Comments on: Graf Zeppelin’s Interior: The Gondola

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:06:31 +0000

I don’t know. You’d have to ask someone w/ technical expertise. Maybe someone @ Goodyear could help. One variable to consider would be the ground handling equipment. A ship secured both fore & aft & able to be rotated into the wind would be able to operate more effectively in windy weather.
Landing & ground handling equipment would also be an expense feasability factor: while the ship’s engines could be directionally adjustable for better manuverability, there’s still the issue of how many people would be needed for a ground crew. What kind of mast would be used for landing? A high mast is easier of course, but then you have to be able to lower the ship to the ground.
Lot’s of issues to deal w/…

By: kushibo

kushibo — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:56:50 +0000

Greg, thanks for your reply. Even though I think I didn’t mention it, I was wondering myself about how wind would affect things.

What would be wind speeds where they would need to be grounded? It might be best to determine that and then see how often that would make an interisland route infeasible or not.

By: Siegfried Heydrich

Siegfried Heydrich — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:16:09 +0000

Well, given that bad weather passes relatively quickly and weather forecasting technology has improved significantly in the 80 someodd years since the Hindenburg debacle, weather shouldn’t be as much of an issue as it was then. Given that the whole idea behind airship travel is that it’s leisurely, a few hours delay in landing shouldn’t be that much of an issue. Especially when compared to the prospect of sitting for hours on a tarmac waiting for a gate to clear.

The difference in customer base would be subtle but significant – you would have travelers rather than commuters. Travelers get there when they get there. Commuters need to be at Point B at a specific time to stay on schedule. A delay in landing or a detour with an airship simply allows the passengers more time to look down from above and enjoy the flight. Sort of like telling a space tourist that they’ll have to remain in orbit for another few hours. Awwwwww . . .

If you want to get there in a hurry, then be prepared to be treated like a terrorist diseased sheep. If you want to get there, then you can be treated like royalty (relatively speaking) instead. Personally, I refuse to fly commercial anymore (I’ll rent a goddamned plane and fly myself, cost be damned, rather than endure an anal probing from the TSA grays).

As for investors, it’s the same as anything else . . . some people are visionaries, some buy hog belly futures . . .

By: Jodi D.

Jodi D. — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:04:08 +0000

My great grandfather worked on the Graf zeppelin for many years . I believe he
Rioted and did other jobs. I know he traveled on it many times, he could speak seven different languages. My grandmother gave me a letter that her father either sent along with or was on the trip, it was from the Arctic circle and the post office stamped it with a special zeppelin stamp in the corner. It’s one of a kind, although I do not know what something like that would be worth. I also have some newspaper clippings and a photo of my grandfather riveting on a zeppelin. His name is Carl Sauter. He worked for Goodyear after the Graf for 35years! Love family history. Wish I could find more!

By: Greg Lugn

Greg Lugn — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:17:03 +0000

I can’t speak to the economics of your proposal but I do have one practical reservation: weather. Dirigibles are easily grounded by strong winds. How would that impact your plan?

By: Greg Lugn

Greg Lugn — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:12:15 +0000

Yes, w/ so many advances in material & technology it should be possible to create large airships again — however, one nagging fact remains: they don’t stand up well in bad weather. But just as the ocean liner became the cruise ship, so it might be possible to make zeppelins air borne cruise ships.

Where to find the investors for such a project though?

By: Bernd Kliebhan

Bernd Kliebhan — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:48:19 +0000

If you want to know more about the menu on board: there is a documentary about it in German TV next sunday:
http://www.hr-online.de/website/fernsehen/sendungen/index.jsp?rubrik=2462

By: Leora Worthington

Leora Worthington — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:21:22 +0000

I love the interior photos.
Were any of the crew teenagers or were they all professionals and officers.

Thank you

By: Dale Berkihiser

Dale Berkihiser — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:34:38 +0000

Hi Stu -
Awh, come on now – you’re just saying that because it’s true!!
Your writing , the way you presented the facts, sure made me laugh. Thanks.
Dale

By: Dale Berkihiser

Dale Berkihiser — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:25:48 +0000

Thank you for sharing this valuable, extremely historic nostalgia. I am 94 years of age and certainly do remember Lily Pons. My father took the family out to Mines Field, now LAX, in the middle of the night, to see it take off during its round the world flight

Dale Berkihiser