A 1960s model of the Hindenburg was one of several model kits offered by Danni at the January Rose Bowl.The AMT model kit shows an image of the “World’s Largest Zeppelin” which later became a symbol of destruction. Danni priced the unassembled model kit, complete with original instruction and swastikas, at $30. When the kit came out, close to 30 years had passed since the Hindenburg disaster, and once again, America had a fascination with airships. Zeppelins are easily distinguished from blimps. Zeppelins are cigar-shaped, whereas blimps are more oval. In addition, blimps are more often used for sky advertising. Despite their dismal track record, a Zeppelin is substantially safer. Because of its rigid frame, one has much more control over its flight. A blimp is like a big balloon with a couple of engines, whereas a zeppelin is a fine-tuned flying machine that with no gas whatsoever would maintain the same form. On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed within one minute while attempting to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, which is located adjacent to the borough of Lakehurst, New Jersey. Of the 97 people on board, 35 people died in addition to one fatality on the ground. The actual cause of the fire remains unknown, although a variety of theories have been put forward for both the cause of ignition and the initial fuel for the ensuing fire. Causes of the Hindenburg disaster are still debated today but the static spark theory is the most widely accepted. In order for them to keep their schedule, the crew took a risk by flying through an electrical storm. They were trying to make up for the delay of more than 12 hours in its transatlantic flight. The storm could have made the airship’s mooring lines wet and thus conductive, and may also have built up an electrical charge in its skin. The ship proceeded in a sharp turn during its landing maneuver, according to Eckener. This would have generated extremely high tension in the sections close to the stabilizing fins, which are braced by shear wires. He suspected that under such tension one of these wires may have broken and caused a rip in one of the gas cells. The gas then filled up the space between the cell and outer cover, which is why the airship sank at the rear. This accumulated amount of gas was then ignited by a static spark. This would never have happened had the ship been piloted by Hugo Eckener. He put safety above everything else. Prior to the Hindenburg fire, Zeppelins had an impeccable safety record. The Graf Zeppelin under Eckener’s guidance had flown safely for more than one million miles, including the first circumnavigation of the globe by an airship. The Zeppelin company’s promotions prominently featured the fact that no passenger had been injured on one of their airships. The Hindenburg had been the most famous aircraft disaster until the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1986.
Category Archives: Aviation
Prototype plane
After only a few hours at the All-American Show, Joel Haffner discovered that a metal airplane that was part of a his personal collection for 28 years, was not the Howard Hughes prototype as he was led to believe. ”It was misrepresented,” said Haffner, who had purchased the plane at a K&K Toy Show in Las Vegas from a man who claimed he was an ex-executive for Hughes Aircraft. “He said he had a few items from the Howard Hughes Collection.” Another individual who really used to work for Hughes Aircraft, burst Haffner’s bubble at the January Show. He revealed to him that the metal plane with 42″ wingspan is indeed a prototype, but of a Northrop Gamma, not a Hughes Aircraft H1. This revelation may have a dramatic affect on the plane’s value. Prior to the news, all he would disclose about the selling price was that it was “well over $5,000.” This was the first antique show to which Haffner brought his plane. Prior to the show, he was convinced that the handwritten notation, reading: “HAC Dept. 4, Everett Rhodes, Prototype H1, 02-34.” was correct. One of the benefits of exposing coveted items at an antique show, is that is can help considerably in the research and vetting process explain insiders. But, they add, dealer beware: one’s delusions can also be shattered. For more than two decades, Haffner had a certain point of view regarding his prototype plane. It was marked as a Hughes prototype; he even bought it at a toy show in sin city, where Hughes spent the remainder of his days. All of this evidence did not make what he was led to believe, true. For more information on the plane, contact Haffner at (541) 383-1897. Howard Hughes was a major figure in Vegas throughout the 1960s and ’70s. On November 24, 1966, Hughes arrived in Las Vegas by railroad car and moved into the Desert Inn. Refusing to leave the hotel and to avoid further conflicts with the owners of the hotel, Hughes bought the Desert Inn in early 1967. The hotel’s eighth floor became the nerve center of his empire and the ninth floor penthouse became Hughes’ personal residence. Between 1966 and 1968, he bought several other hotels & casinos, including Castaways, New Frontier, The Landmark Hotel and Casino, Sands, and Silver Slipper. Hughes wanted to change the image of Las Vegas to something more glamorous than it was. As Hughes wrote in a memo to an aide, “I like to think of Las Vegas in terms of a well-dressed man in a dinner jacket and a beautifully jeweled and furred female getting out of an expensive car.” Hughes had spent a total of $300 million on his many properties in Las Vegas.
