THRILLS OF AN AIRSHIP.
GRAF ZEPPELIN'S VOYAGE, A PASSENGER’S STORY. Karl H. Von Wiegand, special correspondent of the “Springfield Republican, declares that Dr. Eckener has demonstrated with the Graf Zeppelin the feasibility and practicability of commercial transatlantic air. traffic, it would be unfair to. this giant silver ship of the air, for which I have come to have a genuine affection for having brought us from Europe to America through storm and stress, he; says, hot to tell the tr.uth about the storm incident which damaged the Sjhip and brought us into, peril. In part, at least—how far is hard to establish*—it was due to the helmsman on the wheel which controls the elevator firis. .When the first shock of the heavy squall, into which wc wont at 70 mile’s an hour, struck the ship, the elevator helmsjnan lost hjs head, and, instead of countering and correcting the; downward depression of. the bow of the ship, he threw over the wheel the wrong way, there*! by accelerating the dive downwards. Almost immediately he discovered his blunder, and then so strongly threw the whee;l in the opposite direction that he brought up the nose of the ship so suddenlv and so sharply that one of the stabilising fins, which carry the greater part of the aero-dynamic load and, so to speak, is the “ hinge ” on which the airship moves upwards or downwards, could not stand the strain. Both Staff Captain Ernest Lehmann, though on duty at the time, and Commanded Rosendahl, saw the mistake, but too late to interfere in timef The loss; of. thq British R3B was attributed to some such error on the part of the helmsman. The strain and stress of buffeting winds that the Graf Zeppelin stood successfully after the accident demonstrated beyond doubt that structural strength and stability of the great ship of the; air. The epochmaking. voyage revealed certain weakness, too. The wireless station should havq a greater radius. Because of the vital necessity of weather reports, the wireless is of vastly greater importance to airships than to seagoing vessels,. Energy for the wireless 'sjhould not be dependent on an automatic generator that runs only when the ’airship has, considerable speed. When the accident to tie stabiliser occurred and the ship had to stop, it was impossible to send a call for help until the emergency set was got ready. The administration of the; wireless room left much to be desired. The feeding of passengers and crew was, wholly inadequate. No inexperienced cook and amateur steward, however willing, can cook and wait on 60 people with hearty appetites. We looked) upon it as a “picnic” party and’ fqw of us minded it. At 9.30 came the cry from the control bridge, “land.” Everybody rushed to the windows. Eyes sparkled, voic.es 'had the resonance of joy. Only Lady Drummond Hay said almost sadly: “I shall be sorry to Iqave our silver ship. It has carried us safely through winds and 'storms, and at that being handicapped) by being crippled like a bird. It has given us> an experience that nevqr again will we have in life.” She meant it, too. Fifteen minutes later, we reached, the qoast line of Virginia between Cape Charles and Machipongo light. A lighthouse tender saluted us with her siren.AVe crossed the sandy shore line at an altitude of 1700 feet. An airplane greeted us. a few minutes later loping and spinning like a bird trying to express the joy that we felt. Commander Rosendahl c,ame to the bridge and remarked to Echener, “Look out for fog,” for now Rosendahl, the ablest in the world to-day, was at home in the air here. Sure enough, within 10 minutes a blanket of fog blotted out Virginia from us as we headed up Chesapeake Bay. As we crossed the coast line the commodore handed the wireless operator a telegram of greeting to President Coolidge:— “At the moment of arrival on the American coast line on this 'diversified and very interesting ’crossing of the Atlantic Ocjejan by airship,, with passengers and mail from Germany to America, in which we have had as comrade and experienced friend Lieu-tenant-Commander R'osqndalij, of the United' States navy, the commander and crew of the Graf Zeppelin beg to extend to the president of, the United States their most respectful greetings.” The reaction among the passengers Was strong. At lC£ast one or two, perhaps more, had at one time or, another reckoned with the possibility of never ' reaching this side of the Atlantic. iOne, Frederick Gilfallen, even wished he had brought a revolver along because it would be easier to die that, way than by drowning. Another passenger expressed his conviction to me more than once, “We will never get there.”
Eckener has been the personification of. calm and confidence throughout the flight—even his eyes showed a new light. His son,, Knut, has been one; of the real heroes of this gr,eat achievement in the air. No man’s heart on this, air voyage was at the stage of such drama as that of the commodore. When so large a part of the vital stabilising fin was tom away Knut Eckener was the first volunteer to crawl out into t,he perilous plac.e to begin repairs. With: him were Ledewig, one of the wirqless operators. Helmsman Samt and Navigation Officer Marx. A little later, when the; stern of the ship began to sag under the deluge of raini and other, causes, Captain Flemming, thenin command on the bridge, turned to the commodore; and said, “We must start two engines.” The ship was practically standing still. The motors were partly stopped, partly idling. Eckener knew that his was on that fin. He knew, too, that if he; ordered the motors to be started 1 , in all probability the wind! would tear
his son, perhaps others, off that perilous place and) hurl them into the angry sea below. “I jnust have two motors,” again said Flemming. Ec,kener’s face suddenly aged l . He looked out of the window from his favourite place in the corner, of. the bridge. He swallowed hard. Huskily came the command, “Start the motors.” There is no telephone communication from the bridge to where that fin is. Wat Eckener lived through in the minutes before word was brought to him that his son Knut and the were safe only he and his God knew. On the entire trip since we left Friedricshafen o|i the Thursday morning Ekener had r.adl but about eight hours sleep. I was on the bridge at all hours of the night and day. sometimes sitting with him there. Always I found him on his post of duty. Always he took his meals there. Saturday night, after the; accident, he laid down once but could not sleep. The night Sunday to Monday was critical. I was so worn out that I threw mysplf in my berth without any dinner at 9. Even a glass of champagne and. some caviare was no temptation. Soon I was awakened by the ship dipping and rolling. We were fighting with buffeting winds. One could feel how the big ship struggled bravely to overcome the elements. There was nothing dangerous, or critical in that. The danger lay, however, in that crippled “wing,” if I may so c.all it. Report- came to the bridge, that a part of the upper, surface had been carried away. Knut Eckener, Ladtewig, Knorr, Saint, and others worked like Trojans fastening the; remainder so that it would go. About 10 we were through. Eckener laid down and slept for a short time. To wards, morning, a, south-easterly wind drove; us along at increased) speed. When we heard “Land, in .sight,” all knew that the pioneer blazing of a path through the air over the Atlan-; tic from Europe to America for commercial traffic had bejen achieved.
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Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5375, 16 January 1929, Page 3
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1,306THRILLS OF AN AIRSHIP. Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5375, 16 January 1929, Page 3
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