Eckener Dr. Hugo - The ‘Graf Zeppelin’s’ voyage to America (ebook)(1928)

The ‘Graf Zeppelin’s’ voyage to America

Author: Dr h.c. Hugo Eckener · Edited by: Rolf Brandt · Publisher: August Scherl, Berlin · Year: 1928 · Contents: an account of the ‘Graf Zeppelin’s’ first transatlantic crossing (October–November 1928), 42 photographs in plates and a map.

157 pages – in German – PDF to download

Published in 1928 by August Scherl, this book brings together, alongside the commander’s own account, several texts on the ‘Graf Zeppelin’s’ first transatlantic crossing – the outward journey in October 1928 from Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst and the return journey. The book opens with ‘Das Drama’, in which the editor, Rolf Brandt, sets out the background: the destruction of the last Zeppelins at Ahlhorn after the war; the reparations imposed on the Reich; the construction of the LZ 126 ‘Los Angeles’, delivered to the Americans in 1924 — Eckener having staked his own livelihood to guarantee the venture —; and then the public fundraising campaign of 1928, which, supplemented by a Reich subsidy, made it possible to finance the new airship.

This is followed by a presentation by Dr Eckener on ‘the problem’: why the transatlantic flight represents the ideal to which air navigation aspires; what headwinds, storms, snow and fog threaten the airship at sea; and why only a very powerful airship can ensure a regular service, by knowing how to circumvent disturbances rather than confront them. He describes ‘the ship’, then presents his ‘travel report’: the departure on 11 October 1928; the tear in the tailplane fabric over the Atlantic — repaired in mid-flight by volunteers, including his own son Knud, suspended above the ocean —; the Bermuda storm; the arrival at Lakehurst on 15 October and, on the return journey, the decision to take the ‘wider route’ to cross south of Newfoundland through the squall lines in the least dangerous area, the battle against headwinds off the coast of America, the climb out of the bad weather and the landing at Friedrichshafen on 30 October after a long non-stop flight.

The central section, ‘A Passenger’s Diary’, written by Rolf Brandt, follows the same adventure from the passengers’ perspective: the radio service overwhelmed by congratulatory telegrams; the scene in the captain’s cabin, where Eckener, sitting with his canary, calmly discusses the in-flight repair; the night-time flight over New York, whose lights stretch, from high in the sky, all the way to Boston; and the receptions in America. The book concludes with ‘Retrospective and Prospects’, in which Eckener draws lessons from the voyage: passenger comfort must be improved, the ship’s movements in squalls are not dangerous, regular transatlantic crossings by airship are possible — this was the sole intention that led him to ask the German people for the funds to build a new airship —, and the airship captain must judge the weather himself, as he felt that the assistance of an on-board meteorologist would, on the contrary, diminish his responsibility.