Zeppelinheim

Long time no see! Got back from my vacation to find that my FOIA request for the Hindenburg File had been approved. In all, 408 pages were released. I'm not sure how different it is from the redacted report available from the FBI Vault, but I'll be transcribing the entire report as best I can. I need to check Bureau guidelines to be sure, but I think I can provide a copy of the  transcript here when it is finished. In addition, you can contact me at 'Hlostoops@Gmail.com for further information.

HMA R-100 was one half of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The brainchild of Christopher Thomson, the British Minister of Air, the Scheme, was a farsighted plan to connect the far flung colonies of the “empire on which the sun never set”, with regular, reliable, and expedient airship service. The first ship, R-100, the lesser known cousin of the infamous R-101, was chosen to fly a transatlantic route to Canada.                 The ship was the engineering brainchild of Barnes Wallis (later famous for WWII’s ‘bouncing bomb’ and his various designs for a supersonic airliner) and Nevil S. Norway (later acclaimed as the successful author Nevil Shute). The design and construction of R-100 represented a leap in airship design, going so far as to influence both the structure and passenger accommodations of Germany’s A.S. Hindenburg. R-100's superstructure was revolutionary. (Image courtesy 'Airship Heritage Trust')          ...

The ZRS-class USS Akron and USS Macon, both fabricated by Goodyear Aircraft Co. in Akron, served as part of a massive experiment. Their purpose as proof of concept models for a skeptic Navy was masked by the vast complexity and performance of the two ships. Cross section of the USS Akron, Circa 1931 The ZRS designation stood for 'Lighter Than Air (The 'Z' likely being an homage to Zeppelin) Rigid Scout'. The ship's F9C Sparrowhawk fighters were designed to serve as both protective 'parasite' fighters, dispatched to eliminate threats to the larger mothership, as well as reconnaissance vehicles, their range vastly expanded by the ultra-long distance capabilities of the airship. The next generation airship would represent a great step in naval aviation. The ZRCV designation belied their true role, CV was the navy abbreviation for Carrier Vehicle, as flying aircraft carriers. This advertisement offers a tantalizing glimpse at the ZRCV airship. The ill...

To facilitate a complete story of any airship that I feature I will no longer be using the label "Airship of the Month". Instead, I'll have a "Featured Airship" which allows me to take as long as I need on a particular airship E.G. with so much information on the Hindenburg It'd take more than one month to complete a full collection on it.) This will go into effect on April 1st with the Shenandoah as was originally planned for March. In the meantime, to make this post presentable, here are two of my all-time favorite airship photographs. The Hindenburg floats towards disaster at Lakehurst. Two hours later the ship would become one of the most famous air disasters of the 20th Century. The R-101 lit up inside her Cardington hangar.

14 DIE IN SHENANDOAH CRASH With this headline, on the morning of September 3rd, 1925, the Baltimore American announced the crash of the first American rigid airship. The ZR-1 Shenandoah (originally designated "Fleet Airship No. 1" represented the start of America's unfortunate association with rigid airships.  Assembled at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station the then FA-1 was copied from a wartime German Zeppelin.  The Shenandoah garnered several firsts during her short career including the first transcontinental airship flight, the first airship to launch aircraft, the first airship to moor to a ship (the U.S.S. Patoka, more about that ship later) and, of course, the first American built airship. The ZR-1 takes shape in the same hangar that would later shelter the Hindenburg. Parts for the airship were fabricated in Philadelphia then shipped to Lakehurst for final assembly.  The Shenandoah is christened after two years of construction The...

EDIT: I'm posting this a day late due to a couple issues with it. I'm considering an "AirshipModeler Report" to summarize the goings on of AirshipModeler over the past week or month as the amount of activity dictates. The A.M. Report ~ Monday, January 21st. Today I am presenting a special version of the first ever A.M. Report.   January 4th, 2013 On January 4th the first thread since AirshipModeler was attacked by malware was posted by "Dirigible_Nut".  This thread can be found here:http://www.airshipmodeler.com/forums/showthread.php?1307-It-s-good-to-have-the-forum-back!! January 7th, 2013 "Hlostoops" (me) posted a thread about the upcoming test flight of "Aeroscraft". An ensuing discussion also provided insight into the technical definition of a rigid airship. http://www.airshipmodeler.com/forums/showthread.php?1309-Aeroscraft-takes-off! January 15th, 2013 Dirigible_Nut" continued work on his model of the R-34: htt...

