Navis Neptun L1 Hindenburg LZ129 the ill fated German airship 1/1250

£79.50
MRP £79.50

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(Product Ref 67531)
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On March 4th 1936 LZ 129 Hindenburg, named after former President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg by Eckener in an attempt to preempt the Nazi Party from naming the ship after Adolf Hitler, made her first flight. The Hindenburg was the largest airship ever built. However, in the new political situation, Eckener had not obtained the helium to inflate it due to an embargo imposed by the United States, the only possessor of helium in usable quantities. So, in what ultimately proved a fatal decision, the Hindenburg was filled with more volatile hydrogen.
Apart from propaganda missions LZ 129 began to serve on transatlantic routes together with LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin.

On May 6th 1937, while mooring at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey USA at the end of a transatlantic flight from Frankfurt, Germany and in front of thousands of spectators, the tail of the ship caught fire. Within seconds the Hindenburg burst into flames, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and one member of the ground crew. The actual cause of the fire has not been definitively determined, however it seems likely hydrogen, either released to reduce lift or leaking a torn gas bag, was ignited by a discharge of static electrical charge built up due to climatic conditions and ineffective earthing of the structure and skin materials. The weatherproofing mix used to coat the skin also contained a mix of chemicals now known to be highly flammable, accounting for the rapid spread of the fire to further hydrogen cells.

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