| Artifacts
A general starting point for LTA relics. Your input is encouraged.
A great deal of airship materials -- books, photos, models,
etc -- may be found on ebay.
Canada
In Barry Countryman's book, "R-100 IN CANADA," (Boston Mills
Press, 1982) "Appendix "C" (Page 124) contains a reprint of
the internationally accepted signals for airship mooring and
take-off opertions.
These standards were adopted at the London Conference, August
11, 1927. This conference was attended by the GB Air Ministry,
The Airship Gurantee Company, (private builders of the R-100),
the Zeppelin Company and two U.S. Naval Attaches as observers.
---
22 Mar 1996: George Prytulak <george_prytulak@pch.gc.ca>
Has anyone come across an inventory of surviving airship artifacts
in museums? If not, would airship-list subscribers be interested
in compiling one? The Internet seems like the perfect way
to accomplish this. I'm sure most museums would be glad to
publicize what they have in their collections. We could start
with structural/mechanical components (ships' wheels, swatches
of fabric, chunks of duralumin frames) and work down to memorabilia,
toys, etc. Comments?
--
25 Mar 1996: George Prytulak <george_prytulak@pch.gc.ca>
Thanks to everyone for the positive response! Originally,
I had hoped to see the information available to all at a web
site, either the "Airship Home Page" (hint) or "Airship and
Blimp Resources" (nudge). If this is a problem, maybe someone
can offer a third option. (I only have very limited access
to the Internet at this point, and no experience creating
web sites.)
I suggest we all compile the information as the opportunities
arise. I can cover Canadian museums. Ideally, we should contact
the museums and ask them to send the information directly
to a designated e-mail address, both for the sake of accuracy
and to clear it with the museums involved.
Re: content - This should include the artifact's description,
associated airship(s), accession number, present location,
probable date of manufacture, dimensions and condition. Also,
whether the artifact is on display or in storage.
Re: private collections - This would have to be done on a
strictly voluntary basis by the collectors themselves, for
security reasons.
Re: scope of the project - This is a long-term, cumulative
project. Definitely a challenge...BTW, similar resources are
already available for vintage
aircraft and surviving steam locomotives. Some day, I
hope to see every artifact in every museum on-line. How's
that for dreaming?
George Prytulak > Industrial Conservator > Canadian
Conservation Institute > Ottawa, Ontario > Canada
Germany
On Zeppelin museum tour in '96, we saw the bow of somebody
hanging on the wall in Deutches
Museum at Munich. I believe 130, but don't remember now.
That was LZ-127's nose. They did have a couple girders from
the LZ-130 in a display case, don't remember them being a
peculiar color; that does not mean they had not been treated
with a different anti-corrosion coating than LZ-129, of course.
---
zeppelin gondola in Musee de L'Air, in Paris
---
The Museum of Air and Space ( France ) web site has a photo
of the LZ-113
Zeppelin gondola which is on exhibit there.
---
21 Mar 1996 -- Alexander R. Swaim <darswaim@mars.superlink.net>
Naval Air Station at Lakehurst -- I was there a few month
ago (November?). The base itself is prety empty. However,
there are many hangars and a monment to the Hindenberg were
the control car hit the ground. You can get to the monmuent,
but the hangars are almost impossiable to get to. I was fortunate
enough to get a rather inexperenced guard who said that we
could go to hangar number 1. I (not knowing this was strictly
verboten...no, really) went over and managed to get in a side
door. There is not much there. The asphalt tile floor is largely
intact, and there is a lot of mechanical equipment in small
side rooms. The outside is in good shape for being 60+ years
old. The other hangars are from the second world war, and
are not very interesting (any way, an MP stoped us, and told
us that we were not really suposed to be there). The memorial
is interesting. It is on the site of the WWII take off and
landing strip. In all, quite interesting.
---
11 May 1998 Paul A Adams <tlgops@email.msn.com>
There are a couple of engine cars in The Brussels aviation
museum. Not sure of the details but perhaps someone on the
list does.
---
A good idea. I could start by mentioning a number of instruments
from very early Zepps and a handful of pieces of L-31 which
are on display in the tiny little aviation museum in Balboa
Park, San Diego. Also displayed is a very large and fairly
accurate model of L-31. The color is wrong, but it's a beautiful
model nonetheless.
Fri, 22 Mar 1996 21:30:04 -0500 From: Jumanji <us024227@interramp.com>
---
There is surprisingly little remaining in Germany besides
at Fredrichafen where there is lots to be seen.
I understand that there may be a wooden Zeppelin shed just
inside the Polish boarder. Without my notes I don't know it's
exact location. I have heard it burned down some two years
ago however - perhaps others will have more up to date news.
