Bridgewater Review
Volume 32 | Issue 1 Article 4
May-2013 Deutsche Luftshiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft: Rediscovering the World’s First Airline Michael Sloan Bridgewater State University, [email protected]
Recommended Citation Sloan, Michael (2013). Deutsche Luftshiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft: Rediscovering the World’s First Airline. Bridgewater Review, 32(1), 4-7. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol32/iss1/4
This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Industrie’s double-decker A-380 passengers. William Randolph Hearst and gondola windows that opened as Deutsche Luftshiffahrts- in Lufthansa livery; and Zeppelin’s chartered it for the globe-straddling the Zeppelin spanned continents and LZ-129, the Hindenburg. 1929 flight, eastbound from New Jersey oceans at a pace of 80 miles an hour. Aktiengesellschaft: to New Jersey, so the flight could begin Onboard comfort and stylishness are These models of a ship, two airplanes, and end on American soil. readily evident. Above the lounge deck, and an airship reveal the enormous size Rediscovering the World’s visitors see a grouping of passenger of the Hindenburg, which was taller than Climb Aboard cabins that look very much like those and almost as long as the Queen Mary First Airline Museum visitors travel deeper into the on cruise ships and long-distance trains (making them both about the size of past and glimpse life aboard a Zeppelin in the twenty-first century. Back in the RMS Titanic). To put this in context, Michael Sloan dirigible (experienced by a total of only 1930s, a new sense of professional class when the Hindenburg flew by, it would 43,000 passengers). Complimentary marked the officers of these impressive n the eastern shore of the Bodensee, in the have been like the entire US Capitol sets of baggage tags and tickets are skycrafts. Not for them the dare-devil building floating 1,000 feet overhead. picturesque German town of Friedrichshafen, available–authentic reproductions of reputation that leather helmeted and Near the top of the display case, the Zeppelin Museum from the Bodensee, Friedrich those issued by the Deutsche Zeppelin- begoggled barnstorming pilots earned there is a time portal–a window onto the A-380 hovers mosquito-like above the O shafen, Germany (Courtesy of Zeppelin Museum). Reederei, GmbH (German Zeppelin and flaunted; captains of the sky like history of science and technology and onto a society Zeppelin behemoth. the depot; and a ferry from Switzerland Transportation Company, Inc.). Then Eckener, Max Pruss, Albert Sammt, The aviation pioneers whose contribu- that existed more than a century ago. Viewed through docks just steps away from the depot. they climb the gangway into a 1:1 Ernst Lehmann, were clad in crisp, tions made the dirigibles possible must this portal–one that extends in its unlikely origin, Appropriately, it’s housed in the former model of a small part of the Hindenburg. dark uniforms emblazoned with gold have had massive ideas for the possi stripes upon the sleeves. Both officers factory headquarters of the Zeppelin Visitors stroll through the art-deco pas- back to the American Civil War–visitors can witness bilities of modern air travel. Among and crew modeled a new, respectable Company, with the refurbished exte- senger lounge and dining areas, authen- them, of course, was visionary inven- formality that drew its culture from the creation and development of an idea that altered rior restored to a 1930s Bauhaus style, tically furnished with table settings, tor and persistent industrialist von passenger ocean vessels. Photographs reflecting a time when the company wall coverings, upholstered chairs, existing notions of time, space and travel. This portal Zeppelin, who created the groundwork was at the zenith of its success. of the dirigibles’ officers and