LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin | |
---|---|
Role | Commercial passenger airship |
National origin | Germany |
Manufacturer | Luftschiffbau Zeppelin |
Designer | Ludwig Dürr |
First flight | 18 September 1928 |
Introduction | 11 October 1928 |
Retired | 18 June 1937 |
Status | Scrapped March 1940 |
Career | |
Construction number | LZ 127 |
Registration | D-LZ 127 |
Radio code | DENNE[1] |
Owners and operators | Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei
|
Flights | 590 |
Total hours | 17,177 |
Total distance | 1.7 million km (1.06 million miles) |
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin (Deutsches Luftschiff Zeppelin 127) was a German passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship that flew from 1928 to 1937. It offered the first commercial transatlantic passenger flight service. The ship was named after the German airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a count (Graf) in the German nobility. It was conceived and operated by Hugo Eckener, the chairman of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.
Graf Zeppelin made 590 flights totalling almost 1.7 million kilometres (over 1 million miles). It was operated by a crew of 36, and could carry 24 passengers. It was the longest and largest airship in the world when it was built. It made the first circumnavigation of the world by airship, and the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific Ocean by air; its range was enhanced by its use of Blau gas as a fuel. It was built using funds raised by public subscription and from the German government, and its operating costs were offset by the sale of special postage stamps to collectors, the support of the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, and cargo and passenger receipts.
After several long flights between 1928 and 1932, including one to the Arctic, Graf Zeppelin provided a commercial passenger and mail service between Germany and Brazil for five years. When the Nazi Party came to power, the Graf Zeppelin was used as a propaganda tool. The airship was withdrawn from service after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, and scrapped for military aircraft production in April, 1940.
Background
The first successful flight of a
During and just after the war, Britain and the United States built airships, and France and Italy experimented with confiscated German ones. In July 1919 the British
The
Design and operation
The LZ 127 was designed by Ludwig Dürr[18][19] as a "stretched" version of the zeppelin LZ 126 rechristened the USS Los Angeles).[20] It was intended from the beginning as a technology demonstrator for the more capable airships that would follow.[21] It was built between 1926 and September 1928 at the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin works in Friedrichshafen, on Lake Constance, Germany, which became its home port for nearly all of its flights. Its duralumin frame was made of eighteen 28-sided structural polygons joined lengthwise with 16 km (10 mi) of girders and braced with steel wire. The outer cover was of thick cotton, painted with aircraft dope containing aluminium to reduce solar heating, then sandpapered smooth. The gas cells were also cotton, lined with goldbeater's skins, and protected from damage by a layer containing 27 km (17 mi) of ramie fibre.[20][22]
Graf Zeppelin was 236.6 m (776 ft) long and had a total gas volume of 105,000 m3 (3,700,000 cu ft), of which 75,000 m3 (2,600,000 cu ft) was hydrogen carried in 17 lifting gas cells (Traggaszelle), and 30,000 m3 (1,100,000 cu ft) was Blau gas in 12 fuel gas cells (Kraftgaszelle).[nb 3] The Graf Zeppelin was built to be the largest possible airship that could fit into the company's construction hangar,[27][28] with only 46 cm (18 in) between the top of the finished vessel and the hangar roof.[29] It was the longest and most voluminous airship when built,[26][30][nb 4] but it was too slender for optimum aerodynamic efficiency,[31][32] and there were worries that the shape would compromise its strength.[33]
