I stumbled across this music video by the German Hip-Hop band W4C (Warriors for Christ), filmed on the Hindenburg passenger deck replica at the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen:

A historic Pennsylvania metal forge that made the souvenir aluminum ashtrays for the “Millionaires Flight” of the Hindenburg on October 9, 1936 was destroyed by fire yesterday.  Fortunately no-one was injured in the blaze, which destroyed the historic building.

In 1936 the Wendell August company was commissioned to create souvenir ashtrays for passengers on the famous flight.  The sightseeing trip was co-sponsored by Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso), which supplied hydrogen and diesel fuel to the Hindenburg, and each ashtray had a glass model of the zeppelin filled with the Esso diesel fuel used to power the ship’s four engines.

Hindenburg had a smoking room for passengers, despite being inflated with flammable hydrogen, so an ashtray was not an inappropriate souvenir.  It is unlikely that passengers were allowed to use the fragile glass-and-diesel-fuel ashtrays in flight, however.

Passengers on the flight included Nelson Rockefeller, grandson of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, Karl Lindemann, a director of the Hamburg-Amerika Line and an officer of Standard Oil, and Winthrop W. Aldrich, Chairman of the Chase National Bank.  Other passengers included aviation pioneers like WWI ace and Eastern Airlines manager Eddie Rickenbacker, Pan American Airways founder Juan Trippe, and TWA president Jack Frye.

[Read more about the Millionaires Flight.]

The Wendell August company has been in business in Grove City, Pennsylvania since 1932, and its building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Company president Will Knecht has announced his determination to rebuild as soon as possible, and we extend our best wishes to Mr. Knecht and all his employees at this difficult time.

The Hindenburg is a 1975 film directed by Robert Wise about the German zeppelin Hindenburg and the Hindenburg disaster of May 6, 1937.

The basic plot of the movie — that the zeppelin was sabotaged by an anti-Nazi crew member — is entirely fictional, but the film’s detailed sets and its depiction of life on board the airship are remarkably accurate.

The movie was part of the 1970’s “Disaster Film” genre which included Airport (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Towering Inferno (1974), and Earthquake (1974).  The Hindenburg follows the “Grand Hotel” formula, which involves a large cast of characters whose stories and subplots are revealed as the film moves toward a dramatic conclusion.  Most of the characters in the film are based on historical figures, who have been dramatized with considerable poetic license in some cases.

The Main Characters

Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott)

Based on Colonel Fritz Erdmann

Fritz Erdmann | "Franz Ritter"

The character of Franz Ritter is based on Luftwaffe Colonel Fritz Erdmann, but unlike the fictional Ritter, there is no evidence that Col. Erdmann had any duties relating to security during Hindenburg’s last flight.  It was common practice for both German and American military officers to fly aboard Hindenburg to study flight operations, navigation procedures, and weather forecasting techniques, and there is no reason to believe that Erdmann had any other function during the flight.  (Erdmann was commandant of the aviation section of the German Military Signal Communications School, in Halle an der Saal, and was accompanied on Hindenburg’s last flight by two other Luftwaffe officers, Major Hans-Hugo Witt and Lieutenant Claus Hinkelbein.)

One incident in the film does mirror historical fact; shortly before departure, Erdmann did summon his wife to the ship for one final farewell.

Joseph Goebbels: “There is no resistance movement, Colonel!”
Colonel Ritter: “That’s reassuring… coming from the Minister of Propaganda.”

Ursula, the Countess (Anne Bancroft)

"Göring adores it"

Fictional Character

Some commentators have compared the Countess to passenger Margaret Mather, but there is little to connect the two women; the Countess was a sexy German woman traveling to visit her daughter, while Miss Mather was a sprightly but 58-year old American who never married or had children.  But both the fictional Countess and the real-life Margaret Mather escaped the disaster simply by walking down the passsenger boarding steps as the burning zeppelin reached the ground.

And in one other matter, the Countess was true to history:  Göring did adore it.

The Countess:  “Oh Franz… If I told you what was going on at Peenemünde...”

Karl Boerth (William Atherton)

Based on Erich Spehl

Erich Spehl | "Karl Boerth"

The most inaccurate and unfair portrayal of the film is that of “Karl Boerth,” who is based on rigger Erich Spehl.  The film, and the book on which it was based, depict Boerth/Spehl as a saboteur who caused the disaster.  In reality, there is not the slightest piece of meaningful evidence that Spehl was in any way responsible for the tragedy.