crew at is called the Zeppelin Museum, named to honor the for ridged airships and established man who created the world’s first airline. Through the Portal the blueprint for the German Airship Travel Corporation, the world’s first The first piece of evidence that visi- airline. Also profiled at the Museum Frederick Adolf Heinrich August von ride became a defining moment in his tors have stepped through a time portal is Wilhelm Maybach whose technical Zeppelin (better known simply as life and it inspired his own creation. inside the museum’s revolving glass expertise–which helped him to develop Frederick Graf [Count] von Zeppelin) Within a few years, von Zeppelin had doors is the sight of a Zeppelin Saloon the engines for the Zeppelins–was first experienced lighter-than-air flight sketched out plans for a ridged-framed Car. The car gleams, light reflecting gained as co-worker with German in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was visiting airship, an improvement of the flexible, from its elegant, classic lines; a vin- automotive pioneer Gottlieb Daimler. the United States in 1863 as an official formless balloon he rode in. As a result, tage stylishness that reveals it is clearly Claude Dornier–who built the largest, military observer with the Union Army lighter-than-air flight fragmented into not of the twenty-first century. The most powerful flying boats of his day, during the Civil War. That balloon two distinct groupings: hard-structured Zeppelin Car was built by Maybach and whose name is still linked to air- dirigibles and soft-skinned blimps. Manufacturing, originally a wholly craft flying in the twenty-first century– A trip to the Museum provides visi- owned subsidiary of the Zeppelin became Count von Zeppelin’s scientific tors with a pathway through all that Company. Maybach was tasked with advisor in 1910. Dornier researched and history, from the beginnings of an the creation of various propulsion perfected lightweight metal alloys for idea that pioneered intercontinental systems for the dirigibles manufactured dirigibles. Dr. Hugo Eckener, aeronau- air travel through the creation of the here. The Maybach Company is now tical engineer and exceptional pilot, largest aircraft ever to fly, ultimately owned by Daimler-Benz, which has was von Zeppelin’s “heir apparent,” and leading “back to the future.” Today, announced that 2013 will bring an end flew the dirigible Graf Zeppelin on its The Hindenburg airship makes its first test flight from the Zeppelin dockyards at Friedrichshafen, dirigibles still evoke in us curiosity and to this venerable brand of automobiles. historic around-the-world flight in the Germany, on March 4, 1936. (Photograph by Archive Photos). excitement. Half a million dollars for a single car, summer of 1929. apparently, is too high a price. Access to Friedrichshafen to take this Graf Zeppelin was the most successful time-traveler’s journey is simple, as The wall in front of the Zeppelin dirigible in history. It flew more than When the Hindenburg flew by, it the museum is situated at a modern Car features a huge display case one million miles, visiting the U.S., transportation hub. The Deutsche Bahn showing scale models of famous South America, the Middle East, Japan, would have been like the entire (German Rail) harbor rail station is transportation icons: the oceanliner and the Arctic. It safely completed 590 across the street; an inter-city bus depot RMS Queen Mary I; Boeing’s four- US Capitol building floating flights, including 144 ocean crossings, Museum’s main gallery showing Zeppelin Saloon is next to that station; a multi-story motor Flying Boat in Pan Am livery; Car and, at upper left, exterior windows of the 1:1 and carried a total of more than 13,110 Hindenburg model (Photo by the author) parking garage stands at the far end of the largest passenger airplane, Airbus 1,000 feet overhead.
