The idea of taking vision to other countries through aviation was just a dream in the 1800s, but in the early 20th century, the LZ-1 Zeppelin, designed by Ferdinand Graf Von Zeppelin took flight, entering a whole new world of air travel. The LZ-1 consisted of 399,000 cubic feet of hydrogen in 17 gas cells made of rubberized cotton fabric. She had traveled 3.7 miles 17 minutes in the air until one of its engines broke. The wind soon caused the LZ-1 to perform an emergency landing. This was only the start of what would become one of the most monumental air disasters of all time.
During WWI, Zeppelins were used to spy on other countries, but after the war, it was no longer needed. Zeppelins started becoming mass-produced as commercial passenger airliners during the early 20th Century. They were seen as luxurious cutting-edge technology passenger ships in the sky. The Zeppelin was an airship that you could walk around in, have dinner, sleep comfortably, and see geographic land formations below while slowly floating through the air. At the time, the thought of this was astonishing to people from around the world. Interest in the mass production of Zeppelins grew dramatically over the years.
The “Hotel in The Air” was the nickname of the Hindenburg, known for its magnificent interior and being the biggest Zeppelin in the world at 803 feet long. the Hindenburg was the Titanic of the skies, with over 25 double-berth bedrooms for people to sleep and have an everyday life in, but in the air! In order to be able to fly in the Hindenburg’s luxury, a ticket was $7,000 in today’s cash. The Hindenburg then begins its final ascent, flying up into the air, on a 53-hour flight to America. As the Hindenburg descends at about 200 feet in the air, when suddenly, an unknown cause of fire taps the back of the airship, and in an instant, flames spiral out of the Hindenburg’s behind, burning away the skin of the airship while ripping off the wings. In under 30 seconds, the Hindenburg, 200 feet in the air, crashes into the ground with 97 people on board. 62 people inside the Hindenburg survived the crash over Lake Hurst, while 35 passed.
After this news of the Hindenburg catastrophe, many people were too scared of going on Zeppelins. Since the cost is high and the use is low, designers ended the making of Zeppelins in total. Being that no one’s going to use these high maintenance air vessels, scrapping the remaining ones would be the best choice. Now there are only 25 Zeppelins in the world after the recent crash of the 26th. Starting with war use, to passenger airlines, the Hindenburg’s crash, the Zeppelins finally saw an end of production.