Karl Boerth: “My duty, Sir.”

Martin Vögel (Roy Thinnes)

Fictional Character

The fictional Martin Vögel is the villain of The Hindenburg; a Gestapo officer posing as the ship’s photographer.  Hindenburg did have a semi-official photographer aboard its final flight, a 28-year old photographer from Bonn named Karl Otto Clemens, who agreed to take publicity photographs for the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei in return for half-price fare across the Atlantic.  But there is no reason to believe that the real Clemens was in any way associated with the Gestapo, or that would have needed cologne more than anybody else.

Martin Vögel: “I have a date with my little Jewish model.  I am curious to try one before they’re all gone.”

The Officers and Crew

Captain Ernst Lehman (Richard Dysart)

Historical Character

Captain Ernst Lehmann

Captain Ernst Lehmann was an experienced zeppelin commander who was aboard Hindenburg as director of the German Zeppelin Transport Company (Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei). But while the film portrays Lehmann as being hostile to the National Socialist regime (”Dr. Eckener and I are out of favor at the Chancellery”), the opposite was true, and the historical Lehmann was known for his cooperation with the Nazis.  Lehmann was named director of the Nazified Reederei because of his willingness to work with the Hitler regime, and he famously risked the safety of the Hindenburg to please the Nazis by making a propaganda flight in March, 1936.

The film’s Lehmann is on a mission to obtain helium, but the historical Lehmann somewhat arrogantly dismissed the need for helium, arguing, according to Zeppelin official Willy von Meister, that the Germans “have been operating our commercial service with hydrogen very successfully for years.”

Ernst Lehmann: “We’ve been in no danger. The ship is completely bonded together.”

Captain Max Pruss (Charles Durning)

Historical Character

Captain Max Pruss

Captain Max Pruss was in command of Hindenburg on the ship’s final flight. Like his character in the film, the historical Pruss was known for his sardonic and even sarcastic comments, but he was also admired for treating his subordinates with fairness and respect.

The film shows Pruss rejecting the advice and recommendations of the senior Lehmann (”I’ll do the worrying this trip, Captain”), but it is unlikely the real Pruss would have treated Lehmann so dismissively, and it is possible, in fact, that Pruss deferred significant operational control to Lehmann during Hindenburg’s ill-fated landing attempt at Lakehurst.

Max Pruss: “Thank you very kindly, I thought it was a Christmas tree.”

Dimmler (Rex Holman)

Historical Figure

Wilhelm Dimmler

There was an officer named Wilhelm Dimmler aboard the Hindenburg, but unlike his movie counterpart, the real Dimmler was an engineering officer who worked in the hull of the airship, and not a watch officer who worked in the control car as depicted in the movie.

Stewardess Imhoff (Betsy Jones-Moreland)

Historical Figure

Emilie Imhoff

Emilie Imhoff was the world’s first and only airship stewardess. She was probably located in the area of the B Deck passenger cabins at the time of the accident, and she was killed in the crash.

Rigger Knorr (Ted Gehring)

Historical Figure

"Ludwig Knorr"

Unlike the Knorr of the movie, who is a depicted as a lower ranking crew member, obsequious toward the ship’s officers (”Please forgive my appearance, Captain”), the historical Ludwig Knorr was Chief Rigger aboard Hindenburg and one of the most senior and respected members of the crew, having been a rigger since 1912.

The film’s Knorr has a knife with “a nick in the guard from that fight we got in in Shanghai when we went around the world in the Graf.” The real Knorr did go around the world in the Graf Zeppelin in 1929, but the ship never landed in China. (And as observant movie watchers will notice, the part of the knife lost in the movie was the blade, not the guard.)

Knorr did participate in a dangerous, in-flight repair of a zeppelin’s covering as depicted in the film, but the incident took place aboard LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin in 1928, and not the Hindenburg in 1937.

Graf Zeppelin repair, 1928 | "Hindenburg repair, 1937"

Knorr: “Arrest me captain? Because my knife was borrowed?”

Cabin Boy

Based on Werner Franz

Werner Franz

Hindenburg did have a cabin boy to assist the stewards; 14-year old Werner Franz, who was almost trapped on the wreckage but miraculously survived the disaster when he was drenched by water from a broken tank or pipe above him.

