The LZ-130 was the last of the great fleet to be built. Originally
there were to be several like her built, but as the second world war
quickly approached, the golden era of the passenger airship drew to a
close. Outwardly, the LZ-130 didn't differ from her ill-fated sister,
the Hindenburg, much at all. The most obvious difference is that
orientation of the propeller blades. Up to this point, most large
airships has pusher type propellers (facing backwards), but the Graf
Zeppelin II was fitted with new forward facing engines. This would
have made the Hindenburg and the Graf Zeppelin II easily
distinguishable, but the two would never be able to share the sky.
While the LZ-130 was still in the middle of construction, the news
reached the Zeppelin Company of the Hindenburg's fiery death. A great
wave of sorrow swept over the workers of the Zeppelin Company. In the
new era of Nazi governed Germany, the company was finding it hard
enough to simply survive, but with the loss of their flagship, and so
publicly, the company seemed to be nearing its end.
As the LZ-130 was nearing completion, a detailed study in the crash
of the Hindenburg was finishing as well. In the end, the Zeppelin
company and the German government blamed the hydrogen gas, which had
caused so many other crashes during the beginning of the time of the
airships, but secretly a change was being made to prevent any further
explosions. It was discovered only recently that the Zeppelin company
changed the formula for the dope that was applied to the outer canvas
covering of the ship. The dope was an oil based sealer that was mixed
with aluminum dust to create a waterproof barrier for the ship. It
also is what gave the airships and so many light airplanes on the day
their silver metal look, when in fact, it was simply stretched cotton
canvas. This new dope was created after secret testing in Germany
revealed that the probable cause of the Hindenburg disaster wasn't
the hydrogen at all, but the dope on the outer cover! The tests that
were recently run in the United States revealed that the dope used on
the Hindenburg actually had a lower flash point than the hydrogen in
the ship.
This was earth shattering news to the Zeppelin Company at the time
and was quickly locked away and forgotten. After all, every one knew
that hydrogen was explosive, but the public relations nightmare that
would develop if people knew that the whole ship could catch fire,
was nothing that Germany or the Zeppelin Company wanted to deal with.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back to The Great Zeppelins page or Back to The Zeppelin Library home page