LZ 129 "Hindenburg" - Anfahrt zur Landung

LZ 129 "Hindenburg"

On account of the English R 101 airship catastrophe in France, the work on the next model, the LZ 128, was quietly stopped in November 1930, and the idea of a helium-filled ship was considered for the first time. It received the new model number 129. The reason, hydrogen was later still used as supporting gas, was not only the refuse of in the USA to supply the noncombustible helium, but also technical problems and the substantially lower load capacity of helium.

The attach of the skin

At the end of 1931, the preproduction of profiles, struts, and other individual parts began. By Christmas of 1933, the basic structure of the frame of the new LZ 129 was finished, and the separately constructed nose was attached. It took over two years until the ship completed its successful first flight on March 4, 1936.

The airship LZ 129 "Hindenburg" was 245 m long, and had a diameter of 41 m. The supporting gas volume was almost twice as large with 200,000m³ as that of the "Graf Zeppelin". It was driven by 4 Daimler diesel engines with each 1050 HP, whereby the input power also nearly doubled with 4200 HP. The loading capacity was 60 t, and it went 131 km/h.

It was hoped that a zone of profitability could be reached with regular passenger service with several airships of the "Hindenburg class"; but the Lakehurst catastrophe on May 6, 1937, brought these hopes to an abrupt end. Indeed, recent investigations suggest, that the aluminium powder, not the hydrogen gas, was essentially responsible for this catastrophe. Aluminium powder, which was mixed with the outer coat of paint to protect the supporting gas in the ship from warming and from the sun's radiation, is highly explosive, and was also used, for example, as rocket fuel.

The bring in of gas-cells

Because the dirigible "Hindenburg" flow just for a short time, there are nearly no stereoviews exept of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH. The only other picture I know was from the Schönstein-Verlag (I don't know in which book). On it you some of the Nazi-leaders and the digible on the backround. Private photos I know just one with very bad quality.

From the LZ 129 "Hindenburg" two series with 15 stereoviews each can be found. The photos was mades with a real stereocamera, because they show all a natural view. But that means, that things that are far away has no deep. The series with shows the building of this dirigible is rare, but the second with the build airship is nearly impossible to find. At the LZ-archive the second is missed, too.
Because I found no stereoviews out of the ready build dirigible, I converted two mono-photos from a friend of mine into stereoviews. If someone have the second series, I would be glad, if I can make repros from the pictures (or maybe buy it).

View on the fin