The Passengers

The Breslau Family

• Albert Breslau (Alan Oppenheimer)
• Mrs. Mildred Breslau (Katherine Helmond)
• Valerie Breslau (Jean Rasey)
• Paul Breslau (Johnny Lee)
• Peter Breslau (Stephen Manley)

The Breslau Family: All-American and 1/4 Jewish

Based on the Doehner Family

• Hermann Doehner
• Matilde Doehner
• Irene Doehner
• Walter Doehner
• Werner Doehner

The Doehner Family: Germans in Mexico. Walter & Werner give the Hitler Salute.

The five members of the Breslau family seem to parallel the Doehner family, but while the fictional Mr. Breslau was an American with a Jewish grandmother (”Mrs. Milstein”), whose children were all “born in the States” (”A couple of cowboys,” as Col. Ritter calls the two Breslau boys), the Doehners were a Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) family living in Mexico who felt a close connection with their German homeland.

Mrs. Breslau:  “I still say the French Line has the best society.”

Joe Späh (Robert Clary)

Historical Character

The historical and fictional Spähs greeting their wives

Acrobat Joseph Späh, who performed under the stage name “Ben Dova” (it was a more innocent time), was returning to the United States with his Alsatian dog, Ulla.  Ulla spent the flight in a freight room toward the tail of the ship, and Späh’s unaccompanied trips through the hull to visit his dog caused Hindenburg Captain Max Pruss and Chief Steward Heinrich Kubis later to suggest that he might have been responsible for the fire, which began near Ulla’s cage.  Lakehurst commander Charles Rosendahl was also influenced by these suggestions, and encouraged the FBI to investigate Späh.  After an extensive investigation, the the FBI concluded there was no reason to believe Späh had anything to do with the accident, and of course Pruss, who commanded the ship, and Rosendahl, who recommended landing during electrically charged conditions, both had a strong personal incentive to blame the disaster on something other than their own decisions.

Joseph Späh: “Oh goody, we are going to play doctor.”

Edward Douglas (Gig Young)

Historical Character

Edward Douglas

The real Edward Douglas, like his movie counterpart, was an advertising man specializing in the automobile industry.  Douglas was based in Frankfurt as Director of European Operations for the McCann/Erickson advertising agency, where he worked for General Motors, but the movie’s subplot, involving coded telegrams and a race to beat a competitor to New York, was completely fictional.

Edward Douglas:  “Here’s my special pass”

Eliot Howell III (Colby Chester)

Based on Peter Belin Jr.

Peter Belin, Jr. | Eliot Howell, III

Ivy Leaguer Eliot Howell III is based on 24-year old Ferdinand Lammot “Peter” Belin Jr.  But while the real Peter Belin was a graduate of Yale, when Major Napier asks Eliot Howell if he will “defend the honor of Old Eli” by betting that Mr. Breslau’s pen will stand in the bar, Howell replies “It’s Harvard,” to which Napier guilefully replies: “the gentleman from Yale wagers $100.00!”

Emilio Pajetta (Burgess Meredith) and Major Napier (Rene Auberjonois)

Fictional Characters

Mr. Pajetta, Major Napier, and Colonel Ritter

Major Napier:  “Do you know this ruddy blimp is filled with hydrogen?”
Colonel Ritter: “I’ll make a note of that.”

Reed Channing (Peter Donat) and Mrs. Channing (Joanna Moore)

Fictional Characters

"Reed Channing" and Joseph Spah

Some commentators have seen a similarity between the Channings and real-life passengers Leonhard and Getrud Adelt, but other than being a husband-and-wife involved in a creative field, there is little similarity.  The Adelts were German writers and journalists; Leonhard had collaborated with Ernst Lehmann on his autobiography, and the Adelts were flying on the Hindenburg as guests of Captain Lehmann and the DZR.  The fictional Channings are a well-to-do American couple, and the husband is a theatrical producer.

In the film, Reed Channing plays the piano during an anti-Nazi concert with fellow passenger Joseph Späh.  While Hindenburg did carry an aluminum piano the previous year, the piano was not aboard the zeppelin during its last flight, and the concert, of course, was just a Hollywood device to make it more palatable for modern audiences to watch a movie set aboard a Nazi airship.

Reed Channing:  “OK… You’re the captain… you want a concert, I’ll give you a concert.”

