First, the Zeppelin folks are definitely at it again. Check out these sites for info on the Zeppelin-NT (New Technology). My friend is an airship nut and visited the factory and nearby museum a few years ago. The NT wasn’t flying at that time but it is now. http://www.zeppelin-nt.com/ http://spot.colorado.edu/~dziadeck/zf/htmls/nt.htm
And secondly, it was my understanding that the Hindenburg was designed for helium but wound up using hydrogen because the world’s major source of helium (i.e., the U.S.) refused to sell to Germany. The lifting difference between the two gases is not all that great…
… so perhaps the Hindenburg was sufficiently over-engineered that it didn’t matter. Or maybe they simply redesigned the craft to take the slightly lesser lifing capability into account.
I also have a vauge recolection that the Hindenburg was to be the first helium-powered German airship. Then again, search though I might, I can find no proof or even a reference to any of my Hindenburg claims. Can anyone support me or at least help me stop spreading lies?
That odd-looking ball on top of the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING (NYC)-I understand that is a blimp docking fixture. Ist it still functional? Any chance that someday passengers will debark from blimps at the ESB?
BTW, at the top of that “thing” atop the ESB (just below the antenna), you can see the things (if you have a detailed photo) that I think were supposed to be the “hooks” that would moor the blimps.
Have there ever been any hot-air dirigibles? I was wondering what the engineering problems would be with this … tons of flames underneath a bunch of air cells … insufficient lift…?
I had actually heard that the hydrogen wasn’t the problem with the Hindenburg, that it was mostly the tar-coated envelope that burned (not exploded). Comments?
“There are only two things that are infinite: The Universe, and human stupidity-- and I’m not sure about the Universe”
–A. Einstein
Yes, there are Hot-Air Airships. It says that their “main uses are in sportive competition, advertising, and environmental work.” I remember seeing footage (either Discovery Channel or some Imax/Omnimax show) where these “Hot Airships” were used very successfully for rain forest research. It apperas that their greatest advantage is ease of use, but are not very efficient.
As for the “helium didn’t cause the Hindenburg accident” theory, check out the article on the UCLA homepage. The researcher who wrote the paper works on hydrogen fuel-cells so he may be biased, but it sounds very convincing. There was a more extensive article in Air & Space Smithsonian a couple of years ago (around summer '97?), and probably many other sources.
Yes, I read an article a few years ago on this subject. It seems that some credible investigator determined that the coating was extremely flammable. I believe it was some nitrate compound, not tar.
Also, why did the US have a monopoly on helium. Are all the helium mines located in the US?
Nothing informative to add; I’m just paralyzed by the image of dust-covered, rugged miners with high, squeaky voices.
JMCJ
“Y’know, I would invite y’all to go feltch a dead goat, but that would be abuse of a perfectly good dead goat and an insult to all those who engage in that practice for fun.” -weirddave, set to maximum flame
Yes, I think nearly all the world’s helium veins are in the U.S. Texas, I think. And I even vaguely remember some geological principle which explains why so much oil, natural gas, and helium would all be located in the same place. Not really fair, is it? But the South Africans have most of the diamonds, so us poor Yanqs need something.