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160-670: The Graf Zeppelin II was virtually identical to the Hindenburg , and was originally designed to use hydrogen as lifting gas. The LZ 130 was built to replace the aging LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin on the South American transatlantic route while the Hindenburg would continue flying the North American route. Following the Hindenburg disaster in May 1937, Dr. Hugo Eckener vowed to never again use hydrogen in

320-521: A Funkbeschickung (a calibration of the direction-finding equipment). Hazy air hindered the attempts despite good weather conditions. The calibration did not succeed perfectly – these problems arose even at later attempts. There were also first successes with the Ballastwassergewinnungsanlage (a water recovery system to save ballast), such that no gas had to be valved except for about 600 cubic meters for weight off. Three and

480-472: A coolant in the rotor and the stator in 1937 at Dayton , Ohio, owned by the Dayton Power & Light Co. This was justified by the high thermal conductivity and very low viscosity of hydrogen gas, thus lower drag than air. This is the most common coolant used for generators 60 MW and larger; smaller generators are usually air-cooled . The nickel–hydrogen battery was used for the first time in 1977 aboard

640-465: A nucleus which is usually composed of one proton. That is why H is often called a proton. This species is central to discussion of acids . Under the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory , acids are proton donors, while bases are proton acceptors. A bare proton, H , cannot exist in solution or in ionic crystals because of its strong attraction to other atoms or molecules with electrons. Except at

800-490: A stoichiometric quantity of hydrogen at the anode. For hydrides other than group 1 and 2 metals, the term is quite misleading, considering the low electronegativity of hydrogen. An exception in group 2 hydrides is BeH 2 , which is polymeric. In lithium aluminium hydride , the [AlH 4 ] anion carries hydridic centers firmly attached to the Al(III). Although hydrides can be formed with almost all main-group elements,

960-411: A "98.79% 'Yes' vote"), Hindenburg returned to Löwenthal on March 29 to prepare for its first commercial passenger flight, a transatlantic passage to Rio de Janeiro scheduled to depart from there on March 31. Hugo Eckener was not to be the commander of the flight, however, but was instead relegated to being a "supervisor" with no operational control over Hindenburg while Ernst Lehmann had command of

1120-587: A U.S. ban on the export of helium under the Helium Control Act of 1927 , the Germans designed the airship to use the far safer gas in the belief that they could convince the U.S. government to license its export. When the designers learned that the National Munitions Control Board refused to lift the export ban, they were forced to re-engineer Hindenburg to use flammable hydrogen gas, which was

1280-431: A combination of gas leakage and atmospheric static conditions. Manually controlled and automatic valves for releasing hydrogen were located partway up one-meter diameter ventilation shafts that ran vertically through the airship. Hydrogen released into a shaft, whether intentionally or because of a stuck valve, would have mixed with air already in the shaft   —   potentially in an explosive ratio. Alternatively,

1440-437: A fire. Anaerobic oxidation of iron by the protons of water at high temperature can be schematically represented by the set of following reactions: Many metals such as zirconium undergo a similar reaction with water leading to the production of hydrogen. François Isaac de Rivaz built the first de Rivaz engine , an internal combustion engine powered by a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen in 1806. Edward Daniel Clarke invented

1600-408: A gas cell could have been ruptured by the breaking of a structural tension wire causing a mixing of hydrogen with air. The high static charge collected from flying within stormy conditions and inadequate grounding of the outer envelope to the frame could have ignited any resulting gas-air mixture at the top of the airship. In support of the hypothesis that hydrogen was leaking from the aft portion of

1760-652: A half tonnes of ballast water could be saved and the engines ran quieter because of the sound-absorbing effect of the device. 6 28 September 1938 – Further test flight on behalf of the RLM under Captain Sammt. Additionally, members of the DVG under the direction of Max Dieckmann were on board to investigate whether electrostatic charges caused the Hindenburg disaster. Therefore, it was especially flown during thunderstorms. Flights during normal weather conditions brought no useful results. The ship

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1920-499: A molar basis ) because of its light weight, which enables it to escape the atmosphere more rapidly than heavier gases. However, hydrogen is the third most abundant element on the Earth's surface, mostly in the form of chemical compounds such as hydrocarbons and water. LZ 129 Hindenburg LZ 129 Hindenburg ( Luftschiff Zeppelin #129 ; Registration : D-LZ 129 ) was a German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship ,

2080-448: A monatomic gas at cryogenic temperatures. According to quantum theory, this behavior arises from the spacing of the (quantized) rotational energy levels, which are particularly wide-spaced in H 2 because of its low mass. These widely spaced levels inhibit equal partition of heat energy into rotational motion in hydrogen at low temperatures. Diatomic gases composed of heavier atoms do not have such widely spaced levels and do not exhibit

2240-545: A partial negative charge. These compounds are often known as hydrides . Hydrogen forms many compounds with carbon called the hydrocarbons , and even more with heteroatoms that, due to their association with living things, are called organic compounds . The study of their properties is known as organic chemistry and their study in the context of living organisms is called biochemistry . By some definitions, "organic" compounds are only required to contain carbon. However, most of them also contain hydrogen, and because it

2400-477: A partial positive charge. When bonded to a more electronegative element, particularly fluorine , oxygen , or nitrogen , hydrogen can participate in a form of medium-strength noncovalent bonding with another electronegative element with a lone pair, a phenomenon called hydrogen bonding that is critical to the stability of many biological molecules. Hydrogen also forms compounds with less electronegative elements, such as metals and metalloids , where it takes on

2560-674: A passenger airship. This led to modifications so that the Graf Zeppelin II could be inflated with helium . The only source of helium in large enough quantities at that time was the United States, so Eckener traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby for helium for his airships. He visited President Franklin D. Roosevelt , who promised to supply helium, but only for peaceful purposes. After the German annexation of Austria in March 1938, U.S. Secretary of

2720-405: A proton and an electron, the hydrogen atom , together with the spectrum of light produced from it or absorbed by it, has been central to the development of the theory of atomic structure. Furthermore, study of the corresponding simplicity of the hydrogen molecule and the corresponding cation H + 2 brought understanding of the nature of the chemical bond , which followed shortly after

2880-468: A radio-measuring spy basket was used. Sammt flew the LZ 130 up Britain's east coast stopping the engines at Aberdeen pretending they had engine failure in order to investigate strange antenna masts. They drifted freely westwards over land and according to Breuning, saw for the first time the new Supermarine Spitfires , which were then photographed as they circled the airship. This alleged encounter with Spitfires

3040-470: A serious incident. Hydrogen-lifted airships were used as observation platforms and bombers during the war. The first non-stop transatlantic crossing was made by the British airship R34 in 1919. Regular passenger service resumed in the 1920s and the discovery of helium reserves in the United States promised increased safety, but the U.S. government refused to sell the gas for this purpose. Therefore, H 2

3200-537: A short stop-over. 24. The "espionage trip" of 2 to 4 August 1939, taking over 48 hours and covering 4,203 km (2,612 mi), was the longest trip the LZ 130 made. The main goal was to secretly collect information on the British Chain Home radar system. To do this the airship flew northwards close to the British east coast to the Shetland Isles and back. As well as the 45 crew, 28 personnel engaged in

3360-440: A similar experiment with iron and sulfuric acid. However, in all likelihood, "sulfureous" should here be understood to mean "combustible". In 1766, Henry Cavendish was the first to recognize hydrogen gas as a discrete substance, by naming the gas from a metal-acid reaction "inflammable air". He speculated that "inflammable air" was in fact identical to the hypothetical substance " phlogiston " and further finding in 1781 that