Graf Zeppelin was powered by five Maybach VL II 12-cylinder 410 kW (550 hp) engines, each of 33.251 L (2,029.1 cu in) capacity, mounted in individual streamlined nacelles[nb 5] arranged so that each was in an undisturbed airflow.[35] The engines were reversible,[36] and were monitored by crew members who accessed them during flight via open ladders.[32] The two-bladed wooden pusher propellers were 3.4 m (11 ft) in diameter,[37] and were later upgraded to four-bladed units.[32] On longer flights, the Graf Zeppelin often flew with one engine shut down to conserve fuel.[38]
Graf Zeppelin was the only rigid airship to burn Blau gas;[39][40] the engines were started on petrol[nb 6] and could then switch fuel.[24] A liquid-fuelled airship loses weight as it burns fuel, requiring the release of lifting gas, or the capture of water from exhaust gas or rainfall, to avoid the vessel climbing. Blau gas was only slightly heavier than air, so burning it had little effect on buoyancy.[42][43] On a typical transatlantic journey, the Graf Zeppelin used Blau gas 90% of the time, only burning petrol if the ship was too heavy, and used ten times less hydrogen per day than the smaller zeppelin L 59 did on its Khartoum flight in 1917.[44][nb 7]
Graf Zeppelin typically carried 3,500 kg (7,700 lb) of
The airship usually took off vertically using static lift (buoyancy), then started the engines in the air, adding aerodynamic lift.[48] Normal cruising altitude was 200 m (650 ft); it climbed if necessary to cross high ground or poor weather, and often descended in stormy weather.[49] To measure the wind speed over the sea, and calculate drift, floating pyrotechnic flares were dropped.[50]
When preparing to land, the crew advised the ground either by radio or
Graf Zeppelin's top airspeed was 128 km/h (36 m/s; 80 mph; 69 kn) at 1,980 kW (2,650 hp); it cruised at 117 km/h (33 m/s; 73 mph; 63 kn), at 1,600 kW (2,150 hp). It had a total lift capacity of 87,000 kg (192,000 lb) with a usable
Layout
The operational spaces, common areas, and passenger cabins were built into a gondola structure in the forward part of the airship's ventral surface, with the flight deck well forward in a "chin" position.[60] The gondola was 30 metres (98 ft) long and 6 metres (20 ft) wide;[61] its streamlined design reflected contemporary aesthetics,[62][63] minimised overall height, and reduced drag.[39] Behind the flight deck was the map room, with two large hatches to allow the command crew to communicate with the navigators, who could take readings with a sextant through the two large windows.[32] There was also a radio room and a galley with a double electric oven and hot plates.[64]
The galley staff served three hot meals a day in the main dining and sitting room, which was 5 metres (16 ft) square.
A ladder from the map room led up to the keel corridor inside the hull, and accommodation for the 36 crewmen. Officers' quarters were towards the nose;[72] behind them were the baggage store, the crew mess room, and the quarters for the ordinary crew, who slept in wire-frame beds with fabric screens.[51] Also along this corridor were petrol, oil and water tanks, and stowage for cargo and spare parts. Branches from the keel corridor led to the five engine nacelles, and there were ladders up to the axial corridor, just below the ship's main axis, which gave access to all the gas cells.[73]
Electrical and communications systems
The main generating plant was in a separate compartment mostly inside the hull. Two 8.9 kW (12 hp) Wanderer car engines adapted to burn Blau gas, only one of which operated at a time, drove two Siemens & Halske dynamos each. One dynamo on each engine powered the oven and hotplates, and one the lighting and gyrocompass. Cooling water from these engines heated radiators inside the passenger lounge.[74] Two ram air turbines attached to the main gondola on swinging arms provided electrical power for the radio room, internal lighting, and the galley. Batteries could power essential services like radios for half an hour,[75][76] and there were small petrol generators for emergency power.[76]
Three radio operators used a one-kilowatt
A
Operational history
The LZ 127 was christened Graf Zeppelin by Countess Brandenstein-Zeppelin on 8 July 1928, after her father Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the founder of the company, on the 90th anniversary of his birth.
