Graf Zeppelin
Apr. 27th, 2008 07:35 pm
Graf Zeppelin over Friedrichshafen, where it was built.
Probably the most successful of the German airships, the Graf Zeppelin operated a passenger service between 1928 and 1937. In 1920 it circumnavigating the globe in 3 week, including the first non-stop flight over the Pacific.
In this time between wars, the battle between airships and airplanes over who would dominate passenger services still hadn't been decided. The zeppelins were slow, but could carry passengers further, and in luxury that the small, noisy planes couldn't match.
(no subject)
Apr. 13th, 2008 09:04 pm
Le Zeppelin abattu a Compiegne 17 Mars 1917
From New York Times:
French Anti-Aircraft Guns Reach Raider at a Height of More Than Two Miles.
WAS COMING FROM LONDON
Crew, After Being Hit, Throw Over Bombs, Which Fail to Explode
Some of the Crew Jump to Death
PARIS, March 17 -- A Zeppelin, which probably participated in the attack on London last night, was brought down by anti-aircraft guns near Compiegne, about thirty miles from Paris, at 5.30 this morning on the return flight to its base. The giant airship, which was flying at a height of more than two miles, was sighted before dawn, and the defense guns were put into action immediately. The dirigible was hit soon after being located, and, after bursting into flame, fell swiftly to the ground. All of the crew were lost.
(Rest of news story, although you have to log-in).
From end of the article:
London Announcement on Raid
LONDON, March 17 -- The air raid last night was the first visit of Zeppelins in many months, and it seemed to have been expected, as it failed to cause any excitment, even amongst the homegoing theatregoes. The raiders were favored by a dark and moonless night.
"The Low Down Thing That Plays The Low Down Game"
I bought this card for the caption as much as anything.
Posted in Kent, 14 December 1916. Now, I wonder if it's possible to identify which low down thing it is.
Animated Atmotic Airship
Jan. 15th, 2008 05:37 pmI thought this was cool.
William Bland was surgeon on HMS Hesper until he killed the ship's purser in a duel and got transported for 7 years. On arriving in Sydney though, he was soon pardoned and he set up a private practice. He gets involved in various medical & political affairs, including turning down a medical appointment at Port Dalrymple offered "on condition that he passed an examination to be conducted by Drs D'Arcy Wentworth, William Redfern and West, but he refused as he considered himself better qualified than his examiners"1 and being sentenced to twelve months imprisonment for publishing & writing "some anonymous lines in 1818 on Macquarie's habit of attaching his name to geographical features and monuments"2. (Macquarie overdoing the naming thing? Who'd've thought)
Anyway, he has a couple of inventions to his name. One being the "Suppression of Spontaneous Combustion in Wool Ships", a working model of which was shown at the International Exhibition in London in 1851. The second was his Atmotic Ship -- a gas-filled balloon that supported an iron undercarriage for carrying pages & freights. Some references say it was intended to travel between Sydney & London in less than a week.
Drawings of the Atmotic Ship were sent back to England to be patented, and lithographs of these can be viewed on the State Library of NSW website.
And now here is the animated version of the lithographs!
William Bland was surgeon on HMS Hesper until he killed the ship's purser in a duel and got transported for 7 years. On arriving in Sydney though, he was soon pardoned and he set up a private practice. He gets involved in various medical & political affairs, including turning down a medical appointment at Port Dalrymple offered "on condition that he passed an examination to be conducted by Drs D'Arcy Wentworth, William Redfern and West, but he refused as he considered himself better qualified than his examiners"1 and being sentenced to twelve months imprisonment for publishing & writing "some anonymous lines in 1818 on Macquarie's habit of attaching his name to geographical features and monuments"2. (Macquarie overdoing the naming thing? Who'd've thought)
Anyway, he has a couple of inventions to his name. One being the "Suppression of Spontaneous Combustion in Wool Ships", a working model of which was shown at the International Exhibition in London in 1851. The second was his Atmotic Ship -- a gas-filled balloon that supported an iron undercarriage for carrying pages & freights. Some references say it was intended to travel between Sydney & London in less than a week.
Drawings of the Atmotic Ship were sent back to England to be patented, and lithographs of these can be viewed on the State Library of NSW website.
And now here is the animated version of the lithographs!