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3520-498: A smaller portion comes from energy-intensive methods such as the electrolysis of water . Its main industrial uses include fossil fuel processing, such as hydrocracking , and ammonia production , with emerging uses in fuel cells for electricity generation and as a heat source. When used in fuel cells, hydrogen's only emission at point of use is water vapor, though combustion can produce nitrogen oxides . Hydrogen's interaction with metals may cause embrittlement . Hydrogen gas

3680-467: A spark or flame, they do not react at room temperature in the absence of a catalyst. The ground state energy level of the electron in a hydrogen atom is −13.6  eV , equivalent to an ultraviolet photon of roughly 91 nm wavelength. The energy levels of hydrogen can be calculated fairly accurately using the Bohr model of the atom, in which the electron "orbits" the proton, like how Earth orbits

3840-450: A species. To avoid the implication of the naked "solvated proton" in solution, acidic aqueous solutions are sometimes considered to contain a less unlikely fictitious species, termed the " hydronium ion" ( [H 3 O] ). However, even in this case, such solvated hydrogen cations are more realistically conceived as being organized into clusters that form species closer to [H 9 O 4 ] . Other oxonium ions are found when water

4000-406: A spin singlet state having spin S = 0 {\displaystyle S=0} . The equilibrium ratio of ortho- to para-hydrogen depends on temperature. At room temperature or warmer, equilibrium hydrogen gas contains about 25% of the para form and 75% of the ortho form. The ortho form is an excited state , having higher energy than the para form by 1.455 kJ/mol, and it converts to

4160-1110: A spy basket or "cloud car" was installed in the hull with radio equipment. This could be lowered on a steel cable below the cloud layer. Over Stettin , DVG engineer Seiler fell overboard when his parachute deployed when the release switch got caught. He received minor skull fracture and a broken collar bone when he struck the tail of the cloud car while falling. In a flight lasting approximately 30 hours it covered nearly 2,700 km (1,700 mi). 11. 15 June 1939 Duration: 28-hour flight for further measurements, covering 2,800 km. The ship flew over Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig and Bad Neustadt an der Saale before returning to Frankfurt at 6:18 pm on 16 June. 12. and 13. Meiningenfahrt 2 July 1939; 18.40 landing at Meiningen airfield, flew back to Frankfurt am Main at 19.22. 14. and 15. Leipzigfahrt (Leipzig trip) 9 July 1939; among other things landing in Leipzig -Mockau airfield with post office delivery 16. Nordseefahrt ( North Sea trip) 12 to 14 July 1939. Launch: 22.25; 45-hour spy mission over

4320-589: A team of physicists from the Drahtlostelegraphische und Luftelektrische Versuchsstation Gräfelfing (DVG) led by Max Dieckmann, whose intention was to study electric discharge and its role in the Hindenburg disaster. In total, the Graf Zeppelin made thirty flights, covering 36,550 km (22,710 mi) in a flight time of 409 hours: 1. 14 September 1938 – The maiden voyage took place immediately after

4480-438: A term that is used fairly loosely. The term "hydride" suggests that the H atom has acquired a negative or anionic character, denoted H ; and is used when hydrogen forms a compound with a more electropositive element. The existence of the hydride anion , suggested by Gilbert N. Lewis in 1916 for group 1 and 2 salt-like hydrides, was demonstrated by Moers in 1920 by the electrolysis of molten lithium hydride (LiH), producing

4640-478: A while before caus'd to be purposely fil'd off from a piece of good steel. This metalline powder being moistn'd in the viol with a little of the menstruum, was afterwards drench'd with more; whereupon the mixture grew very hot, and belch'd up copious and stinking fumes; which whether they consisted altogether of the volatile sulfur of the Mars [iron], or of metalline steams participating of a sulfureous nature, and join'd with

4800-848: A year earlier, only the airship's formal registration number (D-LZ129) and the five Olympic rings (promoting the 1936 Summer Olympics to be held in Berlin that August) were displayed on the hull during its trial flights. As the airship passed over Munich on its second trial flight the next afternoon, the city's Lord Mayor, Karl Fiehler , asked Eckener by radio the LZ129's name, to which he replied " Hindenburg ". On March 23, Hindenburg made its first passenger and mail flight, carrying 80 reporters from Friedrichshafen to Löwenthal . The ship flew over Lake Constance with Graf Zeppelin . The name Hindenburg lettered in 1.8-metre (5 ft 11 in) high red Fraktur script (designed by Berlin advertiser Georg Wagner)

4960-579: Is exothermic and produces enough heat to evaporate most of the liquid if not converted first to parahydrogen during the cooling process. Catalysts for the ortho-para interconversion, such as ferric oxide and activated carbon compounds, are used during hydrogen cooling to avoid this loss of liquid. While H 2 is not very reactive under standard conditions, it does form compounds with most elements. Hydrogen can form compounds with elements that are more electronegative , such as halogens (F, Cl, Br, I), or oxygen ; in these compounds hydrogen takes on

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5120-505: Is crucial in acid-base reactions , which mainly involve proton exchange among soluble molecules. In ionic compounds , hydrogen can take the form of either a negatively charged anion , where it is known as hydride , or as a positively charged cation , H . The cation, usually just a proton (symbol p ), exhibits specific behavior in aqueous solutions and in ionic compounds involves screening of its electric charge by surrounding polar molecules or anions. Hydrogen's unique position as

5280-416: Is detected in order to probe primordial hydrogen. The large amount of neutral hydrogen found in the damped Lyman-alpha systems is thought to dominate the cosmological baryonic density of the universe up to a redshift of z  = 4. Under ordinary conditions on Earth, elemental hydrogen exists as the diatomic gas, H 2 . Hydrogen gas is very rare in Earth's atmosphere (around 0.53 ppm on

5440-455: Is getting [the Hindenburg] ready for its maiden flight to Brazil, strenuously objected to putting it in the air this weekend on the ground it was not fully tested, but Dr. Goebbels insisted. Eckener, no friend of the regime, refused to take it up himself, but allowed Captain [Ernst] Lehmann to. [Goebbels] is reported howling mad and is determined to get Eckener." While gusty wind conditions on

5600-400: Is highly flammable: Enthalpy of combustion : −286 kJ/mol. Hydrogen gas forms explosive mixtures with air in concentrations from 4–74% and with chlorine at 5–95%. The hydrogen autoignition temperature , the temperature of spontaneous ignition in air, is 500 °C (932 °F). Pure hydrogen-oxygen flames emit ultraviolet light and with high oxygen mix are nearly invisible to

5760-453: Is in acidic solution with other solvents. Although exotic on Earth, one of the most common ions in the universe is the H + 3 ion, known as protonated molecular hydrogen or the trihydrogen cation. Hydrogen has three naturally occurring isotopes, denoted H , H and H . Other, highly unstable nuclei ( H to H ) have been synthesized in the laboratory but not observed in nature. Unique among

5920-465: Is not supported by contemporary news sources, which state that the LZ 130 was intercepted by two RAF planes dispatched from Dyce Airport , a Miles Magister carrying 612 Squadron Leader Finlay Crerar and Officer Robinson, and an Avro Anson . The last sighting from the ground of the Graf Zeppelin was by the lighthouse keeper of Girdle Ness Lighthouse who was surprised to see the airship overhead at below 1,000 feet. Graf Zeppelin cruised on up to

6080-484: Is soluble in both nanocrystalline and amorphous metals . Hydrogen solubility in metals is influenced by local distortions or impurities in the crystal lattice . These properties may be useful when hydrogen is purified by passage through hot palladium disks, but the gas's high solubility is a metallurgical problem, contributing to the embrittlement of many metals, complicating the design of pipelines and storage tanks. Hydrogen compounds are often called hydrides ,

