Hindenburg: Is The Game Worth The Candle? 1937

In 1937, AVIATION magazine (then printed monthly), had time to digest the terrible disaster of the Hindenburg airship which was destroyed by fire on 6 May. In an article published in June 1937, the writer does not go into detail about how it happened or how many people were killed in the disaster but it evaluates “whether it is best to consign the design of a lighter than air aircraft to the dustbin or to move forward. It is far too early to be dogmatically certain that this or that form of aircraft is the final answer.”

It said that questions need to be answered as “expert investigators peer through twisted girders, twisted wires”, such as could the cause have been “static electricity, structural failure, backfire, sabotage?”

And what of the future of airships? The report said that already voices are being raised Germany announces that work has begun on the new LZ-130 and will be “pushed to completion as rapidly as possible and transatlantic schedules will be resumed.”

It says: “Lesson Number One stands out clear and stark. Never again must commerce in the air be carried by hydrogen. For the present, airship development should be confined to structural and aerodynamic laboratories until an adequate supply of helium or other inert lifting gases be made available to all. We cannot offer any solution of the complicated chemical and economic problems involved, but we are certain that the use of non-inflammable gas is the sine qua non of airship work in the future.”

Read the full article in Aviation Week’s digital archives.