4 Bridgewater Review May 2013 5 Industrie’s double-decker A-380 passengers. William Randolph Hearst and gondola windows that opened as Deutsche Luftshiffahrts- in Lufthansa livery; and Zeppelin’s chartered it for the globe-straddling the Zeppelin spanned continents and LZ-129, the Hindenburg. 1929 flight, eastbound from New Jersey oceans at a pace of 80 miles an hour. Aktiengesellschaft: to New Jersey, so the flight could begin Onboard comfort and stylishness are These models of a ship, two airplanes, and end on American soil. readily evident. Above the lounge deck, and an airship reveal the enormous size Rediscovering the World’s visitors see a grouping of passenger of the Hindenburg, which was taller than Climb Aboard cabins that look very much like those and almost as long as the Queen Mary First Airline Museum visitors travel deeper into the on cruise ships and long-distance trains (making them both about the size of past and glimpse life aboard a Zeppelin in the twenty-first century. Back in the RMS Titanic). To put this in context, Michael Sloan dirigible (experienced by a total of only 1930s, a new sense of professional class when the Hindenburg flew by, it would 43,000 passengers). Complimentary marked the officers of these impressive n the eastern shore of the Bodensee, in the have been like the entire US Capitol sets of baggage tags and tickets are skycrafts. Not for them the dare-devil building floating 1,000 feet overhead. picturesque German town of Friedrichshafen, available–authentic reproductions of reputation that leather helmeted and Near the top of the display case, the Zeppelin Museum from the Bodensee, Friedrich those issued by the Deutsche Zeppelin- begoggled barnstorming pilots earned there is a time portal–a window onto the A-380 hovers mosquito-like above the O shafen, Germany (Courtesy of Zeppelin Museum). Reederei, GmbH (German Zeppelin and flaunted; captains of the sky like history of science and technology and onto a society Zeppelin behemoth. the depot; and a ferry from Switzerland Transportation Company, Inc.). Then Eckener, Max Pruss, Albert Sammt, The aviation pioneers whose contribu- that existed more than a century ago. Viewed through docks just steps away from the depot. they climb the gangway into a 1:1 Ernst Lehmann, were clad in crisp, tions made the dirigibles possible must this portal–one that extends in its unlikely origin, Appropriately, it’s housed in the former model of a small part of the Hindenburg. dark uniforms emblazoned with gold have had massive ideas for the possi stripes upon the sleeves. Both officers factory headquarters of the Zeppelin Visitors stroll through the art-deco pas- back to the American Civil War–visitors can witness bilities of modern air travel. Among and crew modeled a new, respectable Company, with the refurbished exte- senger lounge and dining areas, authen- them, of course, was visionary inven- formality that drew its culture from the creation and development of an idea that altered rior restored to a 1930s Bauhaus style, tically furnished with table settings, tor and persistent industrialist von passenger ocean vessels. Photographs reflecting a time when the company wall coverings, upholstered chairs, existing notions of time, space and travel. This portal Zeppelin, who created the groundwork was at the zenith of its success. of the dirigibles’ officers and crew at is called the Zeppelin Museum, named to honor the for ridged airships and established man who created the world’s first airline. Through the Portal the blueprint for the German Airship Travel Corporation, the world’s first The first piece of evidence that visi- airline. Also profiled at the Museum Frederick Adolf Heinrich August von ride became a defining moment in his tors have stepped through a time portal is Wilhelm Maybach whose technical Zeppelin (better known simply as life and it inspired his own creation. inside the museum’s revolving glass expertise–which helped him to develop Frederick Graf [Count] von Zeppelin) Within a few years, von Zeppelin had doors is the sight of a Zeppelin Saloon the engines for the Zeppelins–was first experienced lighter-than-air flight sketched out plans for a ridged-framed Car. The car gleams, light reflecting gained as co-worker with German in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was visiting airship, an improvement of the flexible, from its elegant, classic lines; a vin- automotive pioneer Gottlieb Daimler. the United States in 1863 as an official formless balloon he rode in. As a result, tage stylishness that reveals it is clearly Claude Dornier–who built the largest, military observer with the