Evening star., 1936-05-09
BY LOUIS p. LOCHNER.

on the Girship::
BY LOUIS p. LOCHNER.
(Copyright 1885. by the Associated Press)
LAKEHURST. N. j.. May Ger
manys newest Zeppelin, the Hinden-
burg, saluted the United States today,
2l2 days out of Friedrichshafen.
Blazing a new commercial trail
across the North Atlantic with ease.
the giant lighter than air liner
"docked" at Lakehurst in record time
under the impetus Of four great
motors.
Nosing in over New York this morn
ing, at an hour when the concrete
forests below us had yet to be tinted
by dawn, we looked down on what
were to many of us familiar land
marks-serpentine Broadway, the
great rectangle Of Central Park and
the black ribbon of the Hudson River.
Then we cruised south, to tie up at
the Naval Air Station here.
During the entire fight the even
purr Of the four motors never ceased.
They functioned with the precision
of an electric clock.
Stands All Weather.
It was a fortunate circumstance
that for a while the new craft ran
into adverse weather. For this big
brother of the Graf proved itself
able to stand almost any kind Of
air condition.
..r,l,o draar, of XUa1ter Wellynao has
come true" observed Capt. Murray
Simon of London, who was Wellman'S
navigator of the Inflated America of
1910. Then we had Two motors with
80 horsepower. The Hindenburg'S
motors develop 4,400 horsepower"
Simon feels he has paid tribute
of devotion TO. deceased comrade by
flying the stretch that Wellman failed
to negotiate in reverse order 26 years
ago.
Wellman is dead. Dr. Hugo Ecke-
ner, who entered the services OF old
Count Zeppelin about the same time,
is hale and hearty and able to see his
ideas triumph. Capt. Ernest Leh-
NAL, on whom the mantle of Eckener
seems destined to fall. can look back
on almost 25 years of service as pilot
and commander.
1t was hard some times to realize
during the trip that one was not on
an ocean liner, out instead high in
the air, between heaven and ocean.
The spacious social hall, dining hall.
writing saloon and even the diminu-
tive bar and smoking room-all con-
veyed the illusion of seafaring craft.
Passengers Have Two Decks.
This illusion was heightened by the
fact that the passenger space was
distributed over two decks, an upper
and lower It was further heighted by
the fact that the cabins, while small,
nevertheless were Of the type one finds
on small ocean steamers.
The illusion ceased at once, how
ever, when one stepped to the large.
slanted windows and peered out. What
magnificent view!
Never shall we forget the moment
when, suddenly but almost impercep-
tibly, we rose from the soil of Fried
richshafen amid the deafening cheers
of friends and well wishers.
The complete absence of motion ex.
cept for slight vibration caused by
the four motors battles one, because
one recalls how the ocean greyhound
even in the best of weather sways
slightly.
Only once did we experience even
an approach to motion. That was
when we ran into the squall Thursday
night. 1t was nothing unpleasant.
however-certainly not enough to
make even q poor sailor uncomfort.
able.
The fine thing about these enor-
mously strong motors is that the
Hindenburg can go 300 miles out Of
its way easily to avoid difficult wealth.
er and still gain time in the end.
Evade Squalls.
Only rarely do Dr.. Eckener or
Capt. Lehman give orders to plow
right through a squall--more often
than the passenger is aware of, they
pilot the ship around or above strong
headwinds. Rising to 5000 feet and
more is no infrequent thing If there
by time can be gained in the long
run.
! spoke of the magnificent views we
enjoyed. Our first big thrill came
almost an hour after starting, when
we flew over Stuttgart.
Myriad electric lights burning in
this busy Wurttemberg capital gave
an almost unreal picture. We could
discern the main streets by their
greater profuSion Of lights and we
picked out the city'S great white way
by the green and blue and red display
signs.
Other cities which we overhew that
first night, too, were interesting
Mannheim, Bingen-on-R Rhine, Cob
lentz. But first thrills are always
strongest.
1t was the same thrill that came
when, for the first time, we found
ourselves high above carpet of clouds
so thick that nothing Of the vast ex-
panse of ocean below was visible.
At times these clouds looked like
an endless stretch Of glaciers, then
again Like fluffy bales Of wool spread
out as far as the eye could see.
Perhaps the biggest thrill of all Is
that Of prowling around in the
'innards" Of the huge dirigible 1t is
then that one becomes overawed at
the infinite amount Of detail that
went into constructing this technical
wonder and at the genius OF DR..
Ludwig Duerr, the constructor who
thought all this niit