interiors, which include passenger apartments complete with kitchens and cooking ranges (always a good idea on a hydrogen airship).
The ship is supposed to operate from a modernistic docking station, but since the aircraft is shaped like a giant sail, virtually any gust of wind would drive the ship into the station’s pincer-like claws, shredding the envelope and causing a disaster of, well, Hindenburg-like proportions.
Apparently no-one told CNN or the Telegraph that this is an amusing design exercise, and not an aeronautical possibility, and they didn’t think to ask.
Needless to say, Twitter is agog with wonder at man’s newest achievement in the conquest of the sky.
We are now accepting orders for tickets.
Oh, and we have this nice little bridge in Brooklyn for sale…
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Excerpt of the Lakehurst Naval Air Station log from May 6, 1937:
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Signed by Cmdr. Charles Rosendahl.
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Film footage of the British dirigible R101, which crashed in the early morning hours of October 5, 1930 in Beauvais, France during its first commercial flight. The crash and ensuing hydrogen fire killed 48 of the 54 passengers and crew.
The immediate cause of the accident was the deterioration of defective fabric covering the ship’s bow, but the ship was overweight, poorly designed, and insufficiently tested.
R101 was known as the “Socialist Ship,” since it was built by the British government in competition with the so-called “Capitalist Ship,” R100, built by the private firm of Vickers.
Duralumin salvaged from the wreckage of R101 was used in the construction of the Hindenburg.
More information about R101, R100, and other British airships is available at the website of the Airship Heritage Trust.
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Boxer Max Schmeling aboard the Hindenburg in 1936, passing over Philadelphia, in an image by photographer Max Haas.
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A Zeppelin NT named Eureka, owned and operated by Airship Ventures, has been temporarily branded with the Farmers Insurance name as part of the company’s most recent promotional arrangement.
Eureka is a semi-rigid zeppelin built by a descendant of the same company that created the Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg.
For more information about the airship itself, read The Farmers Blimp is not a Blimp.
Airship Ventures has not disclosed how long the Farmers name will remain on the side of their ship. Eureka has previously advertised the personal genetics company 23andMe and the Disney film UP.
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The Hindenburg's Piano (click all photos to enlarge). Photo courtesy Julius Blüthner Pianofortefabrik.
The Hindenburg featured the first piano ever to be carried on a passenger aircraft.
To meet the strict weight limits of a lighter-than-air dirigible, the Zeppelin company commissioned the renowned piano making firm of Julius Blüthner to create a lightweight aluminum alloy piano, and the Julius Blüthner Pianofortefabrik created a small grand piano that weighed only 162 kg (356 lbs). The frame, rim, fallboard, and top lid were made of duralumin, and the legs, back bracing, and lyre were made of hollow duralumin tubing.
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Memorial service for victims of the Hindenburg disaster, held on May 11, 1937 at Pier 86 in New York City.
Pier 86 was the Hamburg-Amerika Line pier in 1937; today it is the home of the USS Intrepid Museum.
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The LZ-126 departing Friedrichshafen, Germany on October 12, 1924 for its flight across the Atlantic. Upon its arrival in Lakehurst, New Jersey, the ship entered the United States Navy as ZR-3 USS Los Angeles.
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