The Pioneers of Aviation; 103 & 105

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[music][piano] To make it easier to transport this hang glider [piano] has collapsible wings [piano] This is something that Otto Lilienthal already thought of when he built his hang gliders over 80 years ago [piano] taking off in a hillside in gliders like this Otto Lilienthal covered distances of up to four hundred meters. A scientist and technician, Lilienthal laid [piano] The cornerstone for human flight by carefully studying the flight of birds. Gliding enthusiasts [piano] picked up where

[piano] Lilienthal had to leave off over 80 years ago [music] With these [music] And similar hang gliders they fly simply for flying sake. [music] This particular hillside [music] is located near Stuttgart in southern Germany [music] [music] [music] Otto hang gliding was only introduced a few years ago but [music] since then it's caught on like wildfire all over the world. No hill is too high for young people who have been captivated by this bird-like form of flying. Unfortunately, [music] there have already been a number of serious accidents. Anyone who goes into this sport should never underestimate his ability. [music] How did the sport of hang [music ] hang gliding develop? In 1948 Francis Rogallo was commissioned [music] by NASA to develop a maneuverable parachute which could be taken along in a rocket. In the 1960's, flying enthusiasts in California began flying the

Rogallo glider for fun. It was not until the 1970's that hang gliding also caught on in Europe. Mike Harker, from the United States, set the ball rolling in 1973 with his spectacular flight from the top of Zugspitze. At almost three thousand meters it's the highest mountain in Germany. From then on, there was no stopping the new sport. Anyone who wanted to fly like a bird would now make their dream come true. It looks so easy, but flying a hang glider Safely takes a lot of skill and experience. The pilot steers slowly by shifting the weight of his body to the right for a right turn and to the left for a left turn. Before landing the pilot has to shift the weight of his body backwards. This makes the glider tail heavy an it sits up. The pilot then sticks out his legs and makes a smooth landing. This hang glider is in a higher class than the standard gliders we've seen so far. The pilot must get his feet into the loops

so that he can keep his body horizontal. It's obvious that in this position his air resistance is less than that of a pilot of a standard hang glider. This hang glider, too is steered by shifting the weight of his body, but it's flight characteristics are better, especially the angel of glide - one-to-four in the case of a standard model, the angle of glide in a high-performance hang glider is one-to-seven or more. Flying and landing one of these gliders, however, calls for a lot more skill and experience. But anyone who’s mastered the technique can enjoy flying at its best. Soaring silently through the air like a bird; the fulfillment of a dream that man has cherished for centuries. Flying without an engine means having to take off from a spot that's high up, the higher the better, in fact. In summer, cableways and chairlifts

in the mountains like this one near [Pearson?] in Austria are now use for transporting collapsible hang gliders. The gliders can be reassembled in a matter of minutes. Once the pilot has put on his harness, he can take off. Between the pilots and the valley below a six-hundred meters of thin air, a different realm entirely to the gentle slope near Stuttgart. [excited scream] Taking off from this height calls for a fair bit of courage. For those who are competent enough to do so, they can enjoy the sensation of flying more intensely than anyone else. Finally, it's back to earth, next to the hotel. In the next [inaudible], the beginners are practicing under the guidance of an experienced flying instructor, but hang gliding isn't always plain sailing. [music] It will take

some time before these beginners master hang gliding with the same skill as this pilot. He's been gliding almost [inaudible] This is a class three hang glider, although with its rigid wings and tail unit, it looks like a real airplane. But the pilot still has to land on his own feet. [music] [music] The next developing stage is a fully maneuverable glider with a rigid but open air frame.We were even able to fix a camera to it. The Hippie, as it's known, is a glider made of glass fiber-reinforced plastic. Here, the Hippie is gliding effortlessly on an updraft.

