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Dirigible Dreams: The Age of the Airship
The rise and fall of the adventurous dirigible age
273 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
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November 24, 2020
Hiam presents a history of airships in eight chapters, from the early years when they seemed to provide large advantages over early airplanes to later years when the more subtle disadvantages of large airships became increasingly clear. He includes good descriptions of various flights. Unfortunately, the book ends with the Graf Zeppelins - a chapter on the perennial proposals for new high tech airships would have been enlightening.
Alberto Santos-Dumont built a series of powered airships that travelled in the vicinity of Paris. His successes led him to envision polar flight which was attempted by Salomon Andree in 1897 in his design, the Ornen. Although unable to control the altitude, the balloon travelled hundreds of miles before depositing the team on the ice where they died.
In 1907, Walter Wellman was the next to attempt a polar flight in his airship, the America. Unfortunately, it was damaged in docking and before repairs could be made, Robert Peary got to the pole by sledge. Wellman turned his sights on making the first crossing of the Atlantic. The America left Atlantic City but ran into a storm and was abandoned east of Cape Hatteras after travelling over a thousand miles.
In Germany, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin became famous for his devotion to airships with fabric covered aluminum frames and internal gas bags. While early models lacked control and sufficient power, LZ 4 and LZ 5 put in respectable performance. LZ 6 through 9 were used by the army but were destroyed in hostilities. The L 10 series were giant machines, 530 feet long with a million cubic feet of hydrogen. The were used to bomb London during the First World War. While thirteen survived the war, the majority were shot down.
After the war, flights across the Atlantic became the focus. The Americans made the first west-east crossing with the NC-4 Curtis flying boat, heavily supported with shipping. The first east to west crossing was made by the British in the R 34, a replica of the German L 33 zeppelin.
In the U.S., Admiral William Moffet had two airships built, Zeppelin Rigid 1 and 2. ZR 1 was completed in England in 1921 but when doing a hard turn during testing, the hull buckled and it was destroyed. In took until 1923 to build the huge (682 ft) ZR 2 - the USS Shenandoah - which was the first airship to use helium. As helium is less buoyant than hydrogen, it was not capable of really long distances but did a number of excursions within the U.S., in spite of significant storm damage in 1924. A storm in 1925 resulted in a final crash. As part of war reparations, Germany built the Los Angeles for the U.S., an enormous (2.47 million cubic feet) airship with the latest technology. Goodyear, using the German technology, built another airship - the Akron - which was the biggest yet: 6.85 million cubic feet and 785 feet long. Using helium, the engines were placed within the hull. It went into the sea during a storm in 1933. The Akron's sister ship, the Macon, was lost in a storm on the West Coast in 1935.
In 1925, Ronald Amundsen teamed with the Italian airship builder Colonel Umberto Nobile to modify one of his N 1 airships for a trip to the North Pole. After an epic journey to Spitsbergen, where he was pre-empted by Richard Byrd who flew a Fokker trimotor to the pole. However, they carried on to the pole where they loitered for a few hours and then continued to Nome Alaska for the first polar traverse. Nobile carried out a subsequent flight to the pole in the Italia but disappeared on the return, leading to a major search operation.
Britain initiated the Imperial Airship Scheme in 1923 where two airships were built. The R-100 was built by Vickers on contract. Neville Norway (later Neville Shute) took on major roles in the construction. The R-100 was designed to carry 140 people over 6000 miles, putting Canada, South Africa, India and Australia in range. In a proving flight, it took the R-100 only twenty days to complete a trip to Montreal and back. The government built R-101 was designed in a very conservative manner - much stainless steel instead of duralumin and diesel engines - and proved to be too heavy. Much rebuilding occurred before a hurried flight to India, where it crashed upon encountering a storm over France. This ended British endeavours with airships and ironically the successful R-100 was broken up for its duralumin.
In Germany, Dr. Hugo Eckener had taken the position of business manager for Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. He built and delivered the LZ 126 to the U.S. where it became the Los Angeles. By 1928 he had built the LZ 127 - an elongated version of the LZ 126 - which became the Graf Zeppelin. After trips to the eastern U.S. and the Middle East, the Graf Zeppelin did a voyage around the world covering 21,000 miles in 12 days. The airship flew to Pernambuco, Brazil forty times over four years carrying a total of 720 passengers and 30,000 pounds of mail. By 1936, the Hindenburg was built. It was 804 feet long, able to hold seven million cubic feet of hydrogen and had a range of 8750 miles, allowing it to reach Rio de Janeiro. 1936 was the peak year for airship passenger travel with the Hindenburg doing 10 flights from Germany to New York, carrying 1006 passengers. The Hindenburg was destroyed by a fire of unknown origin in 1937. The Graf Zeppelin II was built but was used by the Luftwaffe for reconnaissance, but both Graf zeppelins were broken up for the Nazi war effort. Over the period of 1912 to 1937, German zeppelins had transported 48,778 people, done 20,877 hours of flight time and covered 1,193,501 miles.