6240-532: Is still used, in preference to non-flammable but more expensive helium, as a lifting gas for weather balloons . Deuterium was discovered in December 1931 by Harold Urey , and tritium was prepared in 1934 by Ernest Rutherford , Mark Oliphant , and Paul Harteck . Heavy water , which consists of deuterium in the place of regular hydrogen, was discovered by Urey's group in 1932. The first hydrogen-cooled turbogenerator went into service using gaseous hydrogen as

6400-412: Is the carbon-hydrogen bond that gives this class of compounds most of its particular chemical characteristics, carbon-hydrogen bonds are required in some definitions of the word "organic" in chemistry. Millions of hydrocarbons are known, and they are usually formed by complicated pathways that seldom involve elemental hydrogen. Hydrogen is highly soluble in many rare earth and transition metals and

6560-400: Is the lightest element and, at standard conditions , is a gas of diatomic molecules with the formula H 2 , sometimes called dihydrogen , but more commonly called hydrogen gas , molecular hydrogen or simply hydrogen. It is colorless, odorless, non-toxic, and highly combustible . Constituting about 75% of all normal matter , hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element in

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6720-607: The 1936 Summer Olympic Games . Shortly before the arrival of Adolf Hitler to declare the Games open, the airship crossed low over the packed stadium while trailing the Olympic flag on a long weighted line suspended from its gondola . On September 14, the ship flew over the annual Nuremberg Rally . On October 8, 1936, Hindenburg made a 10.5 hour flight (the "Millionaires Flight") over New England carrying 72 wealthy and influential passengers including financier and future U.S. Ambassador to

6880-596: The 1939 German Grand Prix was taking place. It remained there during 5 laps and broadcast a radio commentary before landing at the Flying Day events at Bielefield and Münster later that day. 22. and 23. :To Kassel : 30 July 1939, commanded by Captain Anton Wittemann. This 7-hour flight covered 600 km (370 mi), flying over the air show events at both Frankfurt (at the old Rebstock airport) and in Kassel where it made

7040-545: The Deutschlandfahrt , and his "refusal to give a special appeal during the Reichstag election campaign endorsing Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his policies." The existence of the ban was never publicly acknowledged by Goebbels, and it was quietly lifted a month later. While at Rio, the crew noticed one of the engines had noticeable carbon buildup from having been run at low speed during the propaganda flight days earlier. On

7200-521: The Graf Zeppelin from March 26 to 29. This was to be followed by its first commercial passenger flight, a four-day transatlantic voyage to Rio de Janeiro that departed from the Friedrichshafen Airport in nearby Löwenthal on March 31. After again departing from Löwenthal on 6 May on its first of ten round trips to North America made in 1936, all Hindenburg ' s subsequent transatlantic flights to both North and South America originated at

7360-444: The Hindenburg airship was a notorious example of hydrogen combustion and the cause is still debated. The visible flames in the photographs were the result of carbon compounds in the airship skin burning. H 2 is unreactive compared to diatomic elements such as halogens or oxygen. The thermodynamic basis of this low reactivity is the very strong H–H bond, with a bond dissociation energy of 435.7 kJ/mol. The kinetic basis of

7520-635: The Hindenburg did not commence until March 1932. The delay was largely due to Daimler-Benz designing and refining the LOF-6 diesel engines to reduce weight while fulfilling the output requirements set by the Zeppelin Company. Hindenburg had a duralumin structure, incorporating 15 Ferris wheel -like main ring bulkheads along its length, with 16 cotton gas bags fitted between them. The bulkheads were braced to each other by longitudinal girders placed around their circumferences. The airship's outer skin

7680-425: The Hindenburg prior to the conflagration, water ballast was released at the rear of the airship and six crew members were dispatched to the bow to keep the craft level. Another more recent theory involves the airship's outer covering. The silvery cloth covering contained material with cellulose nitrate , which is highly flammable. This theory is controversial and has been rejected by other researchers because

7840-432: The Hindenburg ; thirteen of them had windows, and four of them were "luxury cabins" on the upper "B" deck. Instead of two passenger decks, the Graf Zeppelin II had one and a half, divided into four sections. The "A" deck consisted of the dining room along the central rear section of the passenger quarters, slightly elevated from the "B" deck running along the upper promenade windows, which contained lounges, smoking room and

8000-437: The Hindenburg, more windows were later fitted after its test flights.). The German investigation on the Hindenburg disaster suggested the poor conductivity of the Hindenburg ' s outer skin played a role in the ignition of hydrogen. As a result, the cords connecting the panels were treated with graphite to increase the outer covering's electrical conductivity. Other redesigns included the gas vent hoods, gondola windows and

8160-570: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) allows any of D, T, H , and H to be used, though H and H are preferred. The exotic atom muonium (symbol Mu), composed of an anti muon and an electron , can also be considered a light radioisotope of hydrogen. Because muons decay with lifetime 2.2  µs , muonium is too unstable for observable chemistry. Nevertheless, muonium compounds are important test cases for quantum simulation , due to

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8320-627: The National Socialist Party many propaganda channels were used – including a Zeppelin flight over the befreiten Gebiete ("liberated regions"). On board were 62 crew members and 7 passengers, among them military officers. Taking off on 2 December 1938, LZ130 arrived over Reichenberg (present-day Liberec ), capital of Sudetenland (a German-speaking area in Czechoslovakia), timed to match Hitler's visit. Small parachutes were thrown out with swastika flags and handbills carrying

8480-609: The North Atlantic left Frankfurt on 6 May with 56 crew and 50 passengers, arriving in Lakehurst, New Jersey on 9 May. As the elevation at Rhein-Main 's airfield lies at 111 m (364 ft) above sea level , the airship could lift 6 tonnes (13,000 lb) more at takeoff there than she could from Friedrichshafen, which was situated at 417 m (1,368 ft). Each of the ten westward trips that season took 53 to 78 hours and eastward took 43 to 61 hours. The last eastward trip of

8640-634: The Reichsluftfahrtministerium (German Air Ministry), and Deutsche Lufthansa A.G. (Germany's national airline at that time), and also operated the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin during its last two years of commercial service to South America from 1935 to 1937. Hindenburg and its sister ship, the LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II (launched in September 1938), were the only two airships ever purpose-built for regular commercial transatlantic passenger operations, although

8800-599: The Scapa Flow naval base, catching glimpses of British warships through the clouds. In the early evening the Graf Zeppelin turned back to Germany without having detected any Chain Home radar transmissions. After a Daily Telegraph report of the flight, a German communiqué was issued on 4 August stating: ‘The airship cannot leave Germany without special permission. There can be no question of an intention to fly over near British territory. There have, however, been severe storms during

8960-594: The lead ship of its 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

9120-444: The universe . Stars , including the Sun , mainly consist of hydrogen in a plasma state , while on Earth, hydrogen is found in water , organic compounds , as dihydrogen , and in other molecular forms . The most common isotope of hydrogen (protium, H) consists of one proton , one electron , and no neutrons . In the early universe , the formation of hydrogen's protons occurred in

9280-432: The water vapor in the engine exhaust and stored them which compensated for the weight of fuel consumed during flight and eliminated the need to vent any lifting gas. In later flights, the airship used variable-pitch three-bladed propellers on both rear engines; trials were run on the forward port engine car as the ship neared completion, but only the aft-port engine car had a three-bladed propeller on its first flight. Unlike

9440-431: The "planetary orbit" differs from electron motion. Molecular H 2 exists as two spin isomers , i.e. compounds that differ only in the spin states of their nuclei. In the orthohydrogen form, the spins of the two nuclei are parallel, forming a spin triplet state having a total molecular spin S = 1 {\displaystyle S=1} ; in the parahydrogen form the spins are antiparallel and form