Union Army lighter-than-air flight fragmented into not of the twenty-first century. The most powerful flying boats of his day, during the Civil War. That balloon two distinct groupings: hard-structured Zeppelin Car was built by Maybach and whose name is still linked to air- dirigibles and soft-skinned blimps. Manufacturing, originally a wholly craft flying in the twenty-first century– A trip to the Museum provides visi- owned subsidiary of the Zeppelin became Count von Zeppelin’s scientific tors with a pathway through all that Company. Maybach was tasked with advisor in 1910. Dornier researched and history, from the beginnings of an the creation of various propulsion perfected lightweight metal alloys for idea that pioneered intercontinental systems for the dirigibles manufactured dirigibles. Dr. Hugo Eckener, aeronau- air travel through the creation of the here. The Maybach Company is now tical engineer and exceptional pilot, largest aircraft ever to fly, ultimately owned by Daimler-Benz, which has was von Zeppelin’s “heir apparent,” and leading “back to the future.” Today, announced that 2013 will bring an end flew the dirigible Graf Zeppelin on its The Hindenburg airship makes its first test flight from the Zeppelin dockyards at Friedrichshafen, dirigibles still evoke in us curiosity and to this venerable brand of automobiles. historic around-the-world flight in the Germany, on March 4, 1936. (Photograph by Archive Photos). excitement. Half a million dollars for a single car, summer of 1929. apparently, is too high a price. Access to Friedrichshafen to take this Graf Zeppelin was the most successful time-traveler’s journey is simple, as The wall in front of the Zeppelin dirigible in history. It flew more than When the Hindenburg flew by, it the museum is situated at a modern Car features a huge display case one million miles, visiting the U.S., transportation hub. The Deutsche Bahn showing scale models of famous South America, the Middle East, Japan, would have been like the entire (German Rail) harbor rail station is transportation icons: the oceanliner and the Arctic. It safely completed 590 across the street; an inter-city bus depot RMS Queen Mary I; Boeing’s four- US Capitol building floating flights, including 144 ocean crossings, Museum’s main gallery showing Zeppelin Saloon is next to that station; a multi-story motor Flying Boat in Pan Am livery; Car and, at upper left, exterior windows of the 1:1 and carried a total of more than 13,110 Hindenburg model (Photo by the author) parking garage stands at the far end of the largest passenger airplane, Airbus 1,000 feet overhead.
4 Bridgewater Review May 2013 5 skin was kept ridged, and how a net- Pusher-propellers were attached to So again, why did all commercial work of catwalks permitted inflight the rear of each sidecar. Pusher-props operations of Zeppelins immediately inspection of the 19 individual gas cells. positioned at the rear of the aircraft cease after the Lakehurst accident? When viewing this giant erector set- were more efficient than those at There is another answer to the “why?” like maze, the significance of Dornier’s the front (“puller-props”) because question. The truth is that at the time of critical research to develop the light- air forced rearward at the back of an the Hindenburg tragedy, the days of the weight aluminum alloy, duralumin, is aircraft remains relatively undisturbed– zeppelin were already numbered. Even revealed. Without it, these dirigibles creating less drag/resistance–than air if the Hindenburg had not exploded, the could not have flown. that must pass around the frame of age of the dirigible would soon have the craft. As a result, Zeppelins flew been over. Not as dramatically or as Motive Power non-stop from Friedrichshafen to Rio abruptly, of course, but just as certainly. In two other wings of the Museum, de Janeiro or Tokyo at a time when Airplane safety and reliability had made guests learn about airship propulsion airplanes could not even begin to rival great strides since Charles Lindbergh’s Superstructure of Hindenburg (Photo by the author) systems, navigational techniques, and those distances. solo Atlantic crossing aboard the a bit more about the airship’s journeys. Spirit of St. Louis only a decade before Original drive-trains and propel- their duty stations reveal this demeanor. The most striking object in the propul- Lakehurst. By 1937, giant six-motor lers from LZ-127 (Graf Zeppelin) and On rare occasions, this photographic sion gallery is an original nacelle from Dornier flying boats regularly carried LZ-129 (Hindenburg) are displayed record comes to life in the person the