[music] [music] The Hippie is [inaudible] which also constructs plastic [inaudible] [music] This glider, however, was built by one chap, who ordered the plans for it from the United States. It took over a thousand hours work before the plane was ready for its maiden flight. It's steered by means of a tiny joystick [inaudible] On June the 5th, 1783 the Montgolfier brothers successfully demonstrated the world's first hot air balloon. It was filled with smoke from a straw fire. When another hot air balloon landed on a village near Paris only a few weeks later, the terrified peasants attacked it with pitchforks. They didn't know that in Paris, barely an hour earlier, a certain professor Charles

had achieved tremendous success by launching the first hydrogen balloon. It's estimated that this event was watched by a crowd of three hundred thousand. But, a short time later, on September the 19th, 1783, the Montgolfier brothers hit the headlines again when their new, enlarged hot air balloon took off with the world's first passengers: a sheep, a cock, and a duck. The animals, which were carried in a this cage, returned to Earth safe and sound. This paved the way for the first manned flight. It was successfully attempted on November the 21st, 1783, by two French aristocrats in this [inaudible] In twenty five minutes they reached a height of a thousand meters and covered a distance of ten kilometers. Only ten days later, Professor Charles

made the first manned ascent in a gas balloon, reaching a height of three thousand three hundred meters and covering a distance of forty kilometers. He mightn't have been the first man to achieve sustained flight, but he did prove that his gas balloon was far superior to the hot air balloon of the Montgolfier brothers. The first balloon flight aroused [inaudible] images. People wanted a more about a subject which they hoped would signal the start of a new era. Books on ballooning appeared overnight and sold like hotcakes. The civilized world was swept by a wave of enthusiasm for scientific and technical progress, and astonishment of the daring of the balloonists. Balloon flights became festive occasions of which no expense was spared, gentlemen were often escorted their lady friends, each looking the picture of elegance. Military experts soon realized that a tethered balloon presented an excellent opportunity of observing the

enemy. And later it occured to them that under favorable wind conditions, balloons could even be used for attacking ships and fortresses. This, of course, is just an early form of the sensationalism which became more and more common after the turn of the century. Whenever a beautiful woman attempted an ascent, the suspense among the onlookers was even greater. In 1819, Madame Blanchard was killed when her balloon crashed in flames over Paris. Her death aroused a great deal of sympathy. This is how cartoonists envisaged the taxi service of the future. But the problem with the balloon was that it couldn't be steered. Attempts to steer the balloons by fitting them with [inaudible] proved fruitless. and using eagles to pull them wasn't particularly feasible, either. A competition organized the Academy of [inaudible] in 1784 produced an abundance of proposals for making balloons steerable but they all had one [inaudible]

they weren't practical. This idea looked quite progressive but it was never used. In the mid- nineteenth century, a number of billionaires toyed with the idea of floating across the Atlantic from Europe to America. Several extremely reasonable suggestions were put forward, but because of the prevailing winds, such an attempt would still end in failure even today. It was only in 1978, in fact, that a manned balloon succeeded in crossing the Atlantic from west to east. It landed in France. The mid-nineteenth century saw the start of regular scientific balloon [inaudible], the purpose of which was merely to analyze the [inaudible] In 1862, two scientists reached a height of nine thousand eight hundred meters. They still survived despite a lack of oxygen. Others were not so lucky.

Intent to use the balloon for exploring the polar regions also ended in tragedy. In 1897 the Swedish scientist S.A. Andree took off from Svalbard and [inaudible] Thirty-three years later, seal hunters came across the remains of the expedition. They found this photograph of the balloon's emergency landing in the everlasting ice. But a tremendous amount of research work is being carried out with the help of manned and unmanned balloons. Since the invention of the airship and the airplane, the balloon is being used mainly for high-altitude research. Regular scientific balloon ascents still take place, even today. Preparations for an ascent by an unmanned research balloon: It's being equipped and launched by a team of specialists from the University of Kiel in West Germany. Also taking part in the experiments, are various scientific institutes from the University's of Cologne and Tubingen, as well as the Nuclear Research Institute in

Munich. The gas cylinders on this lorry provide the hydrogen gas for filling the balloons envelope. The envelope is a hundred and twenty meters long. But only a fraction of it is filled with hydrogen. As the gas expands, the balloon begins to rise and gradually assumes its customary spherical shape. It's now as big as a 20-story building. The balloon will take its cargo of scientific measuring instruments up to height of thirty-two kilometers. After the probes have been collecting measuring data for about two hours, they will be detached from the balloon by a radio signal and will return to Earth by parachute. The transmitting and receiving equipment is located in this dynomometer [car?]. The radio signals from the [inaudible] can be observed on the oscillograph.