9600-399: The "radio-weather", the best wavelengths to use for radio. These impulses severely disturbed their highly sensitive receivers in the 10–12 metre waveband. Breuning wrote that he repeatedly requested Martini to stop transmitting during the spy trips, to no avail. This made it impossible for the LZ 130 to investigate the very wavebands the British were using. An alternative account was given after

9760-579: The 1925 Locarno Pact —a post hoc referendum was quickly called by Hitler for March 29 to "ask the German people" to both ratify the Rhineland's occupation by the German Army, and to approve a single party list composed exclusively of Nazi candidates to sit in the new Reichstag . The Hindenburg and the Graf Zeppelin were designated by the government as a key part of the process. As a public relations ploy, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels demanded that

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9920-500: The 1936 season, the airship flew 191,583 miles (308,323 km) and carried 2,798 passengers and 160 tons of freight and mail, encouraging the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Company to plan the expansion of its airship fleet and transatlantic service. The airship was said to be so stable a pen or pencil could be balanced on end atop a table without falling. Launches were so smooth that passengers often missed them, believing

10080-529: The 36 passengers and 61 crew aboard, 13 passengers and 22 crew died, as well as one member of the ground crew, a total of 36 lives lost. Herbert Morrison 's commentary of the incident became a classic of audio history. The exact location of the initial fire, its source of ignition, and the source of fuel remain subjects of debate. The cause of the accident has never been determined conclusively, although many hypotheses have been proposed. Sabotage theories notwithstanding, one hypothesis often put forth involves

10240-509: The British airship R 101 prompted the Zeppelin Company to reconsider the use of hydrogen, therefore scrapping the LZ 128 in favour of a new airship designed for helium , the LZ 129. Initial plans projected the LZ 129 to have a length of 248 metres (814 ft), but 11 m (36 ft) was dropped from the tail in order to allow the ship to fit in Lakehurst Hangar No. 1 . Manufacturing of components began in 1931, but construction of

10400-473: The Goodyear Zeppelin Company, recalled "The only entrance to the smoking room, which was pressurized to prevent the admission of any leaking hydrogen, was via the bar, which had a swiveling air lock door, and all departing passengers were scrutinized by the bar steward to make sure they were not carrying out a lit cigarette or pipe." Helium was initially selected for the lifting gas because it

10560-463: The Interior Harold Ickes refused to supply helium, and the Graf Zeppelin II was ultimately inflated with hydrogen. Though the LZ 130 was nearly identical in design to the LZ 129, there were a few minor improvements. The tail fins were 60 cm (24 in) shorter and the number of intermediate ribs was reduced to save weight and reduce stress on the trailing edge of the fin. As the ship

10720-570: The June visit may have had a more sinister purpose: to observe the industrial heartlands of Northern England . In July 1936, Hindenburg completed a record Atlantic round trip between Frankfurt and Lakehurst in 98 hours and 28 minutes of flight time (52:49 westbound, 45:39 eastbound). Many prominent people were passengers on the Hindenburg , including boxer Max Schmeling making his triumphant return to Germany in June 1936 after his world heavyweight title knockout of Joe Louis at Yankee Stadium . In

10880-747: The Löwenthal hangar at 1.30 PM, having flown a total of 925 km (575 mi). Eckener described the trip as "satisfying" and "successful." 2. 17–18 September 1938 – The second trip was a 26-hour test trip under the command of Eckener and Captain Hans von Schiller with a total of 85 persons on board. It started at 8.08 AM on 17 September 1938. The morning was spent over the Bodensee with different measurements being taken. At noon it flew north, reaching Stuttgart at 12.15 and Frankfurt am Main at 13.15, and then flew towards Eisenach and Eisleben . Towards evening Berlin

11040-574: The North Sea. General Wolfgang Martini , head of the Luftwaffe signals organisation, wanted to find out whether Britain possessed a workable radar system for detecting aircraft. He suspected that the 110 m (350 ft) masts of the then-secret Chain Home system were part of such a system. So he obtained permission for the Graf Zeppelin to be equipped to investigate this. New high-frequency receivers were installed, and an aerial array rigged underneath

11200-476: The Rhineland re-occupation, the Hindenburg was aloft over Berlin. Later, Hugo Eckener privately mocked Goebbels by telling friends, "There were forty persons on the Hindenburg . Forty-two 'yes' votes were counted." William Shirer recorded: "Goebbels has forbidden the press to mention Eckener's name." With the completion of voting on the referendum (which the German Government claimed had been approved by

11360-476: The Sun and other stars). The charged particles are highly influenced by magnetic and electric fields. For example, in the solar wind they interact with the Earth's magnetosphere giving rise to Birkeland currents and the aurora . Hydrogen is found in the neutral atomic state in the interstellar medium because the atoms seldom collide and combine. They are the source of the 21-cm hydrogen line at 1420 MHz that

11520-454: The Sun and the CNO cycle of nuclear fusion in case of stars more massive than the Sun . Throughout the universe, hydrogen is mostly found in the atomic and plasma states, with properties quite distinct from those of molecular hydrogen. As a plasma, hydrogen's electron and proton are not bound together, resulting in very high electrical conductivity and high emissivity (producing the light from

11680-460: The Sun. However, the electron and proton are held together by electrostatic attraction, while planets and celestial objects are held by gravity . Due to the discretization of angular momentum postulated in early quantum mechanics by Bohr, the electron in the Bohr model can only occupy certain allowed distances from the proton, and therefore only certain allowed energies. A more accurate description of

11840-595: The U.S. Navy's Navigation technology satellite-2 (NTS-2). The International Space Station , Mars Odyssey and the Mars Global Surveyor are equipped with nickel-hydrogen batteries. In the dark part of its orbit, the Hubble Space Telescope is also powered by nickel-hydrogen batteries, which were finally replaced in May 2009, more than 19 years after launch and 13 years beyond their design life. Because of its simple atomic structure, consisting only of

12000-529: The US Navy ground crew. Although the LZ 130 had intended to be launched later in the year with a passenger flight route to Rio de Janeiro on 27 October, the plan was cancelled after the loss of the Hindenburg and prompted several alterations of the LZ 130, such that its construction would be further delayed. November 1937 – Chief designer Ludwig Dürr proposes a redesign of the engine car gondolas to tractor configuration for better efficiency, so that both sides of

12160-772: The United Kingdom Winthrop W. Aldrich , his 28-year-old nephew Nelson Rockefeller , who became the Governor of New York and, later, Vice President of the United States , various German and American government officials and military officers, as well as key figures in the aviation industry, including Juan Trippe , founder and Chief Executive of Pan American Airways , and World War I flying ace Captain Eddie Rickenbacker , president of Eastern Airlines . The ship arrived at Boston by noon and returned to Lakehurst at 5:22   pm before making its final transatlantic flight of

12320-497: The Zeppelin Company chairman, Dr. Hugo Eckener , as commander, former World War I Zeppelin commander Lt. Col. Joachim Breithaupt representing the German Air Ministry, the Zeppelin Company's eight airship captains, 47 other crew members, and 30 dockyard employees who flew as passengers. Harold G. Dick was the only non-Luftschiffbau representative aboard. Although the name Hindenburg had been quietly selected by Eckener over

12480-462: The Zeppelin Company make the two airships available for a tour of Germany (Deutschlandfahrt), flying "in tandem" around Germany over the four-day period prior to the voting with a joint departure from Löwenthal on the morning of March 26. The Zeppelin Company chairman, Dr. Hugo Eckener, disapproved of this propaganda use of his craft. According to American reporter William L. Shirer , "Hugo Eckener, who