airship Graf Zeppelin. Prominently passengers on scheduled flights, as did along the walls of the propulsion of Manfred Bauer, a member of the situated in the center of the room, Pam Am’s Boeing 314 Clipper fleet. room, as is a motor salvaged from Museum’s Board of Directors who this large aluminum “sidecar” once Airplanes were the future of aviation, the Graf Zeppelin. A portion of the The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the Hindenburg caught fire and was just as Zeppelins once had been. engine block is removed, allowing destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station. (Photograph visitors to see pistons, cylinders, con- by U.S. Navy) Invention, improvement, public aware- necting rods, springs, rocker arms, ness, then regular operational use, Graf Zeppelin was the most crossing, it carried over 2,000 pounds and newspapers, stunned the world. and other internal components. and finally obsolescence: the cycle of of mail; these envelopes and cards were “Oh, the humanity!”–uttered by a successful dirigible in history. It progress. We see it in every technol- In 1929, the Graf Zeppelin made the affixed with commemorative stamps shocked eyewitness reporter–is still a ogy of the twenty-first century, where very first non-stop flight across the issued in advance of the flight and post- catchphrase in our language. This event flew more than one million miles. today’s innovation becomes outmoded United States, from Los Angeles to marked aloft while enroute to America. marked, in many people’s minds, an tomorrow. For a deeper, more pro- Lakehurst, NJ. In 1936, the Hindenburg exclamatory lesson that dirigible flight found understanding of the dynamics of was festooned with sets of five inter- Return to the Twenty-first was irreparably flawed. change in our world, we gain a greater greets and engages visitors. He is the housed a motor weighing over a ton. locking rings, and pulled an enormous Century son of Heinrich Bauer, who served as a That motor employed a series of eight Of course, the explosion of the perspective by examining those same Olympic flag behind it, as the airship Wandering through the age of the crewmember on the Graf Zeppelin dur- gears–the same gearing configuration Hindenburg was not singular. Horrific forces at work in other eras. In the larg- made an appearance over the open- dirigible, this museum provides a fan- ing its globe-circling flight and as an used in the Zeppelin Car on display aviation accidents happen more often est sense, if we look closely into these ing ceremonies of the summer games tastic glimpse of a world we have lost. officer aboard the Hindenburg. “That’s in the main gallery. Each sidecar–the than we care to acknowledge. The time portals, what we will see on the in Berlin. Postage stamps were issued It is a pathway back to the present and my father,” Manfred proudly says, as he Hindenburg had four–was connected by fiery 1977 collision of two fuel-laden other side of that doorway is a mirror. celebrating these events–as well as other an ideal place where questions crystal- points to a picture of Heinrich at a duty an aluminum catwalk to the main body Boeing 747s at Tenerife–the deadliest historic firsts–and franked envelopes lize and answers to them are hazarded. station on board one of the Zeppelins, of the airship. The arrangement enabled accident in aviation history–killed more are displayed in exhibit cases. For Among these questions, the biggest, or in a group photograph that was mechanics to conduct onboard work than 580 people, an order of magnitude instance, during LZ-129’s first Atlantic perhaps, is “why?” Why would a system taken with his fellow officers. Herr in the nacelles during flight. Picture it: far beyond the 36 deaths at Lakehurst. of transportation that had proven itself Bauer shares insights and remembrances mechanics exiting the dirigible in all Yet the era of the jet plane did not end for more than a third of a century–one passed along to him by his father, kinds of weather, and scrambling along with the Tenerife accident, and 747s characterized by ingenious technology glimpses of life on board the dirigibles. a narrow metal skywalk while the are flown today by every major airline coupled with passenger luxury–come airship was flying 1,000 or more feet in the world. Today, given the bias Between the two levels, Museum visi- to an end so abruptly? above the surface. And at its extreme, toward catastrophe that characterizes tors have the chance to view a truly during flights in the Arctic, tempera- The famous 1937 explosion of the 24/7 newscasting on cable TV and the remarkable sight, one that