Alberto Santos-Dumont built a series of powered airships that travelled in the vicinity of Paris. His successes led him to envision polar flight which was attempted by Salomon Andree in 1897 in his design, the Ornen. Although unable to control the altitude, the balloon travelled hundreds of miles before depositing the team on the ice where they died.
In 1907, Walter Wellman was the next to attempt a polar flight in his airship, the America. Unfortunately, it was damaged in docking and before repairs could be made, Robert Peary got to the pole by sledge. Wellman turned his sights on making the first crossing of the Atlantic. The America left Atlantic City but ran into a storm and was abandoned east of Cape Hatteras after travelling over a thousand miles.
In Germany, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin became famous for his devotion to airships with fabric covered aluminum frames and internal gas bags. While early models lacked control and sufficient power, LZ 4 and LZ 5 put in respectable performance. LZ 6 through 9 were used by the army but were destroyed in hostilities. The L 10 series were giant machines, 530 feet long with a million cubic feet of hydrogen. The were used to bomb London during the First World War. While thirteen survived the war, the majority were shot down.
After the war, flights across the Atlantic became the focus. The Americans made the first west-east crossing with the NC-4 Curtis flying boat, heavily supported with shipping. The first east to west crossing was made by the British in the R 34, a replica of the German L 33 zeppelin.
In the U.S., Admiral William Moffet had two airships built, Zeppelin Rigid 1 and 2. ZR 1 was completed in England in 1921 but when doing a hard turn during testing, the hull buckled and it was destroyed. In took until 1923 to build the huge (682 ft) ZR 2 - the USS Shenandoah - which was the first airship to use helium. As helium is less buoyant than hydrogen, it was not capable of really long distances but did a number of excursions within the U.S., in spite of significant storm damage in 1924. A storm in 1925 resulted in a final crash. As part of war reparations, Germany built the Los Angeles for the U.S., an enormous (2.47 million cubic feet) airship with the latest technology. Goodyear, using the German technology, built another airship - the Akron - which was the biggest yet: 6.85 million cubic feet and 785 feet long. Using helium, the engines were placed within the hull. It went into the sea during a storm in 1933. The Akron's sister ship, the Macon, was lost in a storm on the West Coast in 1935.
In 1925, Ronald Amundsen teamed with the Italian airship builder Colonel Umberto Nobile to modify one of his N 1 airships for a trip to the North Pole. After an epic journey to Spitsbergen, where he was pre-empted by Richard Byrd who flew a Fokker trimotor to the pole. However, they carried on to the pole where they loitered for a few hours and then continued to Nome Alaska for the first polar traverse. Nobile carried out a subsequent flight to the pole in the Italia but disappeared on the return, leading to a major search operation.
Britain initiated the Imperial Airship Scheme in 1923 where two airships were built. The R-100 was built by Vickers on contract. Neville Norway (later Neville Shute) took on major roles in the construction. The R-100 was designed to carry 140 people over 6000 miles, putting Canada, South Africa, India and Australia in range. In a proving flight, it took the R-100 only twenty days to complete a trip to Montreal and back. The government built R-101 was designed in a very conservative manner - much stainless steel instead of duralumin and diesel engines - and proved to be too heavy. Much rebuilding occurred before a hurried flight to India, where it crashed upon encountering a storm over France. This ended British endeavours with airships and ironically the successful R-100 was broken up for its duralumin.
In Germany, Dr. Hugo Eckener had taken the position of business manager for Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. He built and delivered the LZ 126 to the U.S. where it became the Los Angeles. By 1928 he had built the LZ 127 - an elongated version of the LZ 126 - which became the Graf Zeppelin. After trips to the eastern U.S. and the Middle East, the Graf Zeppelin did a voyage around the world covering 21,000 miles in 12 days. The airship flew to Pernambuco, Brazil forty times over four years carrying a total of 720 passengers and 30,000 pounds of mail. By 1936, the Hindenburg was built. It was 804 feet long, able to hold seven million cubic feet of hydrogen and had a range of 8750 miles, allowing it to reach Rio de Janeiro. 1936 was the peak year for airship passenger travel with the Hindenburg doing 10 flights from Germany to New York, carrying 1006 passengers. The Hindenburg was destroyed by a fire of unknown origin in 1937. The Graf Zeppelin II was built but was used by the Luftwaffe for reconnaissance, but both Graf zeppelins were broken up for the Nazi war effort. Over the period of 1912 to 1937, German zeppelins had transported 48,778 people, done 20,877 hours of flight time and covered 1,193,501 miles.