12640-437: The airfield, with agreement of the German government, to inspect the ship. They were under suspicion. Beurle told them to wait while they thought of something. Shortly, the LZ 130 received instructions. They were to hide all the equipment on the ship and not to land at the usual well-lit landing point where a landing team was waiting, but to land at the other end where the "real" landing team was waiting. Once they had landed there,

12800-511: The airport at Frankfurt am Main . Although designed and built for commercial transatlantic passenger, air freight, and mail service, at the behest of the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda ( Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda or Propagandaministerium ) , Hindenburg was first pressed into use by the Air Ministry (its DLZ co-operator) as a vehicle for

12960-470: The airship was still docked to the mooring mast . A one-way fare between Germany and the United States was US$ 400 (equivalent to $ 8,783 in 2023); Hindenburg passengers were affluent, usually entertainers, noted sportsmen, political figures, and leaders of industry. Hindenburg was used again for propaganda when it flew over the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on August 1 during the opening ceremonies of

13120-558: The airship's pressure altitude . Unexpectedly, the crew found such a wind at the lower altitude of 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) which permitted them to guide the airship safely back to Germany after gaining emergency permission from France to fly a more direct route over the Rhone Valley . The nine-day flight covered 20,529 kilometres (12,756 mi) in 203 hours and 32 minutes of flight time. All four engines were later overhauled and no further problems were encountered on later flights. For

13280-525: The airship. To add insult to injury, Eckener learned from an Associated Press reporter upon Hindenburg ' s arrival in Rio that Goebbels had also followed through on his month-old threat to decree that Eckener's name would "no longer be mentioned in German newspapers and periodicals" and "no pictures nor articles about him shall be printed." This action was taken because of Eckener's opposition to using Hindenburg and Graf Zeppelin for political purposes during

13440-503: The airships and recycled all the materials. On 6 May, the enormous airship hangars in Frankfurt were levelled by explosives, three years to the day after the destruction of the Hindenburg . Note: The LZ130 Graf Zeppelin II was similar in most respects Data from General characteristics Performance Related lists Hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element ; it has symbol H and atomic number 1. It

13600-431: The airships were a potential hazard with the imminent war. On this day, the LZ 130 was removed from its hangar, turned around and re-entered the hangar in a position convenient for dismantling. By 1 September, the LZ 130 had its gas cells deflated fuel drained and electrical equipment removed. Until January 1940, several attempts were made by the Zeppelin Company to preserve the airship so that it could be recommissioned after

13760-438: The christening of the ship under the command of Eckener. The ship took off from Friedrichshafen at 7.50 AM with 74 people, mainly Air Ministry and Zeppelin Company officials, on board. Also on board were the builders, technicians and RLM radio engineers. The engines were only started after the airship reached a height of approximately 100 m (330 ft). The Graf Zeppelin flew across Munich , Augsburg and Ulm , landing at

13920-556: The contents to be a bouquet of carnations , a small silver cross and a letter on official note paper dated May 22, 1936. The letter read: "To the finder of this letter, please deposit these flowers and cross on the grave of my dear brother, Lt. Franz Schulte, 1 Garde Regt, zu Fuss, POW in Skipton cemetery in Keighley near Leeds . Many thanks for your kindness. John P. Schulte , the first flying priest". Historian Oliver Denton speculates that

14080-504: The delivery of Nazi propaganda. On March 7, 1936, ground forces of the German Reich had entered and occupied the Rhineland , a region bordering France , which had been designated in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles as a de-militarized zone established to provide a buffer between Germany and that neighboring country. In order to justify its remilitarization —which was also a violation of

14240-444: The dining room walls portrayed the Graf Zeppelin ' s trips to South America . A stylized world map covered the wall of the lounge. Long slanted windows ran the length of both decks. The passengers were expected to spend most of their time in the public areas, rather than their cramped cabins. The lower "B" Deck contained washrooms, a mess hall for the crew, and a smoking lounge. Harold G. Dick , an American representative from

14400-430: The elements, distinct names are assigned to its isotopes in common use. During the early study of radioactivity, heavy radioisotopes were given their own names, but these are mostly no longer used. The symbols D and T (instead of H and H ) are sometimes used for deuterium and tritium, but the symbol P was already used for phosphorus and thus was not available for protium. In its nomenclatural guidelines,

14560-484: The engine was run again, but when the ship was off Cape Juby the second cap broke and the engine was shut down again. The engine was not run again to prevent further damage. With three engines operating at a speed of 100.7 km/h (62.6 mph) and headwinds reported over the English Channel , the crew raised the airship in search of counter- trade winds usually found above 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), well beyond

14720-408: The evening of 3 May, on its first scheduled round trip between Europe and North America that season. Although strong headwinds slowed the crossing, the flight had otherwise proceeded routinely as it approached for a landing three days later. Hindenburg ' s arrival on 6 May was delayed for several hours to avoid a line of thunderstorms passing over Lakehurst, but around 7:00 pm the airship

14880-493: The first reliable form of air-travel following the 1852 invention of the first hydrogen-lifted airship by Henri Giffard . German count Ferdinand von Zeppelin promoted the idea of rigid airships lifted by hydrogen that later were called Zeppelins ; the first of which had its maiden flight in 1900. Regularly scheduled flights started in 1910 and by the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, they had carried 35,000 passengers without

15040-491: The first second after the Big Bang ; neutral hydrogen atoms only formed about 370,000 years later during the recombination epoch as the universe cooled and plasma had cooled enough for electrons to remain bound to protons. Hydrogen, typically nonmetallic except under extreme pressure , readily forms covalent bonds with most nonmetals, contributing to the formation of compounds like water and various organic substances. Its role

15200-412: The forward port engine) suffered a wrist pin breakage, damaging the piston and cylinder . Repairs were started immediately and the engine functioned on fifteen cylinders for the remainder of the flight. Four hours after engine 4 failed, engine no. 2 ( aft port) was shut down, as one of two bearing cap bolts for the engine crankshaft failed and the cap fell into the crank case. The cap was removed and

15360-462: The gas produces water when burned. He is usually given credit for the discovery of hydrogen as an element. In 1783, Antoine Lavoisier identified the element that came to be known as hydrogen when he and Laplace reproduced Cavendish's finding that water is produced when hydrogen is burned. Lavoisier produced hydrogen for his experiments on mass conservation by reacting a flux of steam with metallic iron through an incandescent iron tube heated in

15520-422: The gas was available in industrial quantities only from distillation plants at certain oil fields in the United States. Hydrogen , by comparison, could be cheaply produced by any industrialized nation and being lighter than helium also provided more lift. Because of its expense and rarity, American rigid airships using helium were forced to conserve the gas at all costs and this hampered their operation. Despite

15680-460: The gondola can act as radiators. Wind tunnel tests in October showed a significant decline in propeller performance of the original engine cars with the water recovery system taken into account. 15 August 1938 – Inflation began on gas cells. 20 August 1938 – Engines and electrical connections are tested. 22 August 1938 – The radio communication system is tested. 14 September 1938 – The ship

15840-576: The gondola. With General Martini on board, the flight set course for RAF Bawdsey research station and then turned north and flew parallel to the British east coast. Nothing was detected by the Graf Zeppelin , but the airship was detected by Chain Home. Over the Humber Estuary the airship transmitted a position report stating it was off the coast of Yorkshire . The airship then turned for home. 17. and 18. Görlitzfahrt ( Görlitz trip) launch: 16 July 1939 00:34 under Captain Sammt. An intermediate stop