Passengers paid premium fares to fly on the Graf Zeppelin (1,500 ℛ︁ℳ︁ from Germany to Rio de Janeiro in 1934, equal to $590 then,[79] or $13,000 in 2018 dollars[15]), and fees collected for valuable freight and air mail also provided income. On the first transatlantic flight, Graf Zeppelin carried 66,000 postcards and covers.[80]
Eckener had earned his doctorate in Psychology at Leipzig University under Wilhelm Wundt,[81] and could use his knowledge of mass psychology to the benefit of the Graf Zeppelin.[82] He identified safety as the most important factor in the ship's public acceptance, and was ruthless in pursuit of this.[83] He took complete responsibility for the ship, from technical matters, to finance, to arranging where it would fly next on its years-long public relations campaign, in which he promoted "zeppelin fever".[84][85] On one of the Brazil trips British Pathé News filmed on board.[86] Eckener cultivated the press, and was gratified when the British journalist Lady Grace Drummond-Hay wrote, and millions read, that:
The Graf Zeppelin is a ship with a soul. You have only to fly in it to know that it's a living, vibrant, sensitive and magnificent thing.[87]
Graf Zeppelin was greeted by large crowds on most of its early voyages. There were 100,000 at Moscow and possibly 250,000 at Tokyo to see it.[88][89] At Stockholm, spectators launched firework rockets around it, and on the return flight from Moscow it was punctured by rifle shots near the Soviet Union-Lithuania border.[90] On one visit to Rio de Janeiro people released hundreds of small toy petrol-burning hot air balloons near the flammable craft.[91] The airship captured the public imagination and was used extensively in advertising.[92] On visits to England, it photographed Royal Air Force bases, the Blackburn aircraft factory in Yorkshire, and the Portsmouth naval dockyard; it is likely that this was espionage at the behest of the German government.[93]
Proving flights
During 1928, there were six proving flights. On the fourth one, Blau gas was used for the first time. Graf Zeppelin carried
First intercontinental flight (1928)
In October 1928, Graf Zeppelin made its first intercontinental trip, to
On the third day of the flight, a large section of the fabric covering of the port tail fin was damaged while passing through a mid-ocean
Mediterranean flights (1929)
Graf Zeppelin visited Palestine in late March 1929. At Rome it sent greetings to
Forced landing in France (1929)
On 16 May 1929, on the first night of its second trip to the US, Graf Zeppelin lost four of its engines.[114] With Eckener struggling for a suitable place to force-land, the French Air Ministry allowed him to land at Cuers-Pierrefeu, near Toulon.[115] Barely able to control the ship, Eckener made an emergency landing.[116] The incident, and the forced comradeship it engendered, softened France's attitude to Germany and its airships slightly.[117] The incident was caused by adjustments that had been made by the chief engineer to the four engines that failed.[118][119]
On 4 August, the airship made it to Lakehurst on the second attempt. Aboard was Susie, an eastern gorilla who had been captured near Lake Kivu in the Belgian Congo and sold by her German owner to an American dealer.[120][121]
Round-the-world flight (1929)
American newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst's media empire paid half the cost of the project to fly Graf Zeppelin around the world,[122] with four staff on the flight; Lady Hay Drummond-Hay, Karl von Wiegand, Australian explorer Hubert Wilkins, and cameraman Robert Hartmann. Drummond-Hay became the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.[123][nb 10] Hearst stipulated that the flight in August 1929 officially start and finish at Lakehurst.[125][126] Round-the-world tickets were sold for almost $3000 (equivalent to $53,000 in 2023),[15] but most participants had their costs paid for them.[127] The flight's expenses were offset by the carriage of souvenir mail between Lakehurst, Friedrichshafen, Tokyo, and Los Angeles.[122] A US franked letter flown on the whole trip from Lakehurst to Lakehurst required $3.55 (equivalent to $63 in 2023)[15] in postage.
Graf Zeppelin set off from Lakehurst on 8 August, heading eastwards. The Graf Zeppelin arrived back at Lakehurst from the west on the morning of 29 August, three weeks after it had departed to the east.