March 19, 2015
XXX This was a giveaway from Goodreads. And I was tickled to get it! Dirigibles has always seemed more romantic that other air travels. Of course, there is nothing romantic about exploding in the sky....
Air ships in the beginning were propelled by hydrogen, extremely flammable. It was found that helium was not quite as effective, with a reduced lift capacity, but is not a flammable gas. But like oil products, helium was a finite resource, and not practical. The United States pretty much had a monopoly on helium, and we needed what we had for our own naval air ships. This book covers the growth and decline of dirigibles world wide, from the 1901 competition for the Deutsch Prize of 100,000 that went to the first competitor to follow a set route in Paris in a limited amount of time. As with the Orteig Prize in 1927 won by Charles Lindbergh and the Ansari prize in 2004 won by Virgin Galactic this competition opened the market for private industry in the dirigible industry.
C Michael Hiam has written a very precise, extremely readable history of the air ships from 1897 until the end of their use by the U S Navy and the completion of the Graf Zepplin in 1938. The photographs are clear and precise, the prose is electric. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in air travel.
Air ships in the beginning were propelled by hydrogen, extremely flammable. It was found that helium was not quite as effective, with a reduced lift capacity, but is not a flammable gas. But like oil products, helium was a finite resource, and not practical. The United States pretty much had a monopoly on helium, and we needed what we had for our own naval air ships. This book covers the growth and decline of dirigibles world wide, from the 1901 competition for the Deutsch Prize of 100,000 that went to the first competitor to follow a set route in Paris in a limited amount of time. As with the Orteig Prize in 1927 won by Charles Lindbergh and the Ansari prize in 2004 won by Virgin Galactic this competition opened the market for private industry in the dirigible industry.
C Michael Hiam has written a very precise, extremely readable history of the air ships from 1897 until the end of their use by the U S Navy and the completion of the Graf Zepplin in 1938. The photographs are clear and precise, the prose is electric. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in air travel.
December 23, 2014
Actually quite an interesting book about the quite short quest for dirigible (or steerable) balloons. Pretty much late 19th century through WWII and that's about it. Around 80 years of history. It is amazing how little the physics was understood and yet people kept building and getting in them. The book starts with the crash of the Hindenburg and then goes back and works its way back to that crash over 80 years since after the Hindenburg, dirigibles were basically dead. Those Goodyear things that fly around are pale imitations (although safer). The book is well researched and easy to read. Detailed but not overly technical. Some things that were surprizing were how many people thought it was a great idea to try to fly over the North Pole. From the doomed Andree expedition to other doomed flights. It was eventually done, but only after many crashes and after the Pole had already been conquered in a plane (although it is viewed now that he didn't actually make it, but that is another story). If you are interested in the history of a technology particularly around the turn of the 20th century, this is an enjoyable and informative read.
June 7, 2022
This might be a five star read, if airships are your thing. I went in with tepid indifference, and found it somewhat interesting. In retrospect, using flammable hydrogen to lift a giant balloon that was subject to winds and the elements, doesn't seem like a wise pursuit. There were always new fellas who wanted to improve this mess, though.
My main takeaway is there were many small disasters prior to the main event, which surprised me. I had always thought (when I gave a thought about airships) everything was cool up until the Hindenburg. After all, why would people pursue a method of transportation that was obviously extremely unsafe ...
My main takeaway is there were many small disasters prior to the main event, which surprised me. I had always thought (when I gave a thought about airships) everything was cool up until the Hindenburg. After all, why would people pursue a method of transportation that was obviously extremely unsafe ...
December 25, 2019
Day three of the flu and the fever subsided enough to stop cooking my brain so I took the unplanned downtime to cross off one of three nonfiction books I assigned myself this year (the assignment/goal was also to make progress on two fiction series.) Life being what it is, that list carries over to 2020, sans this one though!
I’ve always been fascinated with airships, both real and in steampunk imaginings. Hiam fleshes out the tragically short history of rigid aircraft masterfully, while providing the reader with other historical background of the times. Excellent details, well written narrative.
