Prototype Story

LZ 129 Hindenburg (Luftschiff Zeppelin #129; Registration: D-LZ 129) was a German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume. It was designed and built by the Zeppelin Company (Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH) on the shores of Lake Constance in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and was operated by the German Zeppelin Airline Company (Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei). It was named after Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, who was President of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934.

The airship flew from March 1936 until it was destroyed by fire 14 months later on May 6, 1937, while attempting to land at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester Township, New Jersey, at the end of the first North American transatlantic journey of its second season of service. This was the last of the great airship disasters; it was preceded by the crashes of the British R38, the US airship Roma, the French Dixmude, the British R101, and the USS Akron.

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. Named after the German airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a count (Graf) in the German nobility, it was conceived and operated by Dr. Hugo Eckener, the chairman of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.

The Graf Zeppelin was the designated registration of D-LZ127 (Deutsche Luftschiff Zeppelin number 127) the 127th designed Zeppelin, was originally planned to exploit the latest technology in airships, building on the advances of the earlier commercial operational ships. After the First World War, Germany was limited by the treaty of Versailles to the size and capacity of ships which they could build. The Zeppelin Company had created two ships within this limited size parameter, the Bodensee and Nordstern, for small inter city passenger services. It was with a contract with the United States Government that enabled the company to exceed the regulation laid down on the size limitation, and thus designated and constructed the D-LZ126, later re-christened on delivery as the "Los Angeles". Much of the lessons learnt in the design of this ship, was carried forward and improved in to the design of the LZ-127 "Graf Zeppelin".

Dr. Hugo Eckener, whose experience and work with Count Zeppelin had lead the company for the years following the death of the Count, had to campaign to the German Government for its construction and assisting funding, and only after two years of lobbying did that proceed at the Zeppelin works, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, at Friedrichshafen in Germany.

Construction of the ship began on the enhanced design of the LZ126, and when finally complete, the ship flew for the first time on 18 September 1928. With a total length of 236.6 metres (776 ft) and volume of 105,000 cubic metres (3,700,000 cu ft), was the largest airship up to that time.

The D-LZ127 was powered by five Maybach 550 horsepower (410 kW) engines that could burn either Blau gas or gasoline. The ship achieved a maximum speed of 128 kilometres per hour (80 mph, 70 knots) operating at total maximum thrust of 2,650 horsepower which reduced to the normal cruising speed of 117 km/h (73 mph).

The D-LZ127 had a usable payload capacity of 15,000 kilograms for a 10,000 kilometres cruise.

Initially it was to be used for experimental and demonstration purposes to prepare the way for regular airship travelling, but also carried passengers and mail to cover the costs.

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, they used it as a propaganda tool. It was withdrawn from service after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. It was dismantled in 1940 on the orders of Luftwaffe Marshal Hermann Göring at the time, and the aluminum that made up its hull skeleton was diverted for armament production.

During its career, the D-LZ127 Graf Zeppelin flew more than one and half million kilometres over 590 flights, and made 144 ocean crossings, carrying 13,110 passengers.

With a perfect passenger safety record, making it the most successful rigid airship ever built.