Flying time for the four Lakehurst to Lakehurst legs was 12 days, 12 hours, and 13 minutes; the entire circumnavigation (including stops) took 21 days, 5 hours, and 31 minutes to cover 33,234 km (20,651 mi; 17,945 nmi).[132][137] It was the fastest circumnavigation of the globe at the time.[138]
Eckener became the tenth recipient and the third aviator to be awarded the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society, which he received on 27 March 1930 at the Washington Auditorium.[139] Before returning to Germany, Eckener met President Herbert Hoover, and successfully lobbied the US Postmaster General for a special three-stamp issue (C-13, 14 & 15) for mail to be carried on the Europe-Pan American flight due to leave Germany in mid-May.[140][141] Germany issued a commemorative coin celebrating the circumnavigation.[126]
Europe-Pan American flight (1930)
On 26 April 1930, Graf Zeppelin flew low over the
During the flight north via Recife to Lakehurst, a storm damaged the rear engine nacelle, which was repaired in the hangar at Lakehurst. During ground handling of the airship there, it suddenly lifted, causing serious injury to one of the US Marines who was assisting.[145] A few hours from home, when the Graf Zeppelin flew through a heavy hailstorm over the Saône, the envelope was damaged and the ship lost lift. Eckener ordered full power and flew the ship out of trouble, but it came within 200 feet of hitting the ground.[146][147]
The Europe-Pan American flight was largely funded by the sale of special stamps issued by Spain, Brazil, and the US for franking mail carried on the trip. The US issued stamps in three denominations: 65¢, $1.30, and $2.60, all on 19 April 1930.[148]
Middle East flight (1931)
The second flight to the Middle East took place in 1931, beginning on 9 April. Graf Zeppelin crossed the Mediterranean to Benghazi in Libya, then flew via Alexandria, to Cairo in Egypt, where it saluted King Fuad at the Qubbah Palace, then visited the Great Pyramid of Giza and hovered 70 feet above the top of the monument.[110] After a brief stop, the ship flew to Palestine where it circled Jerusalem, then returned to Cairo to pick up Eckener, who had stayed for an audience with the King. It returned to Friedrichshafen on 13 April.[110]
Polar flight (1931)
The polar flight (Polarfahrt 1931) lasted from 24 to 31 July 1931. The ship rendezvoused with the Soviet icebreaker Malygin, which had Italian polar explorer Umberto Nobile aboard. It exchanged 120 kg (260 lb) of souvenir mail with the airship, which Eckener landed on the Arctic Ocean.[149] Fifty thousand cards and letters, weighing 300 kg (660 lb), were carried. The costs of the expedition were met largely by the sale of special postage stamps issued by Germany and the Soviet Union to frank the mail carried on the flight.[150][151]
Writer Arthur Koestler was one of two journalists on board, along with a multinational team of scientists led by Soviet Professor Samoilowich, who measured the Earth's magnetic field, and a Soviet radio operator.[152][153] The expedition photographed and mapped Franz Josef Land accurately for the first time, and came within 910 kilometres (570 mi; 490 nmi) of the North Pole.[154] It deployed three early radiosondes over the Arctic to collect meteorological data from the upper atmosphere.[155]
South American operations (1931–1937)
From the beginning, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin had plans to serve South America.[156][157] There was a large community of Germans in Brazil, and existing sea connections were slow and uncomfortable.[158] Graf Zeppelin could transport passengers over long distances in the same luxury as an ocean liner, and almost as quickly as contemporary airliners.[159]
Graf Zeppelin made three trips to Brazil in 1931[160] and nine in 1932.[161] The route to Brazil meant flying down the Rhône valley in France, a cause of great sensitivity between the wars. The French government, concerned about espionage, restricted it to a 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi)-wide corridor in 1934. Graf Zeppelin was too small and slow for the stormy North Atlantic route,[162][163] but because of the Blau gas fuel, could carry out the longer South Atlantic service.[44] On 2 July 1932 it flew a 24-hour tour of Britain.[105]
While returning from Brazil in October 1933, Graf Zeppelin stopped at NAS Opa Locka in Miami, Florida, and then Akron, Ohio, where it moored at the Goodyear Zeppelin airdock.[165] The airship then appeared at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago.[166] It displayed swastika markings on the left side of the fins, as the Nazi Party had taken power in January. Eckener circled the fair clockwise so that the swastikas would not be seen by the spectators.[153][167] The United States Post Office Department issued a special 50-cent airmail stamp (C-18) for the visit, which was the fifth and final one the ship made to the US.[168]