16000-427: The ground, resulting in significant damage to the bottom portion of the airfoil and its attached rudder . Hugo Eckener was furious and rebuked Lehmann. Graf Zeppelin , which had been hovering above the airfield waiting for Hindenburg to join it, had to start off on the propaganda mission alone while LZ 129 returned to her hangar. There temporary repairs were quickly made to its empennage before joining up with

16160-453: The hangar, a separate ring assembly shed was completed soon after, and rings were constructed and transported from the shed to the hangar using tracks on the field. 14 February 1937 – The nose cone was installed. In the same month, the fabric was also applied over the framework. 6 May 1937 – The LZ 129 Hindenburg bursts into flames and crashes while landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 out of 97 people on board and one member of

16320-427: The high temperatures associated with plasmas, such protons cannot be removed from the electron clouds of atoms and molecules, and will remain attached to them. However, the term 'proton' is sometimes used loosely and metaphorically to refer to positively charged or cationic hydrogen attached to other species in this fashion, and as such is denoted " H " without any implication that any single protons exist freely as

16480-497: The hydrogen atom comes from a quantum analysis that uses the Schrödinger equation , Dirac equation or Feynman path integral formulation to calculate the probability density of the electron around the proton. The most complex formulas include the small effects of special relativity and vacuum polarization . In the quantum mechanical treatment, the electron in a ground state hydrogen atom has no angular momentum—illustrating how

16640-399: The hydrogen gas blowpipe in 1819. The Döbereiner's lamp and limelight were invented in 1823. Hydrogen was liquefied for the first time by James Dewar in 1898 by using regenerative cooling and his invention, the vacuum flask . He produced solid hydrogen the next year. The first hydrogen-filled balloon was invented by Jacques Charles in 1783. Hydrogen provided the lift for

16800-505: The landing team ( Landemannschaft ) using their very high frequency transmitter, so that they would not be overheard by the French and so that they could speak in Swabian German to Beurle, the landing team leader. According to Breuning's account, Beurle informed them they must not land yet because the British had lodged a diplomatic protest over their actions and a British delegation was at

16960-415: The landing wheel design. The interior of the Graf Zeppelin II was markedly different from the Hindenburg ; the passenger decks were completely redesigned to accommodate 40 passengers, compared to the Hindenburg's 72. Viewed externally, the promenade windows were half a longitudinal panel lower compared to the Hindenburg . The twenty cabins were more spacious and had better lighting compared to those of

17120-583: The last day or two and it is possible that the airship could have been blown off her course over the North Sea.’ On their return journey, as they neared Frankfurt on the evening of 4 August they were warned by radio that landing was not yet possible. At first they suspected an aeroplane had crashed at the site, but on overflying saw nothing amiss. They turned and flew towards the Rhön Mountains and on asking, were informed "landing before dusk not possible". They decided to return to Frankfurt and speak directly with

17280-491: The latter never entered passenger service before being scrapped in 1940. After a total of six flights made over a three-week period from the Zeppelin dockyards where the airship had been built, Hindenburg was drafted   —   over Hugo Eckener's objections   —   for a formal public debut in a 6,600 km (4,100 mi) Nazi Party propaganda flight around Germany ( Die Deutschlandfahrt ) made jointly with

17440-400: The low reactivity is the nonpolar nature of H 2 and its weak polarizability. It spontaneously reacts with chlorine and fluorine to form hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride , respectively. The reactivity of H 2 is strongly affected by the presence of metal catalysts. Thus, while mixtures of H 2 with O 2 or air combust readily when heated to at least 500°C by

17600-470: The luxury cabins. Sixteen passenger cabins as well as the galley and passenger lavatories were located in Deck "C". Deck "D", at the rear of the lower deck, contained the officer's mess, crew's mess and lavatories, as well as the radio and electrical rooms. 23 June 1936 – The keel of the airship was laid and the main rings were fastened onto the roof of the hangar. Although the first few rings were assembled within

17760-402: The mass difference between the antimuon and the proton, and IUPAC nomenclature incorporates such hypothetical compounds as muonium chloride (MuCl) and sodium muonide (NaMu), analogous to hydrogen chloride and sodium hydride respectively. Table of thermal and physical properties of hydrogen (H 2 ) at atmospheric pressure: In 1671, Irish scientist Robert Boyle discovered and described

17920-481: The mass of the universe, however, is not in the form of chemical-element type matter, but rather is postulated to occur as yet-undetected forms of mass such as dark matter and dark energy . Hydrogen is found in great abundance in stars and gas giant planets. Molecular clouds of H 2 are associated with star formation . Hydrogen plays a vital role in powering stars through the proton-proton reaction in case of stars with very low to approximately 1 mass of

18080-481: The measurements were carried. Lifting off was around 20:53 on 2 August 1939, it overflew Hildesheim at 23:38, seen by very few people. According to the memoirs of Albert Sammt, Mein Leben für den Zeppelin (translation: "My life for the zeppelin") in the chapter Mit LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin auf Funkhorch- und Funkortungsfahrt ("with the LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin on the radio-listening and radiolocation trip") written by Breuning,

18240-548: The morning March 26 threatened a safe launch of the new airship, Hindenburg ' s commander, Captain Ernst Lehmann , was determined to impress the politicians, Nazi party officials, and press present at the airfield with an "on time" departure and thus proceeded with its launch despite the adverse conditions. As the massive airship began to rise under full engine power she was caught by a 35-degree crosswind gust, causing her lower vertical tail fin to strike and be dragged across

18400-490: The naked eye, as illustrated by the faint plume of the Space Shuttle Main Engine , compared to the highly visible plume of a Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster , which uses an ammonium perchlorate composite . The detection of a burning hydrogen leak, may require a flame detector ; such leaks can be very dangerous. Hydrogen flames in other conditions are blue, resembling blue natural gas flames. The destruction of

18560-649: The number and combination of possible compounds varies widely; for example, more than 100 binary borane hydrides are known, but only one binary aluminium hydride. Binary indium hydride has not yet been identified, although larger complexes exist. In inorganic chemistry , hydrides can also serve as bridging ligands that link two metal centers in a coordination complex . This function is particularly common in group 13 elements , especially in boranes ( boron hydrides) and aluminium complexes, as well as in clustered carboranes . Oxidation of hydrogen removes its electron and gives H , which contains no electrons and

18720-424: The only alternative lighter-than-air gas that could provide sufficient lift. One of the side benefits of being forced to utilize the flammable yet lighter hydrogen was that more passenger cabins could be added. Four years after construction began in 1932, Hindenburg made its maiden test flight from the Zeppelin dockyards at Friedrichshafen on March 4, 1936, with 87 passengers and crew aboard. These included

18880-651: The only neutral atom for which the Schrödinger equation can be directly solved, has significantly contributed to the foundational principles of quantum mechanics through the exploration of its energetics and chemical bonding . Hydrogen gas was first produced artificially in the early 16th century by reacting acids with metals. Henry Cavendish , in 1766–81, identified hydrogen gas as a distinct substance and discovered its property of producing water when burned; hence its name means "water-former" in Greek. Most hydrogen production occurs through steam reforming of natural gas ;

19040-441: The original Graf Zeppelin ( LZ 127 ) had been retired. By the time the Graf Zeppelin II was completed, it was obvious that the ship would never serve its intended purpose as a passenger liner; the lack of a supply of helium was one cause. The Reich Air Ministry permitted the Graf Zeppelin to fly "for one year until 1 September 1939 without any transportation of passengers and outside of tropical areas". Dr. Ernst Breuning, who

19200-404: The outer skin burns too slowly to account for the rapid flame propagation and gaps in the fire correspond with internal gas cell divisions, which would not be visible if the fire had spread across the skin first. Hydrogen fires had previously destroyed many other airships. The duralumin framework of Hindenburg was salvaged and shipped back to Germany. There the scrap was recycled and used in

