Articles by Dan Grossman
New Book about the Airship Roma Disaster
A new book about the 1922 airship Roma disaster will be published soon. The Roma was a United States Army airship built by Umberto Nobile; the ship ignited…
Lady Grace Drummond-Hay’s 1928 Christmas Card
Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay’s 1928 Christmas card. Lady Drummond-Hay mailed these cards shortly after her first zeppelin flight in October, 1928, when she a passenger…
Santa Rides the Goodyear Blimp
Santa traded his sleigh for a Goodyear blimp in 1925. Santa Claus delivered his toys that year aboard Pilgrim, Goodyear’s first advertising blimp, which also served as…
Beautiful New Book: “AIRSHIPS: Designed for Greatness”
AIRSHIPS: Designed for Greatness showcases the beautiful illustrations of the very talented Italian artist Max Pinucci. Max created detailed, accurate, and beautiful illustrations of the world’s most famous…
Queen Mary and Hindenburg: A Detailed Comparison
For a brief moment in history — in the year 1936 — passengers who wanted to cross the Atlantic had an astounding choice: five days…
Happy Thanksgiving
November 21: The Birthday of Human Flight
On November 21, 1783, an-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d’Arlandes, flew over Paris for 25 minutes in a hot air balloon built…
Happy Airship Halloween
There is NOT a military blimp on the loose
Despite widespread but incorrect reports of a “military blimp” on the loose, the JLENS balloon that broke free from its tether is not a blimp. A…
Today in History: The airship America and the First Attempt to Fly the Atlantic
On October 15, 1910, Walter Wellman’s airship America departed Atlantic City, New Jersey on the first attempt in history to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air….
An Airship Tuberculosis Hospital
In the days before antibiotics, the only treatment for tuberculosis was sunlight, clean air, and good food. What better place than an airship? Before the 1940s, physicians…
New “Hindenburg Cocktail” Recipe and a Tribute to Café de Abejas
I can’t believe it took me two years to stumble across the cocktail recipe published by Café de Abejas, a band from Helsinki, but I am…
Ed Regis Responds to Book Review of “Monsters”
I am very pleased to present this guest post by Ed Regis, in which he responds to my review of his recently-published Monsters: The Hindenburg…
Book Review: “Monsters” by Ed Regis
A wonderful new book about the Hindenburg disaster has just been published. Monsters: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Birth of Pathological Technology, is a reappraisal…
Toto’s Zeppelin – Restaurant and Lounge
Toto’s Zeppelin was a supper club designed like an airship, even copying the design and furniture of the passenger lounge on the Hindenburg. Located between Holyoke and Northampton,…
This day in 1925: Loss of U.S.S. Shenandoah
On this day in 1925, the U.S.S. Shenandoah crashed in Ohio during a storm, destroyed by politics as much as the weather. Fourteen officers and sailors were killed in…
Today in 1930: First Flight of Soviet Airship “Komsomolskaya Pravda”
A guest post by Alexey Belokrys. *********** On 29 August 1930, near Moscow, one of the earliest Soviet airships “Komsomolskaya Pravda” (Комсомольская Правда) took off for…
Today in 1927 — U.S.S. Los Angeles does a “Handstand”
A guest post by Rick Zitarosa, Vice President and Historian of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society. *********** 25 August 1927, Naval Air Station Lakehurst: One…
Today in 1921: Crash of Airship R-38 / ZR-2
On this day in 1921, the British-built airship R-38 — intended for U.S. Navy service as ZR-2 — broke up in the air near Hull…