August is the anniversary of Graf Zeppelin’s Round-the-World flight in 1929.
In honor of this anniversary, I have published a list of passengers and crew aboard the flight.
The flight was made in five stages:
Lakehurst – Friedrichshafen
August 7, 1929 – August 10, 1929
7,068 km / 55 hrs 22 mins
Friedrichshafen – Tokyo
August 15, 1929 – August 19, 1929
11,247 km / 101 hrs 49 mins
Tokyo – Los Angeles
August 23, 1929 – August 26, 1929
9,653 km / 79 hrs 3 mins
Los Angeles – Lakehurst
August 27, 1929 – August 29, 1929
4,822 km / 51 hrs 57 mins
Lakehurst – Friedrichshafen
September 1, 1929 – September 4, 1929
8,478 km / 57 hrs 31 mins
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
My 93-year-old aunt tells of seeing the Graf Zeppelin flying over Kittanning, PA when she was a young girl. Said all of the kids came running out of the house to see it, and they could hear music coming from the gondola. This must have been part of the 1929 world tour (making her 12 at the time, which fits).
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Hi,
thanks for the written comments, it is good to read about the positive things the Zeppelins achieved. Wouldnt it be great to see a large ship run again!To my mind they are cleaner than aircraft, if you want to sight see are brilliant.
I wouldnt mind taking one up to 100,000 feet, being longer than a balloon would it be more stable?Theres a challenge regards LandRoverPETER c-treon@hotmail.com
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I have seen three of the rigid airships. On its world flight in 1929 the Graf Zeppelin flew over my home town of Erie, PA. I was only two and a half years old at the time, but I have a distinct memory of seeing it. A couple of years later the Los Angeles (LZ-126, U.S. Navy ZR 3) flew directly over our house, headed south, then made a 180 degree turn to the west and then north. A year or so after that the Akron (ZRS 4) flew west to east over Erie, and I saw that. Seeing the Los Angeles and the Akron were fortunate opportunities, as I had no advance knowledge that they were coming – I just happened to be outside when they appeared. At the time I had no idea what unusual experiences these would turn out to be.
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I was 13 years old when one night dad put the family in our car to go see the Graf Zeppelin leave Mines Field (LAX), Los Angeles, in the middle of the night. The newspapers said that this time of night was chosen because the air was more dense therefore making the airship have more lifting power with which to carry its huge payload.
I recall seeing the zeppelin take off and it was flooded with floodlights from the ground, the only lights around. The newspapers next morning described how the dirigible barely made it over the power lines because the dew on the covering was heavier than anticipated. The press claimed that ballast (or something, I forget) had to be shifted so that the zeppelin could “hurdle” over the power lines. I don’t know if this was really true or not, but the sight was so very impressive.
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About 1928/1929 we saw a huge zepellin pass over our house in Tama, Iowa. I am thinking now that it was the Graf on the Round the World flight. This was on a Sunday, seems like it was after Sunday dinner, a sunny day. It was flying very low and we were located about a block from railroad, and it occured to me later that it might have being using the tracks as landmark on its way to Chicago. It was an awesome sight, and one I never forgot. Any info on this flight greatly appredicated.
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