In Frankfort there is a rather somber monument - as are most
German monuments -to the Hindenburg dead. There is nothing
at the airfield.
Count Zeppelin is buried in the town cemetary in Stuttgart.
Near by at Echterdingen is the monument to the LZ4 loss. It
is worth the work but very hard to find. Go to the city center
and look at the map. Yes the road leading to it does go through
that industial complex!
There are small museums at several of he old military Zeppelin
bases but most require prior arrangements to visit.
--
In Doug's original publication concerning the large Zeppelin's,
"LZ-129: Hindenburg" (Arco Publishing Co., 1964), Doug describes
his trip to Friedrichschafen while on a European bicycle tour
in the summer of 1937. He was, I believe, 16 years old at
the time.
On Page 1, "Pilgrimage to Friedrichschafen," Doug writes:
"The new ship was not quite completed, and in fact, her builders
were marking time, waiting for the all-important decision
on helium which in the end went against them. Between barricades
we walked across the hangar floor, beneaththe control car,
a streamlined blister looking by comparison like a child's
playhouse. The fabric was not yet in place along the bottom
of the ship, and we looked up as from the bottom of a giant
cave, a hundred and thirty five feet through empty space which
would eventually be filled by the gas cells, to the inner
side of the top outer cover. Vividly do I recall the colors
-- a soft rust red on the inner side of the cover, due to
the iron oxide mixed in the dope to minimize the absorption
of solar heat; and coating all the delicate, lace-like duralumin
girders, a preservative lacquer of a gaudy, arresting turquoise
blue. We came to a flight of stairs and climbed a story to
a gallery running along the north wall of the hangar; but
still the rounded sides of the streamlined giant loomed high
above us, and the vast rectangular windows spaced along the
hangar side soared even higher. Like mice staring upward at
an elephant, we were much too close to comprehend what we
saw."
Italy
Pakistan
The huge hangar at Karachi is gone
Karachi, Pakistan
Thanks to Ford U. Ross ATC/AC USN(Retired)
American Airship Bases and Facilities
by James R. Shock:
"A large hangar, (859 ft long, 200 ft. wide and 170 ft.
hight) that resembled the German design's steel supporting
overhead door structure was erected at Karachi, finished
in 1929. Offered for sale about 1952, existed to about
1960, It was later dismantled and the steel sold for other
purposes."
Depending upon whether these are inside or outside dimensions,
the hangar was almost as large, maybe longer ,
than Hangar One at Lakehurst. The interior length of Hangar
One is 807 ft, plus the huge external doors which pushes
it out to 966 ft. long. It is 270 ft wide internally and
a clear door height of 172 ft, so that's greater than the
Karachi Hangar. Hangar One at Moffett Field is even larger,
2nd only to Akron Air Dock. Of course the Houston Astrodom
is larger yet and the VAB at the cape the Largest in Volume
within the U.S.A.
Russia
UK
USA
Frontiers of Flight Museum
Main Terminal
Dallas Love Field, TX
contact: Gerald Knox
Bishop, Curator
tel: 241-350-3600
Has many original Zeppelin items including the china service
from the Hindenburg, the Radio Operator's chair from the Hindenburg,
Admiral Charlie Rosendahl's diary of his trip around the world
aboard the Graf Zeppelin, the props off of LosAngeles &
Shennandoah, the radio from Los Angeles, a section of life
raft from Macon signed by 40 survivors, etc.
---
National Air and Space Museum
Washington D. C.
The Hindenburg model from the Universal / Robert Wise 1975
film, 20 ft. or so, reportedly still hangs outside
of the gift shop.
The plaque was modified to say that the flammable cover
was responsible for the fire.
"Don Overs" <deovers@icubed.com> 11 May
2005
Allan Janus <allan.janus@verizon.net> 11 May
2005
---
A remarkably well-preserved 48" girder from the LZ129 Hindenburg
is owned by John Sarnovsky
<chartco1@aol.com> in Elyria, Ohio. Mr. Sarnovsky
was kind enough to send me detailed analysis, information
about and photos of the girder. I will be posting an image
here in the near future.
---
Goodyear Hangar, Wingfoot Lake, Akron, Ohio -- Has the gondola
of the USN's L8. During WW2 it was out on antisubmarine reconnaisance
off California. It drifted down over the land -- its two crewmen
absent without a trace. A strange, unsolved mystery.
---
Eric Brothers
The ZPG blimp at Pensacola is the ZPG-2, BuNo 141561, famous
as the "Snowbird" record-setting blimp, aloft for 264.2 hours
and 9,448 miles unrefueled under the command of CDR Jack R.
Hunt, 04-15 March 1957.
