ZEPPELIN IN LONDON

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 957, 28 April 1930, Page 9

ZEPPELIN IN LONDON

SHORT VISIT MADE TO ENGLISH BASE COMMANDER’S COMME British Official Wireless Reed. 10.40 a.m. RUGBY, Sunday. The Graf Zeppelin, which flew from her base at Friedrichshaven yesterday, arrived at Cardington at the appointed time in the late afternoon. It made a beautiful landing and was moored for a short time on the Royal Air Force airdrome. Her 22 passengers having disembarked, Dr. Eckener, her commander, who had been in England for some days, went on board, together with Sir Sefton Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation, and several other persons prominent in English aviation, who were passengers on the return flight to Frederichshaven. There was great enthusiasm at Cardington, the officers of the first Zeppelin to visit England since the war being given a cordial reception. During his visit to Cardington, Dr. Eckener boarded the RIOO, which was riding at her mooring tower, and inspected her sister airship, RlOl, which is in her shed. Dr. Eckener expressed keen interest in these vessels, and remarked in an interview that in ship structure and nose mooring, Germany represented an advance on other countries, and said he believed the model of the new mechanical transporter for taking an airship into its shed was likely to be universally adopted. The Graf Zeppelin remained at Cardington only 37 minutes, and proceeded via London, Dover, Brussels and Hamburg to her base, which was reached at 5.42 o'clock this morning. Early in the second half of the Association football cup tie at Wembley the Graf Zeppelin floated overhead. She was so low that the passengers could be seen waving handkerchiefs and saluting King George.