Zeppelins back after 80 years
A 1960s advertising sign for Budweiser Beer in the shape of a blimp soared for $80 in the space of Hector Gomez. Upon first glance, one might not be sure whether the 18″ long black, red, and white vessel is a blimp or a Zeppelin. Zeppelins are more cigar-shaped, whereas blimps are more oval. In addition, blimps are more often used for sky advertising. Despite their dismal track record, a Zeppelin is substantially safer. Because of its rigid frame, one has much more control over its flight. A blimp is like a big balloon with a couple of engines, whereas a zeppelin is a fine-tuned flying machine that with no gas whatsoever would maintain the same form. Both blimps and Zeppelins are back in the news these days, now that Airship Ventures has come to the Bay Area. The company, the first to provide passenger flights in a Zeppelin since the Hindenburg catastrophe, now offers one hour and two hour tours over the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, sailboats on the Bay, the Oakland Bay Bridge, and Treasure Island. For as little as $495 per person, passengers can cruise at an altitude of 1,200 feet at 35 to 40 miles per hour. Airship Venture’s Zeppelin NT is the largest of its kind in the world, and one of only three Zeppelins in the world
Celebrating Kittyhawk
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s successful flight in Kittyhawk, several dealers unveiled aviation themed items at Peter and Deborah Keresztury’s Deco to Modernism Show in December. Dealer Carol Fraser of showcased a folk art plane that represented her business, “Fly By Night.” The 1970s plane, which landed for $365, was crafted by artist Alan Terry. Richard Deco offered a 1930s Airplane clock made by Sessions with its mechanism where the cockpit should be. It soared for $350. Deco can be contacted at (818) 905-1535. Sessions Clock History In about 1900, William E Sessions and other family members purchased a controlling interest in the E.N. Welch Company, a clock manufacturer located in Forrestville, Connecticut. Sessions’ father owned a foundry located in Bristol, Connecticut that produced cases for E.N Welch Co. On January 9, 1903, the company was reorganized as the Sessions Clock Company. Within a few years the Sessions Clock Company was producing clock movements, cases, dials, artwork and castings for their line of mechanical clocks. Between 1903 and 1933 Sessions produced 52 models of mechanical clocks, ranging from Advertisers, large and small clocks with logos of various businesses, to wall, or regulator clocks, and shelf or mantel clocks, designed for the home. Many of the Session clocks from this period are prized by collectors. In 1930, the company expanded to produce electric clocks and timers for radios, while continuing to produce traditional brass mechanical movements. Beginning at the end of World War II Sessions W Model (electric) was widely used by various casting companies for their clocks. The dial of the W Model read Movement by Sessions. In the early 1950s Sessions begin to produce timers for television. In 1956, Sessions was absorbed by a company interested mainly in their timing devices. In 1959, William K. Sessions, grandson of William E. Sessions left the Sessions Clock Company and formed the New England Clock Company. In 1960, one of the Sessions Clock buildings was sold to the Bristol Instrument Gears Company. Kept as the Sessions Company, the new owners ran the operation until 1969 when changes in the market forced the Sessions Company into liquidation. In 1970, the remaining buildings were sold to Dabko Industries, a machine parts manufacturer.
