Do You Remember The Dirigibles?
USS Akron, flying over Manhatten, circa 1931 |
Almost all of us remember the horror story of the flaming demise of the German dirigible Hindenburg as it tried to land at the Lakehurst, New Jersey Naval Air Station on May 6, 1937, and the live radio broadcast by Herb Morrison describing the disaster that led to the end of the dirigible era around the world. But do you recall that the USA had four dirigibles of its own in the 15 or so years leading up to that time, several flying around the East Coast? Lesser-well-known than the Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg, but just as huge were the US Navy’s dirigibles: Los Angeles, Akron, Macon, and Shenandoah. Dirigibles were the largest vehicles ever to fly the skies.
Learn more about the history of these and other dirigibles that flew during that period of history, their technical specifications, capabilities, accomplishments and limitations and catch glimpses of many rarely seen photographs of them by joining us on August 12, 2011 at St. Peters Rectory Hall for a presentation by Gil Kaufman.
J.G. (Gil) Kaufman has a background of almost fifty years in the aluminum, aircraft, and materials information industries, and remains an active consultant in all three areas. Gil is a Fellow and Honorary Member of ASTM, and a Fellow and Life Member of ASM International. He has published more than 140 articles, including five books, on aluminum alloys and materials data systems. Gil and his wife Ruth reside at Cadbury at Lewes.
