Zeppelin Hindenburg
‘It burst into flames! … It’s burning, bursting into flames and it’s – and it’s falling on the mooring mast and … this is terrible. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the world.’ On 6 May 1937 the pioneering Zeppelin Hindenburg, LZ-129, ended its career in flames when its hydrogen lifting gas ignited while landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey. But the airship had already completed sixty-two successful flights before this fateful day, catering to Nazi officials, socialites and the well heeled. Hindenburg offered cutting-edge transport technology with luxury and style, making it a spectacle to behold on both sides of the Atlantic, and was expected to be just the first of many giant passenger Zeppelins. Three world-renowned experts have collaborated to create the definitive history of the Zeppelin Hindenburg, using stunning black-and-white and colour photographs, rare ephemera and detailed diagrams to highlight the sheer style of this mammoth lighter-than-air craft and explain the shocking disaster that signalled the end of airship travel.
DAN GROSSMAN is an aviation historian who has been researching, writing and speaking about the technology and history of rigid airships for over twenty years, including work on numerous documentaries. He runs the world’s leading airship-related website, Airships.net. CHERYL GANZ is the recently retired Chief Curator of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum and a leading Hindenburg collector. PATRICK RUSSELL is a professional writer with over three decades as a student of airship history. He has served as a historical consultant on numerous Zeppelin-related documentaries and is the creator of http://facesofthehindenburg. /blogspot.com/ and http://projektlz129.blogspot.com/.