Lighter Than Air

LZ 1 – Luftschiff Zeppelin

July 2, 1900: The first Zeppelin flight takes place over Lake Constance. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin’s interest in airships began in 1874 after hearing Heinrich von Stephan speak on “World Postal Services and Air Travel” outlining ways to get the mail through faster. Zeppelin made a diary entry on March 25 of that year outlining his interest in the topic and describing a large rigid-framed envelope filled with separate gasbags. Zeppelin had first encountered air balloons when he witnessed the US Union Army using them for reconnaissance in 1863. In 1890 and after his retirement from the military at the age of 52, Zeppelin began to seriously work on his development of an airship.

He worked on a few design ideas and had detailed ones completed by 1893. An official committee examined them in 1894 and he received a patent on August 31, 1895 based on technical drawing from Theodor Kober. The patent was granted for a “steerable airship-train with several carrier structures arranged one behind the other.” The front section housed the crew and engines with the middle and back sections intended for useful load carrying. The overall length was 568.5 feet and the useful payload was 5,720 pounds. He was unable to get government funding for the project but the Union of German Engineers supported the endeavor. Zeppelin hoped to get Carl Berg’s help but he first had to extricate himself from a contract with a different airship manufacturer.

In 1898, Zeppelin founded the Society for the Promotion of Airship Flight contributing more than half of the initial 800,000 mark capital himself. Construction of the first airship began in 1899 at Lake Constance. It was built in a floating assembly-hall to help with freeing it after construction. With the floating hall, it could be aligned with the wind and allow for the airship to be removed. LZ 1 (Luftschiff Zeppelin or Zeppelin Airship) was 420 feet long with a hydrogen capacity of 400,000 cubic feet. It was powered by two 15 horsepower Daimler engines, each driving a propeller mounted on either side of the envelope which allowed for steering.

The first flight took place on this day and the ship was successfully airborne but damaged during the landing. The airship was repaired and two more flights were made later in the year on October 17 and 24 and beat the speed of six meters per second (13.4 mph) record previously held by the French airship, La France. Despite these successes, shareholders were reluctant to invest more money and so the company was liquidated with Zeppelin purchasing the ship and equipment. Although he wished to continue, he was unable to do so (at this time) and dismantled the ship in 1901. The story was, of course, not yet finished.

What do I do when we’re not taping? Sit in a dark room and refine my plans for someday ruling Earth from a blimp. And chess. – Ryan Stiles

A full-grown manatee, which can weigh more than 1,000 pounds, looks like the result of a genetic experiment involving a walrus and the Goodyear Blimp. – Dave Barry

You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen its shadow from the sky. – Amelia Earhart

Lovers of air travel find it exhilarating to hang poised between the illusion of immortality and the fact of death. – Alexander Chase

Also on this day: We Believe Good … Works – In 1962, the first Wal-Mart opens.
Did He See It Coming? – In 1566, Nostradamus died.
Lawnchair Larry – In 1982, Larry  Walters flew a lawn chair into history.
Mighty Mississippi – In 1679 – Daniel Graysolon, Sieur Du Luth reached the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Around the World

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin

August 8, 1929: LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin begins to circumnavigate the globe. Zeppelins, dirigibles, or airships float through the air and are steered by the use of rudders and propellers. They are lighter than air and are the descendants of hot air balloons first demonstrated by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783. The next year, Jean-Pierre Blanchard added a propeller to the balloon and crossed the English Channel. In 1852, Henri Giffard added a steam powered engine. By 1872, these lighter than air vehicles were completely navigable and by 1878 they were being built with internal combustion engines.

The ships’ skins became rigid in construction and the most successful of these were designed by Graf (Count) von Zeppelin. In July 1900, LZ1 was launched, but was not a complete success. With further modifications and improvements, LZ2 (a better model) was launched in 1906. The airships were used throughout WWI mostly for reconnaissance, but some ships were used on bombing runs. Continual improvements led to bigger and better ships.

LZ 127 made her maiden flight on September 18, 1928. The ship was 776 feet long with a diameter of 100 feet. Hydrogen was the lighter than air gas used and it took 3,700,000 cubic feet to fill the ship. She was powered by five 550 horsepower Maybach engines and had a maximum speed of 80 mph or 69.5 knots. A crew of 40 cared for the 20 passengers.

After touring Europe and visiting the US, company chief Dr. Hugo Eckener sought sponsors for an around the world flight. William Randolph Hearst backed the flight but only if it started in the US. The Zeppelin flew from Germany and then began the trip from Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey. They then flew back to Germany, across Siberia, stopped in Tokyo, made the first non-stop crossing of the Pacific Ocean, stopped in Los Angeles and finally returned to New Jersey on August 29. The trip took 21 days, 5 hours, and 31 minutes and covered 19,500 miles, unless you add in the initial trip from Germany, in which case the trip covered 30,831 miles. The flying time for the Lakehurst to Lakehurst trip was 12 days and 11 minutes.