The airship's cotton envelope absorbed moisture from the air in humid tropical conditions. When the
In late 1935 Graf Zeppelin operated a temporary postal shuttle service between Recife and Bathurst, in the British African colony of the Gambia. On 24 November, during the second trip, the crew learned of an insurrection in Brazil, and there was some doubt whether it would be possible to return to Recife. Graf Zeppelin delivered its mail to Maceió, then loitered off the coast for three days until it was safe to land, after a flight of 118 hours and 40 minutes.[172]
Brazil built a hangar for airships at Bartolomeu de Gusmão Airport, near Rio de Janeiro, at a cost of $1 million (equivalent to $22 million in 2018 [15]). Brazil charged the DZR $2000 ($44,000[15]) per landing, and had agreed that German airships would land there 20 times per year, to pay off the cost.[173] The hangar was constructed in Germany and the parts were transported and assembled on site. It was finished in late 1936,[174] and was used four times by Graf Zeppelin and five by Hindenburg.[175] It now houses units of the Brazilian Air Force.[174]
Graf Zeppelin made 64 round trips to Brazil, on the first regular intercontinental commercial air passenger service,[176] and it continued until the loss of the Hindenburg in May 1937.[175]
Propaganda (1936)
Eckener was outspoken about his dislike of the Nazi Party, and was warned about it by
On 7 March 1936, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the
Retirement and aftermath
The crew heard of the Hindenburg disaster by radio on 6 May 1937 while in the air, returning from Brazil to Germany; they delayed telling the passengers until after landing on 8 May so as not to alarm them.[183][184] The disaster, in which Lehmann and 35 others were killed, destroyed public faith in the safety of hydrogen-filled airships, making continued passenger operations impossible unless they could convert to non-flammable helium. Hindenburg had originally been planned to use helium,[185][186] but almost all of the world's supply was controlled by the US, and its export had been tightly restricted by the Helium Act of 1925.[187]
Graf Zeppelin was permanently withdrawn from service shortly after the disaster.
During its career, Graf Zeppelin had flown almost 1.7 million km (1,053,391 miles), the first aircraft to fly over a million miles. It made 144 oceanic crossings (143 across the Atlantic, and one of the Pacific), carried 13,110 passengers and 106,700 kg (235,300 lb) of mail and freight.[195] It flew for 17,177 hours (717 days, or nearly two years),[72] without injuring a passenger or crewman.[196] It has been called "the world's most successful airship",[78][197] but it was not a commercial success; it had been hoped that the Hindenburg-class airships that followed would have the capacity and speed to make money on the popular North Atlantic route.[198] Graf Zeppelin's achievements showed that this was technically possible.[78]
By the time the two Graf Zeppelins were recycled, they were the last rigid airships in the world,[199] and heavier-than-air long-distance passenger transport, using aircraft like the Focke-Wulf Condor and the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, was already in its ascendancy.[200] Aeroplanes were faster, less labour-intensive and safer;[201][202] by 1958 they developed into passenger jets like the Boeing 707 which could cross the Atlantic reliably in a few hours. By 2017 annual air passenger journeys had surpassed 4 billion.[203]
Modern airships like the Zeppelin NT use semi-rigid designs, and are lifted by helium on their mainly sight-seeing duties.[204]
Specifications
Data from [205]
General characteristics
- Crew: 36
- Capacity: 20 passengers / Typical disposable load 19,900 kg (43,900 lb)
- Length: 236.6 m (776 ft 3 in)
- Diameter: 30.5 m (100 ft 1 in) maximum
- Fineness ratio: 7.25
- Height: 33.5 m (109 ft 11 in)
- Volume: 75,000 m3 (2,600,000 cu ft) hydrogen + 30,000 m3 (1,100,000 cu ft) Blau gas capacity
- Number of gas cells: 16
- Empty weight: 67,100 kg (147,930 lb)
- Fuel capacity: 8,000 kg (18,000 lb) petrol + 30,000 m3 (1,100,000 cu ft) Blau gas
- Useful lift: 87,000 kg (192,000 lb) typical gross lift
- Powerplant: 5 × Maybach VL II V-12 water-cooled reversible piston engines, 410 kW (550 hp) each
- Propellers: 2, later 4-bladed propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 128.16 km/h (79.63 mph, 69.20 kn)
- Range: 10,000 km (6,200 mi, 5,400 nmi) at 117 km/h (73 mph; 63 kn)
See also
References
Notes
- ^ L 59 was tasked to deliver supplies to German forces fighting in East Africa. The mission was cancelled, and it returned to Jamboli.[6][7]
- ^ In 1921 Britain's Imperial Airship Scheme aimed to connect the British Empire using passenger airships.[9]
- ^ Its volume record was beaten by the British airship R101 in October 1929, and its length by USS Akron in 1931.