airborne tures along the catwalks could be below Hindenburg at Lakehurst, NJ was Internet, we are inundated by an almost Michael Sloan is an FAA-certified Flight passengers never saw. Exposed for freezing while, inside the nacelles, air appalling. It took only 35 seconds for constant stream of disasters, so much so Instructor who teaches in the Aviation inspection is a full-scale portion of the was warmed by the engines. As a safety the massive Zeppelin to ignite and that we have become inured to them. Science Department. His most recent book Hindenburg’s complex interior super- precaution, there was always at least explode. This was the first spectacular Such pervasive negativity by electronic is a political thriller, Cone of Silence structure of ribs, girders and braces. one mechanic on duty in every nacelle, accident in the relatively new com- media was simply not possible in 1937, (Wheatmark, 2012). The reproduction gives a sense of just monitoring performance of each of the mercial aviation industry. Accounts of which helps to explain the popular how the massive Zeppelin’s exterior 1,200-horsepower diesel engines. Reproduction of baggage tag and ticket for “passage” the disaster on radio and in newsreels reaction to this single tragedy. on the Hindenburg (Photo by the author)
6 Bridgewater Review May 2013 7 skin was kept ridged, and how a net- Pusher-propellers were attached to So again, why did all commercial work of catwalks permitted inflight the rear of each sidecar. Pusher-props operations of Zeppelins immediately inspection of the 19 individual gas cells. positioned at the rear of the aircraft cease after the Lakehurst accident? When viewing this giant erector set- were more efficient than those at There is another answer to the “why?” like maze, the significance of Dornier’s the front (“puller-props”) because question. The truth is that at the time of critical research to develop the light- air forced rearward at the back of an the Hindenburg tragedy, the days of the weight aluminum alloy, duralumin, is aircraft remains relatively undisturbed– zeppelin were already numbered. Even revealed. Without it, these dirigibles creating less drag/resistance–than air if the Hindenburg had not exploded, the could not have flown. that must pass around the frame of age of the dirigible would soon have the craft. As a result, Zeppelins flew been over. Not as dramatically or as Motive Power non-stop from Friedrichshafen to Rio abruptly, of course, but just as certainly. In two other wings of the Museum, de Janeiro or Tokyo at a time when Airplane safety and reliability had made guests learn about airship propulsion airplanes could not even begin to rival great strides since Charles Lindbergh’s Superstructure of Hindenburg (Photo by the author) systems, navigational techniques, and those distances. solo Atlantic crossing aboard the a bit more about the airship’s journeys. Spirit of St. Louis only a decade before Original drive-trains and propel- their duty stations reveal this demeanor. The most striking object in the propul- Lakehurst. By 1937, giant six-motor lers from LZ-127 (Graf Zeppelin) and On rare occasions, this photographic sion gallery is an original nacelle from Dornier flying boats regularly carried LZ-129 (Hindenburg) are displayed record comes to life in the person the airship Graf Zeppelin. Prominently passengers on scheduled flights, as did along the walls of the propulsion of Manfred Bauer, a member of the situated in the center of the room, Pam Am’s Boeing 314 Clipper fleet. room, as is a motor salvaged from Museum’s Board of Directors who this large aluminum “sidecar” once Airplanes were the future of aviation, the Graf Zeppelin. A portion of the The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the Hindenburg caught fire and was just as Zeppelins once had been. engine block is removed, allowing destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station. (Photograph visitors to see pistons, cylinders, con- by U.S. Navy) Invention, improvement, public aware- necting rods, springs, rocker arms, ness, then regular operational use, Graf Zeppelin was the most crossing, it carried over 2,000 pounds and newspapers, stunned the world. and other internal components. and finally obsolescence: the cycle of of mail; these envelopes and cards were “Oh, the humanity!”