“If it is better to travel than to arrive, it is because traveling is a constant arriving, while arrival that precludes further traveling is most easily attained by going to sleep or dying.” – John Dewey

“If an Ass goes a-traveling, he’ll not come home a Horse.” – Thomas Fuller

“The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do just as one pleases.” – William Hazlitt

“My advice to any traveler who is traveling in order to learn would be: ‘Fight tooth and nail to be permitted to travel in what is technically the least efficient way.'” – Arnold J. Toynbee

This article first appeared at examiner.com in 2009. Editor’s update: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin was born on July 8, 1838 in Konstanz, Grand Duchy of Baden (now part of Germany). He was from a noble family whose claim to aristocracy dated back to the 1400s. He was educated by private tutors at the family home. In 1853, he left home to attend the polytechnic at Stuttgart and two years later became a cadet of the military school at Ludwigsburg. After finishing, he joined the army as an officer at Wurttemberg. He took a leave in 1863 to come to America where he acted as an observer for the Union Army during the US Civil War. Back in Germany, he was commander of the 19^th Uhlans after having worked in reconnaissance. He eventually retired from the Army under criticism but with the rank of Generalleutnant. After his military career ended, he pursued his love of flight and began work on his eponymous airships.

Also on this day: Great Train Robbery – Another One – In 1963, another train is robbed.
Inhumanity – In 1938, construction began on Mauthausen Concentration Camp.
High Up – In 1786, Mont Blanc was first climbed.

Dirigible

R34 docking

July 6, 1919: The R34 arrives in Mineola, Long Island, New York, the first east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by air. There is speculation about pre-Columbian crossings of the Atlantic. The Vikings landed in Canada settling in a few non-permanent villages on Newfoundland. Columbus sailed in 1492 hoping to reach China and ran into already populated lands. Until the 19th century, sailing across the ocean was perilous. Steamships made the journey faster and safer. And then mankind took to the air.

Airships or dirigibles are lighter-than-air craft. They can be powered or unpowered. They can be non-rigid, semi-rigid, or rigid. Hot air balloons led to the development of an airship. First presented in a French paper in 1783, they were first powered by a propeller in 1784. More refinements, technological advances, and sheer nerve allowed for an English Channel crossing in 1785. Further improvements followed to both the airship structure and the propulsion system.

The Golden Age of Airships began in July 1900 when the Germans launched the first rigid airship, the Zeppelin. The airships proved somewhat useful during World War I with the silent, slow ships being better suited to reconnaissance than bombing runs. The ships became less popular after the war until it was thought to use them for transatlantic transportation. The British RAF had engineered two airships based on the captured remains of a crashed L33 Zeppelin. The R33 made her first flight on March 6, 1919 with the R34 launched on March 14.

On June 17 the R34 made her first endurance trip and flew over the Baltic Sea, staying in the air for 56 hours. It was decided to try an Atlantic crossing. There were no provisions for passengers as the ship was not designed for them. Hammocks were placed in the keel hallway and food was cooked over the engine exhaust pipe. It took 108 hours to cross the ocean and no one on land knew how to tether the rigid airship. Major E.M. Pritchard parachuted to the ground to help secure the ship. He thus became the first person to traverse the Atlantic Ocean, nonstop, by air. The ship was out of fuel by the time she was docked. The return trip to England, with a tailwind to help, took 75 hours.

“Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.” – Mary Tyler Moore

“Life is like a hand of cards. You have to play the hand you’re dealt, you can’t win by folding, and sometimes you must take chances in order to win.” – Mike Conner

“It is better to err on the side of daring than the side of caution.” – Alvin Toffler

“Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together.” – Earl Nightingale

This article first appeared at Examiner.com in 2009. Editor’s update: Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was a German general and later an aircraft manufacturer. He first mentioned creating a large dirigible in a diary entry dated March 25, 1874. He kept his dream alive while still serving in the army. However, he retired at the age of 52 in 1891 so that he could devote his time to the building of these large craft. He hired engineer Theodor Gross to help and by June he wrote to the King of Wurtemberg’s secretary announcing his plans to begin construction. After discovering his underestimation of the force of air resistance, he almost quit, but with his urging, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft were able to build a more efficient engine. With more help from many others, Zeppelin received a patent for an “airship-train” in August 1895. This “train” was of rigid construction consisting of three sections.  The first flight was finally taken on July 2, 1900 when LZ1 powered itself over Lake Constance in southern Germany.

Also on this day: The Greatest Show on Earth – In 1944, the Hartford Circus Fire kills over 100 attendees at the circus.
Rabidly Scientific – In 1865, Louis Pasteur begins the first series of rabies shots.
Homestead Strike – In 1892, violence broke out during the strike.