At the same time they're recorded on magnetic tape and the data is entered on a chart. This information, which mainly involves air pollution, is then evaluated. The balloon is tracked by radar. [machines whirring] [machines whirring] [speaking German] [machines whirring] A further set of instruments is being prepared for the next balloon ascent. The weather conditions are good and the scientists want to make full use of them. This is how the instruments and transmitting equipment are activated. Two hours later, the scientific cargo has detached

itself from the balloon and is descending by parachute. The radar team has directed the search for [inaudible] so accurately that our cameraman was even able to film the landing. Very rarely does detailed scientific work of this nature come to the attention of the general public. Balloon flights for pleasure are much more common and always arouse great interest. One of the jobs that has to be done before every flight is the preparation of the barograph. A barograph is an instrument for recording variations of atmospheric pressure, and is carried by every balloon. [non-English speech] [Non-English speech] The balloon pilot telephones the [inaudible] for the latest weather report. [non-English speech] The point of ascent used by these balloonist is located [inaudible] Another of the preparations for an ascent involves filling sandbags.

The basket and the balloon envelope are transported to the [inaudible] [speaking German] The envelope is unfolded and laid out in line with the same technique used by Professor Charles almost two centuries ago. [non-English speech] This might look dangerous, but it's really quite simple. A balloon pilot and his assistant feed the ripcord and the [inaudible] through the envelope. They are then picked up by other [inaudible] Then the balloon net is spend out over the envelope.

[non-English speech] [speaking German] The envelope and net have a circular opening at the top for the wooden check valve, which has to be inserted with exceptional care. The hand valve line enables it to be opened and closed from the basket. The valve is trapped in the balloon material by these two rings, and screwed firmly in place to prevent any gasses escaping. If the crew want to make the balloon descend, they simply open the valve from the basket and let some gas out. The sandbags are taken along as ballast. Throwing sand out makes the balloon rise. But these sandbags are even needed for getting the balloon ready. It takes about a hundred sandbags, weighing fifteen kilos each, to keep a balloon securely on the ground, while its envelope is being inflated. Later, when the balloon takes off

only about twenty bags will be on board for us as ballast. Getting a balloon ready for launching calls for a fair bit of skill. The balloon pilot is responsible for ensuring that everything is done properly. [speaking German] [fabric rustling] [speaking German] The pilot is securing the filler cap to the inflation sleeve. [speaking German] [birds chirping] The balloon is now ready to be inflated. [German heard through megaphone] Finally the command is given to release the gas. [Sound of gas filling balloon] While hydrogen gas is pouring into the envelope, the sandbags are hung onto the net, so that they just about touch the ground.

[Whirring] [gas filling] [speaking German] [Whirring] [gas filling] [speaking German] As the balloon gradually inflates, the sand bags have to be moved further and further down the net. In all, they cover a dropping height of around twenty meters. And since each bag weighs fifteen kilos you can imagine how much effort is involved. [speaking German] Finally the balloon is fully inflated. [speaking German] But the most important part is still missing - the basket. It's made of wicker work, a light, strong, yet elastic material that has proved its value over almost two centuries. [birds chirping] [speaking German]

The lines hanging from the net are secured to the basket with toggles. The balloon can now be released. The one hundred or so sandbags on the lines slide up to the basket, but their weight keeps the the balloon firmly tethered to the ground. [speaking German] The small takeoff area on the northern edge of the rural industrial region is quite a long way from the next major airport. For an ascent here, the flight visibility needs to be only one and a half kilometers. [speaking German] Before beginning his ascent, the balloon pilot finds out how high the site is above sea level and sets his altimeter accordingly. The radio enables a pilot to maintain contact with air traffic control and with the vehicle which will take the balloon back after its landing. Once the pilot has set it to the right frequency, he can begin communicating with a small nearby airfield. [speaking German]