–uttered by a successful dirigible in history. It progress. We see it in every technol- In 1929, the Graf Zeppelin made the affixed with commemorative stamps shocked eyewitness reporter–is still a ogy of the twenty-first century, where very first non-stop flight across the issued in advance of the flight and post- catchphrase in our language. This event flew more than one million miles. today’s innovation becomes outmoded United States, from Los Angeles to marked aloft while enroute to America. marked, in many people’s minds, an tomorrow. For a deeper, more pro- Lakehurst, NJ. In 1936, the Hindenburg exclamatory lesson that dirigible flight found understanding of the dynamics of was festooned with sets of five inter- Return to the Twenty-first was irreparably flawed. change in our world, we gain a greater greets and engages visitors. He is the housed a motor weighing over a ton. locking rings, and pulled an enormous Century son of Heinrich Bauer, who served as a That motor employed a series of eight Of course, the explosion of the perspective by examining those same Olympic flag behind it, as the airship Wandering through the age of the crewmember on the Graf Zeppelin dur- gears–the same gearing configuration Hindenburg was not singular. Horrific forces at work in other eras. In the larg- made an appearance over the open- dirigible, this museum provides a fan- ing its globe-circling flight and as an used in the Zeppelin Car on display aviation accidents happen more often est sense, if we look closely into these ing ceremonies of the summer games tastic glimpse of a world we have lost. officer aboard the Hindenburg. “That’s in the main gallery. Each sidecar–the than we care to acknowledge. The time portals, what we will see on the in Berlin. Postage stamps were issued It is a pathway back to the present and my father,” Manfred proudly says, as he Hindenburg had four–was connected by fiery 1977 collision of two fuel-laden other side of that doorway is a mirror. celebrating these events–as well as other an ideal place where questions crystal- points to a picture of Heinrich at a duty an aluminum catwalk to the main body Boeing 747s at Tenerife–the deadliest historic firsts–and franked envelopes lize and answers to them are hazarded. station on board one of the Zeppelins, of the airship. The arrangement enabled accident in aviation history–killed more are displayed in exhibit cases. For Among these questions, the biggest, or in a group photograph that was mechanics to conduct onboard work than 580 people, an order of magnitude instance, during LZ-129’s first Atlantic perhaps, is “why?” Why would a system taken with his fellow officers. Herr in the nacelles during flight. Picture it: far beyond the 36 deaths at Lakehurst. of transportation that had proven itself Bauer shares insights and remembrances mechanics exiting the dirigible in all Yet the era of the jet plane did not end for more than a third of a century–one passed along to him by his father, kinds of weather, and scrambling along with the Tenerife accident, and 747s characterized by ingenious technology glimpses of life on board the dirigibles. a narrow metal skywalk while the are flown today by every major airline coupled with passenger luxury–come airship was flying 1,000 or more feet in the world. Today, given the bias Between the two levels, Museum visi- to an end so abruptly? above the surface. And at its extreme, toward catastrophe that characterizes tors have the chance to view a truly during flights in the Arctic, tempera- The famous 1937 explosion of the 24/7 newscasting on cable TV and the remarkable sight, one that airborne tures along the catwalks could be below Hindenburg at Lakehurst, NJ was Internet, we are inundated by an almost Michael Sloan is an FAA-certified Flight passengers never saw. Exposed for freezing while, inside the nacelles, air appalling. It took only 35 seconds for constant stream of disasters, so much so Instructor who teaches in the Aviation inspection is a full-scale portion of the was warmed by the engines. As a safety the massive Zeppelin to ignite and that we have become inured to them. Science Department. His most recent book Hindenburg’s complex interior super- precaution, there was always at least explode. This was the first spectacular Such pervasive negativity by electronic is a political thriller, Cone of Silence structure of ribs, girders and braces. one mechanic on duty in every nacelle, accident in the relatively new com- media was simply not possible in 1937, (Wheatmark, 2012). The reproduction gives a sense of just monitoring performance of each of the mercial aviation industry. Accounts of which helps to explain the popular how the massive Zeppelin’s exterior 1,200-horsepower diesel engines. Reproduction of baggage tag and ticket for “passage” the disaster on radio and in newsreels reaction to this single tragedy. on the Hindenburg (Photo by the author)
6 Bridgewater Review May 2013 7