LZ-129 Hindenburg statistics:
- Length: 245 m / 803.8 feet
- Diameter: 41.2 m / 135.1 feet
- Gas capacity: 200,000 cubic meters / 7,062,000 cubic feet
- Lift: 511,500 lbs
- Cruising Speed: 125 km/h (76 mph)
- Maximum Speed: 135 km/h (84 mph)
- Main Powerplant: 4 Daimler-Benz 16-cylinder LOF 6 (DB 602) Diesels
- Crew: 40 flight officers and men; 10-12 stewards and cooks
- Passengers: 50 sleeping berths (1936); 72 sleeping berths (1937)
- First flight: March 4, 1936
- Final flight: Crashed, May 6, 1937
Additional specifications and technical details are available on the following pages of this website:
- Hindenburg Flight Operations
- Control Car, Flight Instruments, and Flight Controls
- Hindenburg Design and Technology
Size comparison: Hindenburg and Boeing 747-400
Size comparison: Hindenburg and Goodyear Blimp
Size comparison: Hindenburg and earlier zeppelins
Relative sizes of LZ-11 Viktoria Luise, LZ-120 Bodensee, LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin. and LZ-129 Hindenburg
Hindenburg profile, showing major elements and numbering system for gas cells and frames. Drawing courtesy David Fowler. (click to enlarge)
A lot of people seem to be going on about helium being a safer gas for rigid airships. The down fall of this is 1 it is a heavier gas than Hydrogen 2 It gives 25 percent less lift at the same volume as Hydrogen. 3 It is very costly… Read more »
Airships are not a practical form of transportation or shipping and with many US Navy airships having crashed, The USS Shenandoah killing 14 officers and sailors, USS Akron crash killing 73 officers and sailors, USS Macon killing two. The US Navy gave up on airships.
Yes, because they used older downed German airships as a blueprint, immediately “dating” the technology, repeating possible structural mistakes.
Just wanted to ask if anyone knows of an excellent biography of Hugo Eckener { in English, or, GERMAN }; also excellent book on the LZ–129, and LZ–130. One other query, what was the cost of both Zeppelins from the Reichsmarks to U.S. Dollars—-Thanx a bunch! ! !
Here’s a suggestion for an Eckener bio: “Ein Deutscher namens Eckener” by Rolf Italiaander, Verlag Stadler, 1981. Whether it is indeed “excellent” or not, I cannot say (don’t read German), but at 561 pages in length, one is not likely to find a longer treatment. It is currently available from:… Read more »
Everybody needs to think plastic. All those Space ship movies have the space ships looking like steel. Think of them as Plastic. I have found a piece of honey combed plastic. If the whole “ship” was designed with the honey combed plastic in mind, it would be a very light… Read more »
hi Tom, please contact me: homeofbohemian@gmail.com
The Hindenburg is so amazing. I wish I was there in 1930’s to witness it magnificence. Thanks to this article. Very interesting!
I know it’s not the same but you can see the almost as amazing Graf zeppelin. This one is particularly good. https://youtu.be/tpSPEc3ZTKE
Hi Karen.
My grandmother lived near Atlantic City at the time. She spoke of seeing the Hindenburg pass over on one of its trips. To her, it was awesome!
Just a thought, consider the ramifications of using several airships in tandem with a platform and selling the idea to NASA or the military as a platform for space travel. This moves the public safety factors due to a different set of regulations that the Military and NASA use and… Read more »
At sea level every liter of helium is about 1 gram lighter then the air it replaces. As you get higher, the air is thinner and thus weighs less. If you gain only half a gram since the air your replacing is lighter, you wont have enough lift to lift… Read more »
You are missing the point. If you can lift a rocket to 18000 feet for example, you are above 50 percent of the mass of the atmosphere. SO you use dramatically lees fuel.
Hi Martin,
What kind of altitude are you expecting to achieve by this method, and what would be on the platform?
That very idea has been studied in the US and USSR multiple times over multiple decades. It is very hard to do with a useful sized booster rocket. Among other issues ground handling remains an immense problem for any large airship and making the airships rigid enough to withstand the… Read more »
It is not that simple.First, the gas must be very light second of all, rockets and space shuttles travel at 23,000 +km so that it can escape gravity so airships must travel at a speed that they will soon burn up so uh,that is not possible
Dan,
Please don’t forget to add the height of the Hindenburg: I found it the ship was 149 feet tall.
Best Regards,
Francisco
Remember this old airships was running weekly between europe-south ameica and europe-new york for a decade without any crash before hindenburg burn up in new york with dangerous gas, now days they use safe gas. So why should it happen something .a crash, now days. People flying ballons all over… Read more »
Yes,now they use helium
Helium does not have as much lift potential as Hydrogen.
If they could build a Hindenburg for 80 years ago, of course you can do better and cheaper nowdays.They were using animal skins to cover the balloon, aluminium was a problem,old engines etc…. Forget cabins and long hauls flights between newyork and london.There is nothing to see. But short trips… Read more »
Dear Sir I remember the airship going over my house in Brecon I was 9 year old my father and me coould hear music in it. it was very large there was a large wood by my home and the air ship was bigger.it was a lovely evening about 9pm.… Read more »
Mr. Prosser, I was just viewing a program on television on the Hindenburg. When I saw your post I found it quite intriguing that you have so accurately described the sheer size of the airship as well as being able to hear music as it flew over. I’m sure that… Read more »