from the graf zeppelin to the hot air airships
Airship development has seen many difficulties. The very first airship took off in front of astounded crowds on July 2, 1900. Unfortunatel financial problems of Ferdinand Graf Zeppelin contributed to the scrapping of this airship. The forth airship constructed was meant to be approved officially after a long distance flight from Friedrichshafen to Mainz in August 1908 but burnt completely on its return flight after strong winds had forced it to touch the ground. People started to collect money for Graf Zeppelin and managed to get 6 million Marks which fortunately helped the duke to recover financially and made him one of the most popular figures of the German empire.
The airship Hindenburg was the biggest airship ever constructed: 200,000
m3 volume of gas, 41,2 m of circumference and 245 m length, it had a
range of 14,000 km. 55 passengers could travel in the luxury compartments.
63 trips were completed successfully until on May 6, 1937, at 7.25 p.m.
the disaster happened in Lakehurst, USA: 36 people burnt to death in
front of running cameras. A commission implemented after this accident
could not find the cause. The Ministry of Aviation officially stopped
passenger traffic with hydrogen airships, allowing only helium to be
used. Helium was very expensive, so this order meant the end for airships
for a longer period of time.
Only in 1997, the concept of the Zeppelin was rediscovered and developed to the Zeppelin NT (new technique), presented to the public at the aeronautic show AERO. People are still anxiously awaiting the first take off of the new gigantic airship, 68 m long and a total volume of 8,200 m3. This enthusiasm for airships also had a side effect: the development of the hot air airships. At the 7th world championships of the hot air airships in Bad Tatzmannsdorf the organisers expect more than 25 airships from all over the world.
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