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The LZ 129 Hindenburg was the largest airship ever built, with a length of 804 feet and a volume of seven million cubic feet. It caught fire during a transatlantic flight in 1937, ending the “Age of Airships.” Airships have since made a resurgence, but the largest airship in 2010, the Bullet 580, is still significantly smaller than the Hindenburg. Airships have been used for over two centuries, with the first full-scale airship built in 1853, and the “Golden Age of Airships” beginning in 1900 with the construction of the LZ 1 Zeppelin.
The largest airship ever built was the LZ 129 Hindenburg, a German passenger airship built in 1936 for transatlantic flights. The Hindenburg caught fire during one of the most spectacular and well publicized transit accidents of modern times, just 14 months after her construction, in May 1937, marking the end of the so-called ‘Age of Airships’.
During her operational life, Hindenburg crossed the Atlantic 35 times, including seven round trips to Rio de Janeiro and ten round trips to New York. The last trip, from Germany to New York, ended in disaster as the world’s largest airship was trying to dock in New Jersey. While this has seriously hurt the popularity of airships, they have begun a resurgence in modern times, although the largest airship of 2010, the Bullet 580, is still significantly smaller than the Hindenburg.
The largest airship ever built in both length and volume, the Hindenburg had a length of 804 feet (245 m), a width of 135 feet (41 m), and a volume of approximately seven million cubic feet (200,000 cubic meters ). By comparison, the Bullet 580 is approximately 235 feet (about 71m) long and 65 feet (about 19m) in diameter. The Hindenburg was composed of 17 gas cells compartmentalized by cotton coated with an impermeable material that served as a seal, and was filled with flammable hydrogen, which likely contributed to the fire that destroyed it. In total, the world’s largest airship had a lift of 1.1 meganewtons, or 247,100 pounds, which was its approximate weight. The vessel could carry 90 passengers and crew and had a top speed of 80 mph (135 km/h), which allowed her to cross the Atlantic in three days, a record at the time.
Prior to the Hindenburg, airships had been built for a little over two centuries, as in 1784 the French Montgolfier brothers built a hot air balloon and became the airship’s first confirmed passengers. It was not until 1853 that the first full-scale airship was built – some 145 feet (44m) in length – marking the beginning of the ‘Golden Age of Airships’ in 1900. This was ushered in by the construction of the LZ 1 Zeppelin , which was the first of the Zeppelins, the most successful class of airships in history. Because heavier-than-air flight wasn’t invented until 1903, and its use for significant numbers of passengers remained impractical until the development of commercial jet engines in the early 1950s, airships have been the world’s leading in carrying passengers through the air, until their popularity waned after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937.
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