[speaking German] The balloon pilot calls the small airfield to announce that he's ready to make his ascent and to ask for clearance. [speaking German] [speaking German] The airfield has has no objection and gives the pilot the wind speed. At last we can take off. [speaking German] Just for a moment Our other balloon is also about to take off. The valve and the rip panel can now be seen quite clearly. What a marvelous feeding it is to float through the air in complete silence. [speaking German] [speaking German] [music] We've already reached a height of around 400 meters. Our balloon pilot is throwing a few strips of paper over the side to

see if the air currents below us are flowing in a different direction. Balloons - don't forget - can't be steered. So it's only by making skillful use of the various air currents that a pilot is able to arrive at a specific destination. Throwing out sand makes the balloon lighter, and thus increases its altitude. A glance at the Variometer on the left shows about that our balloon really is rising. A balloon can lose height through cooling down or as a result of descending air currents. To slow down the rate of descent or to compensate for loss of altitude, ballast is thrown out. Even small amounts of sand make an appreciable difference. It is now time for a special baptism ceremony. By tradition this is done with a bottle of champagne. This is a customary ritual that every new balloonist has to go through on his or her first ascent. [speaking German] [speaking German] [speaking German]. Now that our film director's head has been wetted with champagne, he is subjected to the second

part of the aerial baptism ceremony, which consists of having a handful of sand rubbed into your hair. [speaking German] [speaking German] [speaking German] Look up. Look up. Look up. [speaking German] A handshake and our director is a fully fledged member of the guild of the balloonists. [speaking German] Another baptism is taking place at the same time in our escort balloon. [speaking German] Just in case the bottle of champagne gives you the wrong idea, we better tell you that the crew of our balloon only had a sip to celebrate the baptism ceremony. And the same applies to the crew of the escort balloon.

An inebriated balloonist is every bit as dangerous as a drunken car driver. [speaking German] Below us lies a vast stretch of woodland. [speaking German] These wanderes were so surprised when we called out to them that they nearly jumped out of their skins. [laughter] [speaking German] A seat in the sky. Ballast is now being thrown out to enable us to reach the same height as the other balloon. [speaking German] [speaking German] Another bag, and the Variometer immediately indicates that we're ascending. In no time at all, we've even passed the other balloon. You can see it's rip panel quite clearly. [speaking German] It's now time to land. [speaking German] Hanging down through the inflation

sleeve are the valve line and the ripcord, which will help us. A tug on the valve line opens the valve flat at the top of the balloon and releases the gas. The balloon begins to descend. At the same time, the pilot releases the drag rope, which acts as a variable ballast and makes landing much easier. From now on, everything is plain sailing. A balloon in the sky is an unusual sight - a relic it seems from the last century. But even today there are still lots of people who get real pleasure out of ballooning, and who are convinced that there's no more delightful way of traveling through the air. No other craft - it's true - can offer such a marvelous seat in the sky. [inaudible] [music] [music]

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[music] This in fact is one of the one of the very early airships that appeared at the turn of the century. [music] With the help of their hot air balloon, the Montgolfier brothers were airborne long before [inaudible] - in 1783 in fact. And these are their direct descendants. The aeronauts of today, who go in for ballooning as

a sport. This massive material being unfolded at a launching site in Switzerland isn't even a hot air air ship. It's driven by a Volkswagen car engine. While are is being blown into the huge envelope, the ripcord is inserted. It enables the airship to be deflated quickly in the event of an emergency. The envelope is then hauled into position over the burners and the gondola. [distant voices] The envelope measures almost fifteen meters across. The burner is ignited time and again until the air inside the envelope has been heated up to a temperature of a hundred and ten degrees centigrade. The thirty-six and a half meter long airship

is now fully inflated and ready to take off. [balloon filling] It's pushed into the air by the ground crew. Although the airship is navegable, it's a good job there's no wind blowing. Otherwise it might not get off the ground at all. [whirring] [whirring] Sometimes this clumsy monster does take a nose dive. [whirring] Ten days after the Montgolfier brothers first epic flight in a hot air balloon, a certain Professor Charles made the first manned ascent in a gas balloon. Man was airborne, but a

lighter than air craft that could be steered was to remain a dream for almost a century. In 1865, a German inventor by the name of Paul Haenlein designed an airship that was driven by combustion engine. It was the first aircraft of any type ever to be powered by an engine. Driven by this four horsepower opposed cylinder engine, the airship took off for the first time in Brno Moravia in December eighteen seventy two. The aluminum airship designed by the Austrian engineer David Schwarz was powered by a twelve horsepower Daimler engine. It took off from Berlin in 1897. But at about three hundred meters, the driving belt came off its pulley. The pilot opened the release valve so smartly that the ship dropped like a stone and was damaged beyond repair. Shortly afterwards, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin set up a floating airship hangar on Lake Constance. The Prussian military administration had turned down Zeppelin's ideas, and so he formed his own company. It's first model, the LZ 1, took off on its maiden flight on July the second nineteen hundred