- ^ One of the nacelles is preserved and displayed at Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen.[34]
- ^ The liquid fuel used was a blend of commercial petrol and benzole.[41]
- ^ The amount of Blau gas the airship carried could power it for 100 hours; if the ship had had all-hydrogen gas cells and the extra lift had been used to carry petrol, it could have run for only 67.[20]
- ^ This was later replaced by a device using compressed air to produce a burst of ultrasound, which was less disturbing for the passengers.[53]
- ^ Lehmann commanded most of Graf Zeppelin's flights, 272 to Eckener's 133. Four other captains commanded a total of 100 flights.[97]
- ^ A semidocumentary film titled Farewell was released in 2009 which featured much of Hartmann's newsreel footage of her. The film was later aired on BBC under the title Around The World by Zeppelin.[124]
Citations
- ^ Lehmann (1937), p. 24.
- ^ Hoyt (1969), pp. 26–27.
- ^ Hoyt (1969), p. 37.
- ^ Marsh, W Lockwood (3 January 1930). "Twenty-One Years of Airship Progress". Flight: 87–88.
- ^ Layman (1996), p. 72.
- ^ a b Dick & Robinson (1985), pp. 74–76.
- ^ a b Hoyt (1969), pp. 106–107.
- ^ "The Transatlantic Voyage of R.34". Flight: 906–912. 10 July 1919.
- ^ Duggan & Meyer (2001), pp. 130, 174.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 40.
- ^ Robinson (1975), pp. 207–213.
- ^ Lindley, John M (1978). "Commercial Aviation and the Mastery of Transoceanic Flight". Naval Aviation News. Chief of Naval Operations: 36–37.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 44–45.
- ^ "Exchange Rates Between the United States Dollar and Forty-one Currencies". Measuring Worth.
- ^ a b c d e f 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 261.
- ^ "New German Airship – A visit to the works at Friedrichshafen". News. The Times. No. 44851. London. 26 March 1928. col E, p. 8.
- ^ Swinfield (2013), p. 218.
- ^ Hammack (2016), pp. 216, 221.
- ^ a b c Robinson (1975), p. 262.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), pp. 253–254.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 47–50.
- ^ Hammack (2016), p. 235.
- ^ a b Hammack (2016), pp. 231–232.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 103.
- ^ a b Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 34.
- ^ de Syon (2005), p. 128.
- ^ a b Lehmann (1937), p. 254.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), p. 47.
- ^ "Ninety-year anniversary of the longest standing FAI records set by airship pilot Dr Hugo Eckener". www.fai.org. 19 October 2018.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 47.
- ^ a b c d e Niderost, Eric (19 August 2019). "Globetrotting Leviathan: Graf Zeppelin's amazing voyage". Aviation History (July 1993).
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 65–66.
- ^ "Zeppelin Museum / The Museum / The Collections / Technology Collection / Engine nacelle of the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin". Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 51–52.
- ^ "Maybach VL-2, V-12 Engine". National Air and Space Museum. 10 March 2016.
- ^ Hammack (2016), p. 225.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 73, 116.
- ^ a b Vaeth (1958), p. 51.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 355.
- ^ Hammack (2016), p. 232.
- ^ "'Blue' Gas". Naval Institute Proceedings. 54. United States Naval Institute: 1096. 1928.
- ^ de Syon (2005), p. 129.
- ^ a b Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 76.
- ^ Hammack (2016), p. 236.
- ^ a b Vaeth (1958), p. 143.
- ^ Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 69.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 52.
- ^ Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 53.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), pp. 263–264.
- ^ a b Whiting, Oliver K (28 August 1931). "My Flight from Friedrichshafen". Flight: 855.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 144.
- ^ a b Vaeth (1958), p. 186.
- ^ Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 70.
- ^ a b "Graf Zeppelin visits England" (PDF). Flight: 474. 2 May 1930.