19360-420: The para form over the course of several minutes when cooled to low temperature. The thermal properties of the forms differ because they differ in their allowed rotational quantum states , resulting in different thermal properties such as the heat capacity. The ortho-to-para ratio in H 2 is an important consideration in the liquefaction and storage of liquid hydrogen : the conversion from ortho to para

19520-644: The propellers blew broken-off ice shards through the ship's outer envelope. However, the crew immediately repaired the damage. The Zeppelin landed without problem in gusty winds at 17:46 and was brought into the airship hangar . Owing to poor weather conditions, the ship only made two flights during the spring of 1939. 9. 13 January 1939 launched at 9.08, commanded by Captain Sammt, different tests were performed. Duration: 7 hours and covering 523 km (325 mi) 10. 13 April 1939 Among other things, radio- and spy basket tests were performed. The airship's framework caused spurious reflections of radio signals, so

19680-477: The quantum mechanical treatment of the hydrogen atom had been developed in the mid-1920s. One of the first quantum effects to be explicitly noticed (but not understood at the time) was a Maxwell observation involving hydrogen, half a century before full quantum mechanical theory arrived. Maxwell observed that the specific heat capacity of H 2 unaccountably departs from that of a diatomic gas below room temperature and begins to increasingly resemble that of

19840-502: The reaction between iron filings and dilute acids , which results in the production of hydrogen gas. Having provided a saline spirit [hydrochloric acid], which by an uncommon way of preparation was made exceeding sharp and piercing, we put into a vial, capable of containing three or four ounces of water, a convenient quantity of filings of steel, which were not such as are commonly sold in shops to Chymists and Apothecaries, (those being usually not free enough from rust) but such as I had

20000-540: The rest of April, Hindenburg remained at its hangar where the engines were overhauled and the lower fin and rudder received a final repair; the ground clearance of the lower rudder was increased from 8 to 14 degrees. Hindenburg made 17 round trips across the Atlantic in 1936—its first and only full year of service—with ten trips to the United States and seven to Brazil . The flights were considered demonstrative rather than routine in schedule. The first passenger trip across

20160-484: The restriction that no carrying of passengers was permitted. 8. “Sudetenlandfahrt” (" Sudetenland journey") also known as the Sudetendeutsche Freiheitsfahrt 1938 , was made at the behest of the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda ( Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda or Propagandaministerium ). After the popular vote resulted in a large majority for Hitler and

20320-416: The return flight from South America, the automatic valve for gas cell 3 stuck open. Gas was transferred from other cells through an inflation line. It was never understood why the valve stuck open, and subsequently the crew used only the hand-operated maneuvering valves for cells 2 and 3. Thirty-eight hours after departure, one of the airship's four Daimler-Benz 16-cylinder diesel engines (engine car no. 4,

20480-506: The saline exhalations of the menstruum, is not necessary to be here discuss'd. But whencesoever this stinking smoak proceeded, so inflammable it was, that upon the approach of a lighted candle to it, it would readily enough take fire, and burn with a blewish and somewhat greenish flame at the mouth of the viol for a good while together; and that, though with little light, yet with more strength than one would easily suspect. The word "sulfureous" may be somewhat confusing, especially since Boyle did

20640-405: The same effect. Antihydrogen ( H ) is the antimatter counterpart to hydrogen. It consists of an antiproton with a positron . Antihydrogen is the only type of antimatter atom to have been produced as of 2015 . Hydrogen, as atomic H, is the most abundant chemical element in the universe, making up 75% of normal matter by mass and >90% by number of atoms. Most of

20800-405: The same pusher configuration as the Hindenburg ; after the Hindenburg disaster, they were completely redesigned, using the same DB-602 diesel engines powering tractor propellers. The new gondolas were slightly larger to accommodate the new exhaust water recovery system and were better insulated than those on the Hindenburg , with engine noise noticeably reduced. The water recovery system condensed

20960-473: The season back to Frankfurt. During 1936, Hindenburg had a Blüthner aluminium grand piano placed on board in the music salon, though the instrument was removed after the first year to save weight. Over the winter of 1936–37, several alterations were made to the airship's structures. The greater lift capacity allowed nine passenger cabins to be added, eight with two beds and one with four, increasing passenger capacity to 70. These windowed cabins were along

21120-427: The ship for early delivery. Experimental hook-ons and takeoffs, piloted by Ernst Udet , were attempted on March 11 and April 27, 1937, but were not very successful, owing to turbulence around the hook-up trapeze. The loss of the ship ended all prospects of further testing. After making the first South American flight of the 1937 season in late March, Hindenburg left Frankfurt for Lakehurst on

21280-559: The ship nor in the decoy SA-crew. Breuning's account has been questioned; there is no official record of the British filing a diplomatic protest. Breuning explained that the trip's results were negative, but not because the British radar was switched off, as Churchill wrote in his memoirs. The German General Wolfgang Martini , who was the Chief of Signal Affairs of the Luftwaffe , used a strong, impulsive, broadband radio transmission for determining

21440-415: The smaller airship several hours later. As millions of Germans watched from below, the two giants of the sky sailed over Germany for the next four days and three nights, dropping propaganda leaflets, blaring martial music and slogans from large loudspeakers, and broadcasting political speeches from a makeshift radio studio aboard Hindenburg . On March 29, as German citizens voted overwhelmingly in favor of

21600-485: The so-called Essen/Mülheim-Fahrt (Essen/Mülheim trip), took place on 20 August 1939. The departure and destination was Frankfurt am Main with an intermediate stop at Essen/Mülheim Airport , commanded by Albert Sammt . This trip (landing at 21:38) meant the end of large airship transport. A flight to Königsberg was planned for 26 August 1939, but was cancelled. It had been decided by the Aviation Ministry that

21760-448: The speed difference between the two aircraft. This was the last time Eckener commanded an airship; he did not mention this flight in his memoirs. On board were 4. 25 September 1938 – Started at about 11.00hrs under Captain Hans von Schiller, lasting about 7hr and covering about 764 km (475 mi), 40 crew members and 34 passengers and technicians). Tests at high altitude were made. Almost

21920-569: The starboard side aft of the previously installed accommodations, and it was anticipated for the LZ 130 to also have these cabins. Additionally, the Olympic rings painted on the hull were removed for the 1937 season. Hindenburg also had an experimental aircraft hook-on trapeze similar to the one on the U.S. Navy Goodyear–Zeppelin built airships Akron and Macon . This was intended to allow customs officials to be flown out to Hindenburg to process passengers before landing and to retrieve mail from

22080-415: The technicians were to get off and they would be replaced by a unit of Sturmabteilung . The British delegation waiting at the usual landing place were told that, due to the weather, the airship had to land at another part of the airfield. By the time the British reached the airship, the spy crew was on a bus on their way to their hotel. Although they searched the ship, the British found nothing suspicious on

22240-636: The text " Dein JA dem Führer! " ("Your YES for the leader"). LZ 130's loudspeakers played music and National Socialist propaganda for the forthcoming December 4 elections. Afterwards LZ 130 flew to the Reichenberg airfield and dropped 663 kg of postally cacheted souvenir mails. Worsening weather hindered further flight, and after some time it was decided to turn back. After the ship left the Sudetenland, it came into low cloud and snow showers. It started to ice up. Later,

22400-420: The transfer flight to Flug- und Luftschiffhafen Frankfurt am Main (the airship port at Frankfurt am Main). It landed at 15.10 on November 1 after nearly 25 hours in the air, having covered over 2,100 km (1,300 mi) . The airship and the crew were welcomed by Gauleiter Sprenger at the new home port. After this trip LZ 130 received its Luftschiff-Zulassungsschein (airship registration document), with