across Lake Constance. But it was not a success, and Zeppelin's company folded. In January 1906, Zeppelin's second airship, the LZ 2, had to make an emergency landing twenty kilometers from Lake Constance. The airship was wired incorrectly and when a storm blew up in the night, she suffered irreparable damage. With what remained of his own fortune, and by borrowing from friends, Count Zeppelin succeeded in completing the LZ 3 in October 1906. This latest model had four new stabilizing surfaces at the stern. [music] [music] On the ninth and tenth of October 1906, the LZ 3 took off on successful flights lasting several hours. Zeppelin received a grant of half a million marks to enable him to continue his experiments. German military authorities also placed a tentative order for an airship capable of making a non-stop twenty-four hour flight. Airships also aroused interest among the members of the German royal family.

[music] Some airships were also able to land on the ground. [music] [music] [music] By this time two distinct types of airship had emerged: non-rigid and rigid. Non-rigid airship had inflatable envelopes, while rigid airships had gas

bags enclosed within compartments of a fixed fabric-covered framework. An artist impression of the difference between rigid a non-rigid airships. It's not quite as simple as this, but - in principle - he's right. In 1898, a Brazilian by the name of Alberto Santos-DuMont, rounded the Eiffel Tower in Paris in his airship. In 1903, this keen aviator used the tiny baladeur, his ninth airship, for pleasure jaunts. Another successful model, the Vier du Paris was built by Clément-Bayard. Airship construction - it seemed - had become all the rage. [music]

[music] In the summer of 1908, Zeppelin completed the LZ 4. To qualify for acceptance by the military authorities, it had to complete a twenty-four hour flight, attain a height of a thousand meters, and land on firm ground. Zeppelin decided to fly first to Bonn, then down the Rhine to Mainz, and back to Friedrichshafen via cross-country route. The LZ 4 took off on August the fourth. After passing Worms, the LZ 4 was forced to land in a field for repairs to an engine. It then headed on to Mainz before turning south again. But just outside Stuttgart, the trouble recurred. And the airship was forced to land at Echterdingen. As the airship was being moored by soldiers from a nearby barracks, a storm blew up. The LZ 4 lurched into the air, caught fire, and was reduced in a few minutes to a burned out wreck. The whole of Germany was stunned. In the space of a few hours the great airship had become a national symbol. Appeal funds were launched and within a few weeks, the people of Germany had contributed six million marks to enable Count Zeppelin to continue his

experiments. With the money, he set up the Zeppelin Foundation, and established a new company. The appearance of an airship in those days was such an awe-inspiring event the painters of the day considered it worth capturing on canvas. [music] The LZ 5 was a fast airship. In the early summer of 1909, nine, she completed a record-breaking flight of more than 900 kilometers in just under thirty eight hours. But in the spring of 1910, the LZ 5 crashed in a storm near the town of Weilburg. The LZ 6 was accidentally destroyed by fire. The LZ 7, the Deutschland, was wrecked during an emergency landing. And the LZ 8, The Deutschland II, had to be scrapped when a gust of wind blew her against her shed in Dusseldorf. But despite these setbacks, this was the

start of a successful era for Zeppelins. [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] Major August von Parseval developed smaller, non-rigid airships. In Augsburg in 1906, he began work on a military airship, driven by propellers made of cloth. This flying sausage was a source of great amusement. Nevertheless, the Parseval quickly became a success all over Europe. This non-rigid airship, the M1, was developed for the armed forces. It was based on the French Lebaudy airships. [music]

[music] All these airships appeared at the international airshow in Frankfurt in 1909. Here you can see the LZ 5 and the Parseval. [music] [music] In addition to the Germans, the Italians, the British, the Americans, and - in particular - the French, were also engaged in designing airships. [music] [music] [music] The French concentrated on non-rigid airships. As airships became safer, they also became more popular as a means of transport. [music] [music] In 1909, the German airline DELAG was founded.