- ^ de Syon (2005), p. 135.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 263.
- ^ Hammack (2016), pp. 230, 238.
- ^ a b c Vaeth (1958), p. 187.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), p. 252.
- ^ Botting (1980), p. 105.
- ^ de Syon (2005), pp. 132–133.
- ^ a b Votolato (2007), p. 182.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 210.
- ^ Botting (1980), p. 104.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 187–188.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 93–94.
- ^ a b c Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 37.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 62.
- ^ Hammack (2016), p. 219.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 53–54.
- ^ a b Ridley-Kitts (2012), p. 287.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), p. 256.
- ^ Hammack (2016), pp. 232–233.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Funkverkehr auf dem Luftschiff LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin". www.seefunknetz.de.
- ^ a b Hammack (2016), p. 233.
- ^ "The New Zeppelin". News in Brief. The Times. No. 44941. London. 10 July 1928. col B, p. 15.
- ^ a b c Brookes (1992), p. 9.
- ^ "Exchange Rates Between the United States Dollar and Forty-one Currencies". MeasuringWorth.com. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
- ^ a b Lehmann (1937), p. 268.
- ^ Meyer (1991), pp. 184, 199.
- ^ Meyer (1991), pp. 190–191.
- ^ Meyer (1991), p. 233.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 130–131.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. xxxviii.
- ^ "Flying Down To Rio – No. 2". www.britishpathe.com. British Pathé.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 132.
- ^ "Graf Zeppelin Makes First Trip to Moscow: 100,000 Pack October Field to Get View". New York Times. 11 September 1930. p. 5.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 98–99.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 133.
- ^ a b Vaeth (1958), p. 188.
- ^ de Syon (2005), p. 133.
- ^ Swinfield (2013), pp. 238, 316.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), pp. 264–266.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 54–56.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 265.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), p. 340.
- ^ Bradley (1929), p. 146.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 9.
- ^ "Zeppelin Speeds North of Bermuda and is Expected Here This Afternoon; Damaged Fin is Repaired in the Air". New York Times. 14 October 1928.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 4–18.
- ^ "Graf Zeppelin's Atlantic Voyage". Flight: 903. 18 October 1928.
- ^ Botting (1980), p. 112.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), p. 274.
- ^ a b "Visit of the Graf Zeppelin to England". Flight: 624. 8 July 1932.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 62–63.
- ISSN 0028-792X.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), pp. 252–254.
- ^ "Zeppelin's Flight Over Mediterranean". News. The Times. No. 45160. London. 25 March 1929. col C, p. 12.
- ^ a b c McGregor, Alan (July–August 1994). "Contrary Winds: Zeppelins Over the Middle East". Saudi Aramco World. 45 (4). Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Zeppelin's Flight – Second Mediterranean Cruise". News in Brief. The Times. No. 45185. London. 24 April 1929. col F, p. 15.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 268.
- ^ "Graf Zeppelin". News in Brief. The Times. No. 45187. London. 26 April 1929. col E, p. 16.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), pp. 258–261.
- ^ Meyer (1991), p. 172.
- ^ "Zeppelin Battles Gale to Safety; Reaches Cuers, France, on One Motor; Eckener and Crew Avert Disaster". New York Times. 18 May 1929.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 81.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 75.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 269.
- ^ Newman (2013), pp. 117–118.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 72.
- ^ a b Swinfield (2013), p. 236.
- ^ "In pictures: Britain's female adventurers". Daily Telegraph. 12 January 2016.
- ^ "BBC Four – Around the World by Zeppelin". BBC.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the originalon 3 June 2008.
- ^ a b de Syon (2005), p. 136.
- ^ Swinfield (2013), p. 237.
- ^ Astronautics & Aeronautics. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 1979. p. 58.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 270.
- ^ Robinson & Keller (1982), p. 120.
- ^ Duggan & Meyer (2001), p. 5.
- ^ a b Swinfield (2013), p. 238.
- ^ "Graf Zeppelin Reaches Pacific Coast; Passes San Francisco, Nearing Goal; Thousands Wait at Los Angeles Field". New York Times. 26 August 1929. p. 1.