Other Historical Characters

Dr. Eckener (Herbert Nelson)

Historical Figure

Dr. Hugo Eckener

Hugo Eckener was the internationally respected leader of the Zeppelin enterprise who, as depicted in the film, was known for his hostility to the Nazi regime.

The movie-Eckener claims he is out of favor with the Nazi government because he refused to name the airship after the Führer, but in fact Hitler never wanted the ship named for himself; he thought zeppelins were dangerous and did not want his name associated with an aircraft which might crash or burn.

Captain Fellows (Stephen Elliott)

Based on Charles Rosendahl

Charles Rosendahl | "Captain Fellows"

The character of Captain Fellows was based upon American naval officer Charles E. Rosendahl, the commanding officer of the Lakehurst Naval Air Station at the time of the Hindenburg disaster, who was still alive when the film was made in 1975.

Captain Fellows: “Flash red, dammit, flash red.”

Today is the anniversary of LZ-129’s first flight.

After four years of construction, the ship left its hangar at 3:08 in the afternoon of March 4, 1936; the ever-cautious Hugo Eckener had delayed the flight, which had originally been planned for that morning, to wait for better weather in the afternoon.  A few minutes later the ship lifted off, and slowly cruised over the Bodensee and Friedrichshafen for the next three hours.

Painting the name "Hindenburg"

The ship did not have a name on its maiden flight; although the name Hindenburg had already been chosen, the ship had no christening ceremony, and the name was not added to the side of the zeppelin until March 24-25, almost three weeks after its first flight.  (Contrary to a popular misconception, Hitler never wanted the ship named for himself; he was strongly opposed to having his name attached to a vessel which might crash or burn.)

LZ-129 made a series of trial flights over the next few weeks, operated by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin (the Zeppelin Company), which built and still owned the ship, and under the supervision of the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt (DVL), the German Research Institute for Aviation, which was responsible for issuing its Airworthiness Certificate.

LZ-129 carried mail and passengers for the first time on March 23, 1936, and was turned over to the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei (DZR), the Germany Zeppelin Transport Company, which would operate the ship in commercial service.

In celebration of the anniversary, and as a special gift for two of my favorite hydrogen-heads, who have helped keep this blog accurate and on track, I have planned a special Hindenburg-related post for tomorrow.

Hindenburg at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.

U.S.S. Macon, circa 1933.  Sunnyvale, California.

Photo courtesy Brendan Haley.

The wreck site of the USS Macon on the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean, off Point Sur south of San Francisco, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.  More details are available at the website of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Remains of a Curtiss Sparrowhawk F9C-2 biplane at the USS Macon wreck site. (Credit: NOAA)

The USS Macon crashed in a storm on February 12, 1935, after the in-flight structural failure of its upper vertical fin.  Weakness of the fin had been identified following an earlier incident, and repairs to strengthen the structure had been scheduled but not yet performed at the time of the crash.  The original design of the stabilizer, which would have attached the leading edge of the fin to one of the airship’s main frames, had been modified to provide better visibility of the stabilizers from the control car, and this modification was later criticized as a contributing factor of the crash.

Final stabilizer arrangement of USS Macon (main rings in yellow)

The failure of the upper fin damaged the three aft gas cells and caused the loss of a significant quantity of helium, representing about 20% of the airship’s lift.  But the Macon remained in the air for 34 minutes after the initial damage, and airship historian Richard K. Smith has convincingly argued that the failure of the upper fin was not necessarily a catastrophic event.

After the separation of the fin, the ship climbed rapidly to an altitude of almost 5,000 feet, well above its pressure height, causing the automatic gas valves to open and release large quantities of additional helium.  The ship then began its irreversible descent into the ocean.  Dr. Smith argued that the loss of helium from the original damage was compensated by the jettisoning of 32,700 pounds of fuel and ballast, and by the loss of the 2,700 pound fin itself.  It was the loss of the additional helium, which was automatically valved when the ship climbed above pressure height, that actually doomed the airship.  Smith criticized the decision to drop large amounts of fuel and ballast in the first two minutes after the initial casualty, before officers could fully evaluate the nature of the damage, and also the continued operation of the ship’s engines (perhaps without the knowledge or control of the officers in the control car), which may have caused the nose-high airship to climb rapidly as the result of dynamic lift.

Unlike the USS Akron, which crashed in the Atlantic ocean with the loss of 73 lives, the Macon was equipped with life jackets and rafts, and all but two of the 83 officers and men were rescued.