Within a short space of time, the whole of Germany was covered by a network of air routes. The service on board was first class. Amongst other delicacies, the menu on the Schwaben offered the finest beluga malossol caviar. The first four DELAG airships were safe and reliable. Between 1910 and the outbreak of war in 1914, the Deutschland, the Schwaben, the Viktoria Luise, and the Hansa carried a total of 37,000 passengers on 1600 round trips. Even the most ardent opponents of the airship were finally convinced of its value. [music] [music]

[music] [music] In addition to its commercial usefulness, the military value of the airship had not gone unnoticed and several had entered service with the German armed forces. [music] In 1913, the LZ 17, the Sachsen, paid a visit to Vienna, where it was viewed with interest by military leaders from Germany's ally, Austria-Hungary. In 1909, Doctor Johann Schütte and [Heimisch??] Lanz formed their famous partnership. The first Schütte-Lanz airship, the SL 1, was a little smaller than the Zeppelins, but its engines were more powerful. Its rigid frame was made of plywood. [voices] [aircraft buzzing]

The successors to SL 1 were beautifully streamlined, and had a central gangway. Many of their good features were later reflected in ships built by the Zeppelin organization when Schütte's patents were taken over by the government at the outbreak of war. Another airship with a wooden framework was the French-built Spiess, which was based on the Zeppelins. But the Spiess was too heavy and nobody was interested in it. By this time Europe was on the brink of war. [Horn] The Viktoria-Luise hovering peacefully over the Kiel Regatta. [music] And the Hansa over the liner Imperator. [music] [music] But soon, these and other airships were carrying out naval reconnaissance and bombing the cities of Europe. The airship - it was -

hoped - would help Germany force Britain - at that time the greatest naval power in the world - to her knees. But to the astonishment of the German military leadership, the biggest obstacle to this was the Kaiser himself. He was hoping for a compromise and urged his countrymen not to provoke Britain. He didn't want to destroy the historical monuments in London or endanger the lives of his relations in the British royal family. It was only in 1915 that the Kaiser permitted German airships to bomb dockyard and military installations on the lower reaches of the Thames. But he forbade attacks to be carried out on London itself. The damage caused by the airships wasn't particularly widespread. Not only did it fail to demoralize the British, it stirred up a hatred that was just as blind as the aggression shown by the German military leadership. Sixteen men from the L 19, which was drifting helplessly in the North Sea, were

left to their fate by the Captain of a British trawler. The war took a heavy toll. Only a quarter of the 115 Zeppelins survived it. Eighty-five were lost and so too were almost 400 crew members. [music] Even this Parseval airship took part in war. The PL 25 was used for naval reconnaissance. Its gondola contained a navigation cabin, radio room, and engine room. The airship was 114 meters long and traveled at a speed of 80 kilometers an hour. The casualties resulting from the war in the air were heavy. And in the middle of 1917, the German army took its airships out of operation. The French even grounded all their airships. But the airships belonging to the imperial German navy remained in service.

They could travel 6,700 kilometers nonstop a 95 hours, climb to a height of over 8,000 meters, and fly at a speed over 100 kilometers an hour. But Britain's fighter aircraft were faster. Towards the end of the war, German airships played only a subsidiary role in supporting the fleet. Only 15 naval airships survived the war. Six of them were sabotaged in 1919 by opponents of the republican regime. The remaining nine were distributed among the victorious powers. The L 72, the 114th Zeppelin to be built, was taken over by the French and renamed the Dixmude. The L 72 carried out a large number of journeys across the Mediterranean to north Africa before being lost with all hands in December 1923. Two British airships built in 1919, the

R 33 and the R 34 were almost exact copies of a Zeppelin, the L 33 that had been captured in 1916. In 1919, the R 34 became the first airship to cross the Atlantic in both directions. The Bodensee, completed in the late summer of 1919, was the first totally streamlined airship. It had a capacity of 20,000 cubic meters and during the time it was in service, the Bodensee carried over 4,000 passengers on the Friedrichshafen-Berlin route. The Treaty of Versailles prohibited the Germans for building airships for the military, but not for civil purposes. Consequently the Zeppelin company also built a sister airship, the Nordstern, with an eye to using it for regular flights between Germany and the Scandinavian countries. But, the Allies, angered by the scuttling of the German fleet and the sabotaging of six airships, also grounded the new civil airships. [distant cheering] In 1921, the Bodensee was handed over to the Italians. It was renamed the Esperia and remained in service until 1925.