- ^ Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 39.
- ^ a b Robinson (1975), p. 274.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 105–107.
- ^ "Graf Zeppelin's World Flight". Flight: 992. 6 September 1929.
- ^ "Around the World with the Graf Zeppelin". Modern Mechanics. November 1929. pp. 64–65.
- ^ "Aeronautics: Zeppelin Pool". Time. 7 April 1930.
- ^ "Eckener Receives Geographic Medal: 5,000 at Capital Witness the Bestowal of World Honor on Zeppelin Commander". New York Times. 28 March 1930. p. 6.
- ^ "Hugo Eckener receives a gold medal by the National Geographic Society in Washington DC". www.criticalpast.com.
- ^ a b "The Graf Zeppelin". Flight: 576. 30 May 1930.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 145.
- ^ Robinson (1975), pp. 275–276.
- ^ "Progress of the Graf Zeppelin". Flight: 608. 6 June 1930.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 153–154.
- ^ Robinson (1975), pp. 276–277.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 138–139.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 117.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 277.
- ^ Swinfield (2013), p. 307.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 113.
- ^ a b Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 40.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 119.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 120–121.
- ^ "New Zeppelin's Flight Postponed. Airship Service To South America". News. The Times. No. 45000. London. 17 September 1928. col C, p. 11.
- ^ Meyer (1991), p. 125.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 139.
- ^ Botting (1980), p. 96.
- ^ "Some Graf Zeppelin Statistics". Flight: 1095. 17 November 1932.
- ^ "Graf Zeppelin's Last Trip for the Season". Flight: 1132. 3 November 1932.
- ^ Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 83.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), pp. 291–292.
- ^ Votolato (2007), p. 184.
- ^ Meyer (1991), p. 97.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), p. 305.
- ^ Hancock (2017), pp. 104–105.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 154.
- ^ Dick & Robinson (1985), pp. 70–71.
- ^ Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 77.
- ^ Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 57.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 281.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 189.
- ^ a b Watts, Jonathan (27 November 2016). "Dead zeppelins: Brazilian gravesite is airships' stairway to heaven". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- ^ a b Brooks (1992), p. 167.
- ^ Dick & Robinson (1985), p. 41.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 158–163.
- ^ a b Swinfield (2013), p. 240.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), p. 350.
- ^ "Propaganda 'attack' made by Zeppelins". New York Times. 29 March 1930.
- ^ "Two Reich Zeppelins on Election Tour". New York Times. 27 March 1936.
- ^ Lehmann (1937), pp. 326–332.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), pp. 196–198.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 294.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 284.
- ^ Smith, G Geoffrey (3 October 1935). "LZ 129 Nearing Completion". Flight: 352–354.
- ^ Krock, Arthur (12 May 1937). "In Washington: A Star Witness on Our Helium Export Policy". New York Times. p. 22.
- ^ Vaeth (1958), p. 202.
- ^ Brookes (1992), p. 18.
- ^ de Syon (2005), p. 201.
- ^ "President Backs Export of Helium: Sends to Congress Report by Cabinet Committee Advising Sale for Airship Lines". New York Times. 26 May 1937. p. 2.
- ^ a b "Ickes Stand Halts Helium Gas Sale: His Opposition, Under Law, Prevents Roosevelt Action to Aid Dirigible". New York Times. 12 May 1938. p. 9.
- ^ a b Robinson (1975), p. 295.
- ^ Bauer & Duggan (1998), pp. 173, 189–195.
- ^ Brewer (1991), p. 2.
- ^ Hancock (2017), pp. 102–103.
- ^ Swinfield (2013), p. 358.
- ^ Hoyt (1969), p. 121.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 246.
- ^ de Syon (2005), pp. 201–202.
- ^ Robinson (1975), p. 324.
- ^ Brookes (1992), p. 23.
- ^ "Traveler Numbers Reach New Heights". www.iata.org. IATA. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- ^ Mueller, Joseph B.; Michael A. Paluszek; Yiyuan Zhao (2004). "Development of an aerodynamic model and control law design for a high altitude airship" (PDF). American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2011.
- ^ Brooks (1992), pp. 163–168.
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