The parts arrived at the National Museum of Naval Aviation
in April 1992. As of Sept 1995, the car, separate engine gondolas
and detached upper deck were parked in the sand outside of
the museum in a storage (not exhibit area), exposed to the
wind, salt air, sun, hurricanes, etc.
I do not know the current status of this LTA artifact, but
it certainly deserves to be stabilized or covered, if not
outright restored, as soon as possible.
The -3W car at Davis-Monthan is also a worthy Cold War-era
artifact, since the blimps filled the gap in Airborne Early
Warning before the DEW line was operational. Good luck to
Mark and the others working to get the 3W out of the boneyard
and into a museum!
---
Pensacola Naval Air Station Museum has an entire wing devoted
to airships. It is a very impressive display for persons interested
in lta and I found it to be well worth the trip.
Amogst the collection is the nose cone of a ZPG-2, in particular
BU NO 141561, the endurance record holder. Rumor has it when
"Tex" Settle was to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame last
week, Pensacola couldn't find the materials on him.
The Naval Airship Association periodically holds their reunions
there. And then there's the Smithsonian and Zeppelin. There
are also museums in Tillamook and Moffett Field. Add to that
all the privately held items, and you will have a nice list.
---
The Soukup & Thomas International Balloon & Airship
Museum of the City of Mitchell, South Dakota has a fine collection
of Airship artifacts, from the doorway to the control car
of the Shenandoah (I think) to some of the finest engravings
and medallions, etc. Contact them at : 76330,276@Compuserve.com
Do you want inventories of private collections of unique
and scarce items?
(I still wear my G. I. "Transport Coat" that the senior officers
wore on the Naval ZR's - those shin length goat skin overcoats
with alpaca lining and electrified lamb collars. And how about
a Docking Manual for the Akron?)
22 Mar 1996: Don Piccard <balloon@msn.com>
---
23 Mar 1996: Alexander R. Swaim <darswaim@mars.superlink.net>
Is the Cathedral of the Air still located on the Lakehurst
base? I've never even seen pictures of it. As I recall, it
is just off the base, about half a mile. It is rather small,
but interesting.
---
23 Mar 1996: Don Piccard
And don't forget the Lighter-Than-Air-Society's collection
at Akron. Also, any member would usually be welcome here for
a cup of coffee if they would call ahead, but most of my STUFF
is loaned to the City of Mitchell, SD where some of it is
on display at the Soakup Thomas International.....
---
24 Mar 1996: Eric Brothers <aa208@freenet.akron.oh.us>
The airship car hanging from the ceiling of the NMNA in Pensacola
is the K-47, a WWII-vintage K-ship car, but in its post-war
modified form (ZSG-3 type). There is also the unrestored car
of a ZPG-2 airship out back.
The National Museum of Naval Aviation also has *on loan*
from the Nat'l Air & Space Museum in Washington the original
Goodyear commercial blimp, "Pilgrim" car and a reconstructed
Curtiss F9C-2 "Sparrowhawk" hook-on plane of the type used
on the USS MACON.
There are other artifacts on display, some from the NMNA
and others borrowed from other collections, that mostly pertain
to the US NAvy's involvement in LTA.
A comprehensive list of all LTA artifacts in all collections
is probably wishful thinking. Lots of material is barely catalogued
with a general finding aid in most major collections (The
LTA Society's included).
The most you could hope for is a general starting point!
---
15 Mar 1997: CNJF51A@prodigy.com
If anyone is interested in a tour of Navy Lakehurst they can
get in contacy with
Navy Lakehurst Historical Society
P.O. Box 328
Lakehurst, NJ 08733
or call:
(908) 349 4754 Mr. Kevin Pace
(908) 244 6004 Mr. Don Adams
or send me a E MAIL at CNJF51A@prodigy.com
---
Rod Fleck <FLECKS-OF-FORKS@postoffice.worldnet.att.net>
Forks WA and in WWII an auxiliary airstation near here was
an Airship port - it had a mooring mast and regular scheduled
visits. In the log of the Quillayute Naval Auxillary Air Station
there is a mention about two airship crashes - one was just
north of the base by five miles, another may have been a Canadian
airship (??) or an American Airship looking for a Canadian
plane that crashed in the area of the Straits of Juan de Fuca.
Any clues about either of these? If there is an interest,
I can get more specific quotes from the log (yet, I think
what I wrote is about as clear). As the local City Attorney,
I have been spearheading a lot of interest in to this base
and its aviation history.
We will also answer any and all questions about airships.
We have quite a collection of artifacts from the Hindenburg
and Amercian airships. We also set up displays in the NJ,
PA, and NY area and do talks for any group in NJ that want
to know about airships.
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