 Major update regarding the envelope and the tail fins.   "In 2 days; North America!" ~ Promotional catchphrase for the A.S. Hindenburg

Watching   "The Hindenburg" . Lehmann just told George C. Scott's character of his plans to live in Zeppelinheim; needless to say it was an "up ship" moment.

A quick "hold over" piece before I post an update of my Hindenburg model (naturally two days late!) Before... And after... Courtesy of Microsoft Paint (yes I said Paint). In the mean time what could this be? Guesses anyone?

I'll be starting posting for 2013 on the 12th. As I've already alluded to; the Hindenburg will be the featured airship for January.

Before and during the successful Canada trip the R-100's sister ship, the R-101, was undergoing modifications at the insistence of the Scheme's designer Lord Thomson. The technical reason for this overhaul was because, without another gas bay, the planned counterpart to the R-100's flight across the Atlantic, a flight to Karachi, then part of India, could not take place. However, there were darker reasons behind the extension. The R-101 was pushed to service to fulfill the political ambition of Thomson who - as an international politician and a good friend of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain - saw himself as the ideal candidate to be the next Viceroy of India. The flight of the R-101 would have been a spectacular publicity coup not only by bringing technology to what was thought to be a backwards nation, but by also giving Lord Thomson plenty of camera time in the newsreel speeches he was expected to give. The ship departed the mast at Cardington with extra me...

Great blog with both a review of modeling the Shenandoah, as well as a continuing project on the British H.M.A. R-34. jayveejayaresjunk.blogspot.com Cheers, HENDRICK STOOPS

Next year marks the 90th anniversary of the Shenandoah's all too short career. Christening of the ZR-1 U.S.S. Shenandoah CHEERS, HENDRICK STOOPS

Christmas at Lakehurst Ca. 1935 Cheers, HENDRICK STOOPS

Large passenger airships, despite their ignomius fall from favor, had started promisingly. Despite the common image of the Hindenburg single handedly causing the demise of big rigids, their type of transportation had been delicately balanced between failure and success ever since the British R101 first flew in 1929. Going back several years to 1925, Lord Thomson, the British Minister of Air, proposed the Imperial Airship Scheme, a plan to connect the far flung colonies of the “empire on which the sun never set”, with regular, reliable, and expedient airship service. Accordingly, facilities were built in St. Hubert’s Canada, and Karachi, India, with a planned site in Australia being considered. The plan was both farsighted and brilliant, perhaps too much for its own good. Two experimental ships were ordered to serve as a large test as to whether the Scheme was feasible. The first ship, the R-100, was to be built by private companies and was quickly named “The Capitalist Ship...

Just a few photos of the upcoming Airship of the Month. Airship Hindenburg over Manhattan hours before disaster. 7:25:15 P.M. The end of the giant airships. Hendrick Stoops

Quick note: The essay will be posted in 9-10 parts about every other day.  One by one the windows were opened and the people arose from softly upholstered orange chairs. A man showed his three children how far they had come from Frankfurt to New York on the skillfully painted pastel mural of the world on the far side of the lounge. Then, the dirty tops of skyscrapers, one rising above the rest, appeared from out of the clouds. The passengers waved to the visitors of the great building, then pointed towards the parks, the tall statue jutting out of the glimmering harbor, and, below them to the sleek Queen Mary, her three red and black funnels sparkling, pulling into her Cunard pier, before returning to their seats. 

Here's the photo of the week! The always spectacular "Hindenburg" making a grand entrance into the  United States  over the skyscrapers of New York City. Circa 1936?     More photos [finally] of my 3D Hindenburg model tomorrow!   Hendrick Stoops

Yes indeed, the iconic Empire State Building was designed to act as a mooring mast for dirigibles: Illustration from the ESB Dedication Booklet Hendrick Stoops

                        Sneak preview of the Lounge, Promenade, & Reading & Writing room   Here it is! this is the lounge area of my model of the Hindenburg ( the most current version can be found on the Sketchup 3d Warehouse under the title: Hindenburg A deck. by hlostoops.)   I had been posting photographs of the model on the now crashed website "AirshipModeler" & the move to Zeppelinheim will take some time. In the time after the crash I was able to update the railing (seen here) and the Dining Room tables.   As well as posting photographs & updates on my models, I hope to include before/after photos of the models, as well as comparison photographs with the actual specimen.   I hope you will enjoy reading Zeppelinheim as much as I will enjoy writing it. Hendrick Stoops