More information about the wreckage of the Macon, and the underwater archeological exploration of the site, is available at the website of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

USS Macon filmed during flight trials

As you can imagine, there has been discussion in the Lighter-than-Air community about Seymourpowell’s new “Aircruise” concept, which was previously described on this blog.

Much of that discussion has involved ridicule of their unrealistic design (which seems to defy the laws of aerodynamics) and of their suggestion to inflate a passenger aircraft with hydrogen.

Unfortunately, some of that discussion has also included suggestions that the Seymourpowell project is a “con.”  Some people have even compared Seymourpowell [warning: Flash-heavy site] to Turtle Airships; I think that particular comparison is absurd.

Let me offer my personal opinion, based solely on public information and my own intuition:  While I have never met or even spoken with anyone at Seymourpowell, I cannot imagine that their project was intended as any sort of financial fraud.

The only possible “con” about Aircruise, as far as I can tell, was Seymourpowell’s attempt to get publicity for themselves and their client by implying that a purely conceptual project was actually a real engineering possibility.

Seymourpowell probably knew that many people fall into an unthinking trance of “oohs” and “ahhs” when you call something green, sustainable, or eco-friendly, or when you show them awe-inspiring pictures of futuristic visions.  And Seymourpowell probably guessed they could use this phenomenon to show off their impressive CGI skills and creative abilities and attract publicity for the firm and its client.

Cynical, perhaps, but far from evil.

At worst, Seymourpowell took advantage of the public’s weakness for any “eco-friendly” and luxurious alternative to long flights in tiny airline seats, being charged for blankets, pillows, and toilet-access by snarling flight attendants who will have you arrested if you fail to show sufficiently obsequious deference, while clogging our atmosphere with poisonous carbon emissions.  But I think the only thing Seymourpowell was trying to con is a few moments of our time and mental attention.  At worst, you could call it a hoax rather than a con, and even hoax may be too strong a word; it was really just cynical.

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I think there is a huge moral difference between Seymourpowell and “Turtle Airships.”  While their airships may be equally impractical, Turtle Airships used their imaginary dirigible to obtain money from the public.  Turtle promised free rides in an unrealistic airship to entice unsophisticated members of the public to send them money for an e-Book, and they apparently tried to raise investment capital in India, China, Dubai, and elsewhere.  (In fairness to Turtle, they seem to have toned down their online “marketing” recently, or at least they are no longer selling their e-Book, which is currently available for free.)

And there is a huge gulf between the small-time e-Book scam of Turtle Airships, whose credentials and background are left rather murky on their various websites, and the conceptual design project of Seymourpowell, who may not be aircraft engineers, but who are serious members of the industrial design profession.

(click to enlarge)

Neither the Aircruise nor the Turtle Airship will ever fly (at least, not in anything close to their proposed forms), and the mainstream media should have been a lot more suspicious of Seymourpowell’s flammable-pie-in-the-sky; the real story here is about bad journalism, not about Seymourpowell.  It is the journalists who should be criticized, for abandoning their ethical responsibility to act as fact-checkers and filters rather than mere conduits for press releases.  Seymourpowell seem to be just clever and creative (if somewhat cynical) self-promoters.  They were willing to (harmlessly) mislead the public in return for a few minutes of fame, but that’s not so unusual.  The real story is the journalists who let them get away with it.

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From the film Berlin 36.

The trailer has a wonderful shot of the Hindenburg passing over the olympic stadium.

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 called the Aircruise, inflated with over 11 million cubic feet of… flammable hydrogen.

Yes, just like the Hindenburg.

This was a great publicity move and it has gotten tons of coverage.  And their airship fantasy is truly beautiful.  It inspires people to imagine the possibilities of the future, just as they intended, and it 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.

Unfortunately, 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 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 video focuses mainly on the beautifully-designed interiors, but interior design has never made an aircraft fly, and the focus on lounges, penthouses, and other features completely unrelated to flight should have been another question mark for journalists.  (The Battlestar Galactica has cool interiors, too, but that doesn’t mean it can fly.)  Reporters should have noticed that 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 instead of raising questions about the design, multiple news stories have claimed 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…

UPDATE: For a follow-up post, see Seymourpowell Aircruise and Turtle Airship: Con, Hoax, or Merely Cynical?