22560-517: The war by General Martini who had issued the orders for the espionage trip; he told British radar pioneer Edward Fennessy that German naval radar experiments were based on much higher frequency wavebands than the British were using, and that the scientists on board concluded that the signals which they were receiving were not connected with detection equipment. 25. and 26. Würzburgfahrt ( Würzburg trip) 6 August 1939 27. and 28. Egerfahrt ( Cheb trip) 13 August 1939 29 and 30. The last trip,

22720-437: The war, but on 20 November 1939, a DZR Supervisory Board meeting decided that the two Graf Zeppelins and their hangars would be demolished. The DZR continued to appeal this decision but was unsuccessful. On 29 February 1940, Hermann Göring issued the order to scrap both Graf Zeppelins and the unfinished framework of LZ 131, since the metal was needed to build other aircraft. By 27 April, work crews had finished disassembling

22880-518: The whole trip took place at an altitude of about 2,000 m (6,600 ft) without needing to valve much gas. Further atmospheric electrical tests were made. 5. 27 September 1938 – eleven hours of trip duration, on behalf of the Reich Air Ministry (RLM) under the command of Captain Albert Sammt . At the airport and airship-port Rhein-Main a radio beacon was set up. The idea was to attempt

23040-414: The wooden propellers of the Hindenburg , which had problems with moisture absorption causing imbalance, these three-bladed propellers were made of plastic wood and individual blades were assembled onto a main hub. The 16 gas cells were lightened and one was made of lightweight silk instead of cotton . On the bow near the nose cone there were just two windows, as in the Hindenburg' s original design (In

23200-503: The wreckage of the October 1930 crash of the British airship R101 . Hindenburg ' s interior furnishings were designed by Fritz August Breuhaus , whose design experience included Pullman coaches , ocean liners , and warships of the German Navy . The upper "A" Deck contained 25 small two-passenger cabins in the middle flanked by large public rooms: a dining room to port and a lounge and writing room to starboard . Paintings on

23360-589: The year left Lakehurst on October 10; the first North Atlantic trip of 1937 ended in the Hindenburg disaster . In May and June 1936, Hindenburg made surprise visits to England. In May it was on a flight from America to Germany when it flew low over the West Yorkshire town of Keighley . A parcel was then thrown overboard and landed in the High Street. Two boys, Alfred Butler and Jack Gerrard, retrieved it and found

23520-467: 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

23680-559: Was added to its hull three weeks later before the Deutschlandfahrt on March 26. No formal naming ceremony for the airship was ever held. The airship was operated commercially by the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei (DZR) GmbH , which had been established by Hermann Göring in March 1935 to increase Nazi influence over airship operations. The DZR was jointly owned by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin (the airship's builder),

23840-567: Was brought back into the Löwenthaler hangar. 3. 22 September 1938 – The third trial flight, starting at 8.13and ending at 19.30, was a 1,215 km (755 mi) circuit over Munich and Vienna . Although it was officially a demonstration trial flight, the airship, escorted by four Messerschmitt Bf 109s disguised as civilian police aircraft, was flown over the Czech border for espionage purposes; some authors have deemed this to be unlikely, considering

24000-435: Was christened and flew the first time. Only Zeppelin Company officials and Hermann Göring were present; no other government representatives came to the christening to congratulate Eckener, and he made the speech himself. Although a banner with the name Graf Zeppelin 2 (with Arabic numeral) was hung on the wall of the construction shed during the airship's assembly, the LZ 130 itself never bore an additional numeral, since

24160-518: Was cleared for its final approach to the Naval Air Station, which it made at an altitude of 200 m (660 ft) with Captain Max Pruss in command. At 7:21 pm a pair of landing lines were dropped from the nose of the ship and were grabbed hold of by ground handlers. Four minutes later, at 7:25 pm Hindenburg burst into flames and dropped to the ground in a little over half a minute. Of

24320-469: Was designed for hydrogen, there would be additional "luxury cabins" with windows on the starboard side allowing for a total of 70 passengers (this was added to the Hindenburg over the winter of 1936–1937). The lower fin had an upward curve similar to the Hindenburg ' s final design, giving more ground clearance. To further reduce weight, the girder shape and riveting were changed slightly. The four engine cars were initially designed and installed to have

24480-427: Was flown into the stormfront slack (gas cells under-inflated), to prevent the pressure-relief valves venting hydrogen. The trip lasted nearly 26 hours, covering over 2,500 km (1,600 mi) The ballast water recovery system fulfilled the engineers' expectations, producing about nine tons of water. 7. 31 October 1938 – Launch at 14.17 under the command of Captain Sammt. This was the last inspection flight and also

24640-609: Was made in Görlitz, which the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin had previously visited on October 5, 1930. After a quick mail drop and exchange of goods, the ship took off within two minutes of landing because of bad weather in the vicinity. Several personnel at the landing site, including Captain Heinrich Bauer, were unable to board the ship as previously planned. 19. 20. , and 21. Bielefeld-Münster-Fahrt ( Bielefeld - Münster trip): 23 July 1939. The airship first flew over Nürburgring , where

24800-469: Was of cotton doped with a mixture of reflective materials intended to protect the gas bags within from radiation , both ultraviolet (which would damage them) and infrared (which might cause them to overheat). The gas cells were made by a new method pioneered by Goodyear using multiple layers of gelatinized latex rather than the previous goldbeater's skins . In 1931 the Zeppelin Company purchased 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) of duralumin salvaged from

24960-844: Was preceded by the crashes of the British R38 , the US airship Roma , the French Dixmude , the USS Shenandoah , the British R101 , and the USS Akron . The Zeppelin Company had proposed LZ 128 in 1929, after the world flight of the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin . This ship was to be approximately 245 m (804 ft) long and carry 140,000 cubic metres (4,900,000 cu ft) of hydrogen . Ten Maybach engines were to power five tandem engine cars (a plan from 1930 showed only four). The disaster of

25120-530: Was reached. After many circuits at low altitude it started towards Hamburg . Over the outer- Elbe -estuary in the Wadden Sea further calibrations and tests were made. Afterwards it flew a direct course over Minden towards Frankfurt am Main and then towards Bodensee . There the airship had to make a large circuit over Friedrichshafen, because the airfield was obscured by fog. It landed at 10.17 after covering 2,388 km (1,484 mi) and shortly before 11 o'clock

25280-469: Was responsible for radio development for the RLM, negotiated with the Zeppelin company to have the airship used as a laboratory for radio surveillance and measurements. As a result, the passenger accommodations were modified to contain radio and measuring instruments. Part of the cover was to have the airship make public appearances at air shows ("Flying Days") and deliver mail. In addition to Breuning's group of radio engineers (termed "Group R"), there were also

25440-439: Was the safest to use in airships, as it is not flammable. One proposed measure to save helium was to make double-gas cells for 14 of the 16 gas cells; an inner hydrogen cell would be protected by an outer cell filled with helium, with vertical ducting to the dorsal area of the envelope to permit separate filling and venting of the inner hydrogen cells. At the time, however, helium was also relatively rare and extremely expensive as

25600-470: Was used in the Hindenburg airship, which was destroyed in a midair fire over New Jersey on 6 May 1937. The incident was broadcast live on radio and filmed. Ignition of leaking hydrogen is widely assumed to be the cause, but later investigations pointed to the ignition of the aluminized fabric coating by static electricity . But the damage to hydrogen's reputation as a lifting gas was already done and commercial hydrogen airship travel ceased . Hydrogen

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