And it turns out I have a slight connection to the Hindenberg: I only learned a couple of months ago that my grandfather was stationed at Lakehurst while in the Navy. He was on liberty when he heard sirens and when he got back to the base, the guard asked if he could drive an ambulance and he spent the rest of the day transporting casualties to the hospital. The event made him decide against the air community and he went on fleet boats in WWII against the Japanese instead.
I’ve always been fascinated with airships, both real and in steampunk imaginings. Hiam fleshes out the tragically short history of rigid aircraft masterfully, while providing the reader with other historical background of the times. Excellent details, well written narrative.
And it turns out I have a slight connection to the Hindenberg: I only learned a couple of months ago that my grandfather was stationed at Lakehurst while in the Navy. He was on liberty when he heard sirens and when he got back to the base, the guard asked if he could drive an ambulance and he spent the rest of the day transporting casualties to the hospital. The event made him decide against the air community and he went on fleet boats in WWII against the Japanese instead.
December 16, 2020
Dirigible Dreams opens with great promise and potential, as C. Michael Hiam provides a riveting survivor's account of traveling aboard the ill-fated Hindenburg. Unfortunately, that is simply the prelude to the highly-detailed history of the birth of airships, which emerged as the brain child of German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early twentieth century. From there Hiam traces the innovations that Germans, British, and Americans made, particularly for military use. I'm not sure whether he got back around to the Hindenburg or not - I lost interest about two-thirds of the way through in the midst of numerous disasters and crashes, but without the most famous of the doomed airships in sight.
May 23, 2018
Up in the Air
In a very readable account, the author gives us a thorough overview of the mad rush to make commercial dirigible transport a reality.
Dirigible technology at that time was full of danger and unknown challenges that those early designers were willing to confront. The engineering challenge in the safe design of a viable commercial dirigible at the time pushed men and equipment to the very limit as we see here in this well-done story. This story captures all of the excitement and all of the danger.
Dirigible Dreams is a fun informative read on the dream of dirigible travel. Unfortunately, that dream remains to this day unfulfilled.
In a very readable account, the author gives us a thorough overview of the mad rush to make commercial dirigible transport a reality.
Dirigible technology at that time was full of danger and unknown challenges that those early designers were willing to confront. The engineering challenge in the safe design of a viable commercial dirigible at the time pushed men and equipment to the very limit as we see here in this well-done story. This story captures all of the excitement and all of the danger.
Dirigible Dreams is a fun informative read on the dream of dirigible travel. Unfortunately, that dream remains to this day unfulfilled.
May 8, 2018
Good, not great
It covers Arctic exploration nearly as much as it covers airships. That's fine since I'm interested in both, but if you're not, the first chapters may seem slow.
I'd have preferred a more in-depth look at the history of airships, but this is a good intro.
It covers Arctic exploration nearly as much as it covers airships. That's fine since I'm interested in both, but if you're not, the first chapters may seem slow.
I'd have preferred a more in-depth look at the history of airships, but this is a good intro.
April 26, 2018
Very interesting facts but probably MORE than I wanted to know.
May 7, 2018
Enjoyable read about the history of dirigibles, from the early attempts to reach the North Pole by air to the destruction of the Hindenburg, which led to the end of the Zeppelin age.
August 5, 2018
Really good read.
Lots of history in a readable manner. If you are looking for a history of airships this is a good starting point. Highly recommend.
Lots of history in a readable manner. If you are looking for a history of airships this is a good starting point. Highly recommend.
August 24, 2019
If you are a fan of dirigibles this is a must read book. I, for one, have always be fascinated by them but still learned things I didn't know.
July 19, 2021
Interesting, but not interesting enough to finish it.
January 9, 2022
Easy to read but comprehensive, full of fun and surprising details and enough technical details to make it seriously informative.
July 18, 2023
Very good overview of airship history
June 26, 2014
Dirigible dreams begins at a place that most people consider the only thing they know about dirigibles. (Goodyear builds blimps or that’s what they call them.) The explosion of the Airship Hindenberg has been seen by most people at some time and for most people it’s the only thing they know about dirigible.
After a short course on the difference between a blimp and a dirigible (one is just a big gas bag, while the other has a skeleton of metal to hold it together) the story goes on to discuss the history of airships. The story of this aviation marvel is told through some of its’ strongest advocates, beginning with Alberto Santos-Dumont at the turn of the twentieth century, Salomon August Andree, then to Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, and finally the Italian Umberto Nobile.