The Nordstern had only just been completed when the Allies decided that it too should be handed over as part of the reparations. [distant chatter] The Nordstern, which had been earmarked for the Scandinavian route made only one test flight over Friedrichshafen. On board was the head of DELAG, Hugo Eckener. He'd been a close friend of Count Zeppelin, who had died in 1917. The Nordstern was handed over to France. The Zeppelin company was on the brink of ruin. Renamed the Méditerranée, the Nordstern was used for speed tests and training flights until August 1926. [static] [distant chatter] [static]

[static] In October 1917, the L 49 had fallen intact into the hands of the French. On the basis of notes and drawings made by the French, the Americans designed the Shenandoah. The first rigid airship inflated with helium. In September 1923, it entered service with the U.S. Navy. It was also used for training parachutists and for flights across the American continent. In September 1925, the Shenandoah broke up in a storm while on a flight to the middle west. Fourteen of the 36 people on board were killed. This old advertising film was intended to demonstrate that airship components were both stable and light. But no one was interested. At the Zeppelin company, the hangars stood empty. The old board departed and Hugo Eckener took over the helm. Fortunately for the company, reparations to have to be paid to the Americans.

The proposal was made that the Americans might like an airship in lieu of gold. This was accepted, but to cross the Atlantic, a ship with over 70,000 cubic meters would be needed. According to the terms of the armistice and the peace treaties, however, no ship with a capacity of more than 30,000 cubic meters could be built in Germany. But the Allies agreed after some debate to waive this restriction. Towards the end of 1921, Eckener received authority to begin work on the ship - the LZ 126. [music] Under the command of Hugo Eckener, on October the 13th, twenty four, the LZ 126 took off from Friedrichshafen on its maiden flight to New York. [music] The LZ 126 covered the 8,000 kilometers in three days. [sounds of air rushing] After 81 hours and two

minutes in the air, the LZ 126 landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, where she was handed over to the American authorities. [distant chatter] Hugo Eckener had staked the entire reputation of the Zeppelin works on a safe crossing. But his all or nothing gamble had paid off. [chatter] [music] The crew were also happy that the venture had been successful. The U.S. Navy named the airship Los Angeles. Under its commander, Captain Charles Rosendahl, it carried out many successful flights. In the 1920s, Docotor Hugo Eckener, who'd been a close friend of Count Zeppelin, concluded a partnership agreement with Goodyear on the joint construction of transatlantic airships. At present, the only airships in regular service in Europe are the advertising blimps built by Vollenkamper and Goodyear. One of them is the Europa. It has a capacity of 5,700 cubic meters and is [inaudible]. Last spring, it was given a new envelope,

which for non-rigid airship, is almost the same as being rebuilt. [whirring] [whirring] First of all, the envelope is filled with air to make sure there are no holes in it. [whirring] [whirring] [distant voice] [whirring] [distant voice] As you can imagine, checking an area of 2,000 square meters is a bit different to testing a bicycle inner tube. Helium is an expensive gas, so the envelope must be completely airtight to prevent any of it from escaping. The tanker carrying the helium arrives. The gas is of a pressure of 200 kilograms per square centimeter. Great care must be taken when attaching the pipe to the valves. [shouting]

Those two shouts were to let everyone know that the helium is now flowing into the envelope. This operation alone takes between three and four hours. The ship is weighted down with heavy sandbags suspended from a net. [whirring] [whirring] Without the sand bags, the ship would soon float up to the roof of the hangar. [whirring] [distant chatter] Not only has the airship been fitted with a new envelope. Its two six cylinder engines are being repaired and its tail unit being given a fresh coat of paint. The computers for the light signals and the navigation instruments are also undergoing a thorough [inaudible]. Turn it the other way around, Bernie.

The slipstream of a propeller will inflate the ballonets through these pipes. [distant chatter] Dick Whitcomb and the chief pilot seem satisfied with the way work are progressing. [distant chatter] [distant chatter] At last, the ship is fully inflated. But it'll still take weeks of hard work before the blimp can cruise around Europe again. No matter what it's used for - traffic control, maritime patrol, or simply for pleasure - a flight in an airship is always a fabulous experience. [music] [music] [music] [music]

[music] [music] [silence]