All of these men had ‘dirigible fever’ and believed that people could be transported in comfort across vast distances using dirigibles. The Brazilian Santos-Dumont proved that the dirigible could be viable, but most of his airships ran into mishaps because of the danger of hydrogen or underpowered machines. Graf von Zeppelin who had the most success of all the airman, lived long enough to see his inventions used to bomb London and other cities in England during World War One.
Between the wars is when dirigibles had their ‘golden age’. Though the English and Americans made tries at using dirigibles, mostly they used obsolete German airships or von Zeppelin designs.
Again, most were not successful and this was mostly to problems with the volatile hydrogen and lack of understanding of buoyancy problems. Both countries had major accidents that cost the lives of military men flying these untested airships.
In the late twenties and early thirties the successor to the von Zeppelin company built and flew five major airships, and were able to fly them to New York (actually Lakehurst, New Jersey) and Brazil. During the years of 1930 to 1937, they flew on schedule across the Atlantic, though they never made more than one flight a month. After the Hindenberg accident in 1937, the beginning of World War Two prevented airship service from resuming.
Those blimps and dirigibles were used during the war, it was mostly for observation or to protect cities from low flying planes. Plans for dirigibles to be built after the war never came about because of the new DC-3 that could cross the ocean non-stop in less than a day versus the four or five days it took an airship.
This is a fine study on a subject that few know much about. Well worth reading.
Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com
After a short course on the difference between a blimp and a dirigible (one is just a big gas bag, while the other has a skeleton of metal to hold it together) the story goes on to discuss the history of airships. The story of this aviation marvel is told through some of its’ strongest advocates, beginning with Alberto Santos-Dumont at the turn of the twentieth century, Salomon August Andree, then to Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, and finally the Italian Umberto Nobile.
All of these men had ‘dirigible fever’ and believed that people could be transported in comfort across vast distances using dirigibles. The Brazilian Santos-Dumont proved that the dirigible could be viable, but most of his airships ran into mishaps because of the danger of hydrogen or underpowered machines. Graf von Zeppelin who had the most success of all the airman, lived long enough to see his inventions used to bomb London and other cities in England during World War One.
Between the wars is when dirigibles had their ‘golden age’. Though the English and Americans made tries at using dirigibles, mostly they used obsolete German airships or von Zeppelin designs.
Again, most were not successful and this was mostly to problems with the volatile hydrogen and lack of understanding of buoyancy problems. Both countries had major accidents that cost the lives of military men flying these untested airships.
In the late twenties and early thirties the successor to the von Zeppelin company built and flew five major airships, and were able to fly them to New York (actually Lakehurst, New Jersey) and Brazil. During the years of 1930 to 1937, they flew on schedule across the Atlantic, though they never made more than one flight a month. After the Hindenberg accident in 1937, the beginning of World War Two prevented airship service from resuming.
Those blimps and dirigibles were used during the war, it was mostly for observation or to protect cities from low flying planes. Plans for dirigibles to be built after the war never came about because of the new DC-3 that could cross the ocean non-stop in less than a day versus the four or five days it took an airship.
This is a fine study on a subject that few know much about. Well worth reading.
Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com
February 9, 2017
Offers a fulfilling background into mans quest for flight. The heroics of these flying pioneers are told in a colorful and engaging prose.
March 7, 2015
As a child, I was always excited whenever the Goodyear Blimp would fly overhead, the thought of there being people aboard a flying balloon set my imagination to new heights. Dirigible Dreams gives us the history of the great airships, from the groundbreaking work of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, to the ill-fated Hindenburg disaster, which brought about the demise of airships as viable modes of transport.
This was a highly entertaining as well as educational an education read. Recommended for lovers of history, aviation, and technology.
Read the full review in The Thugbrarian Review @ http://wp.me/p4pAFB-rC
This was a highly entertaining as well as educational an education read. Recommended for lovers of history, aviation, and technology.
Read the full review in The Thugbrarian Review @ http://wp.me/p4pAFB-rC
March 17, 2015
Quite honestly, the other review is succinct and honest in the review of this book. The only additional comment is that I would have preferred more photos and technical information. A nice concise read.
February 6, 2015
Interesting but not really much new information. Few images mean the words have to carry the story, and the writing just doesn't have the snap. The author is an enthusiast rather than an expert and it shows.
December 19, 2014
A fun introduction to the quest to create safe and reliable lighter-than-air craft.
April 19, 2015
Very interesting
I was completely unfamiliar with the history of the airship. I found the book to be well-written and worth my time.
I was completely unfamiliar with the history of the airship. I found the book to be well-written and worth my time.
March 13, 2016
A curious little history. Interesting to me as I realise that my late father grew up with these things drifting(?) around the skies.
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