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USS Akron (ZRS-4)
USS ''Akron'' (ZRS-4) was a helium-filled rigid airship of the U.S. Navy, the lead ship of her class, which operated between September 1931 and April 1933. She was the world's first purpose-built flying aircraft carrier, carrying F9C Sparrowhawk fighter planes, which could be launched and recovered while in flight. With an overall length of , ''Akron'' and her sister ship were among the largest flying objects ever built. Although LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' and LZ 130 '' Graf Zeppelin II'' were some longer and slightly more voluminous, the two German airships were filled with hydrogen, so the two US Navy craft still hold the world record for the largest helium-filled airships. ''Akron'' was destroyed in a thunderstorm off the coast of New Jersey on the morning of 4 April 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crewmen and passengers. The accident involved the greatest loss of life in any airship crash, and was indeed the deadliest aviation disaster of any kind prior to World War II. Techn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moffett Federal Airfield
Moffett Federal Airfield , also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located in an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County, California, United States, between northern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale. On November 10, 2014, NASA announced that it would be leasing of the airfield property to Google for 60 years. The airport is near the south end of San Francisco Bay, northwest of San Jose. Formerly a US Navy facility, the former naval air station is now owned and operated by the NASA Ames Research Center. Tenant military activities include the 129th Rescue Wing of the California Air National Guard, operating the HC-130J Combat King II and HH-60G Pave Hawk aircraft, as well as the adjacent Headquarters for the 7th Psychological Operations Group of the US Army Reserve. Until July 28, 2010, the US Air Force's 21st Space Operations Squadron was also a tenant command at Moffett Field, occupying the former Onizuka Air Force Station. In addition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Akron Under Construction, Nov 1930
USS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker, a Canadian band * Universal Studios Singapore, a theme park in Singapore Businesses and organizations * Union of Sovereign States, the planned successor to the Soviet Union * Union Switch & Signal, a supplier of railroad switching equipment * Union Syndicale Suisse, the Swiss Trade Union Confederation * United Seamen's Service, a non-profit, federally chartered organization founded in 1942 * United State of Saurashtra, a separate, western State within the Union of India from 1948 until 1956 * United States Senate, the upper chamber of the United States Congress * U.S. Steel Corporation * USA Swimming, formerly United States Swimming, the national governing body for competitive swimming in the US * Universities Superannuation Scheme, a pension scheme in the United Kingdom * United Peasant Party (''Ujedinjena seljačka stranka''), a political party in Serbia Computing * Unformatted System Services, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spy Basket
The spy gondola, spy basket, observation car or sub-cloud car ( or ) is a crewed vessel that an airship hiding in cloud cover could lower several hundred metres to a point below the clouds in order to inconspicuously observe the ground and help navigate the airship. It was a byproduct of ''Peilgondel'' development (a gondola to weight an airship's radio-locating antenna). They were used almost exclusively by the Germans in the World War I, First World War on their military airships. Development The ''Peilgondel'' was developed by Paul Jaray to act as a heavy plumbbob for an airship's radio antenna. A free-hanging antenna wire would move and flex in the wind hindering communications; the added weight reduced this movement. Jaray then developed the ''Peilgondel'' further into a crewed spy gondola. Use Spy baskets were used on, among others, Schütte-Lanz and Zeppelin airships. , it was not always certain which airships used them: the blueprints for List of Zeppelins#LZ62, LZ 62 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in European theatre of World War I, Europe and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, Middle East, as well as in parts of African theatre of World War I, Africa and the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I, Asia-Pacific, and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare; the widespread use of Artillery of World War I, artillery, machine guns, and Chemical weapons in World War I, chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of Tanks in World War I, tanks and Aviation in World War I, aircraft. World War I was one of the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflicts in history, resulting in an estimated World War I casualties, 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded, plus some 10 million civilian de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155–157. and developed in detail in 1893.Dooley 2004, p. A.187. They were patented in German Empire, Germany in 1895 and in the United States in 1899. After the outstanding success of the Zeppelin design, the word ''zeppelin'' came to be commonly used to refer to all forms of rigid airships. Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG (DELAG), the world's first airline in revenue service. By mid-1914, DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights. During World War I, the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins German strategic bombing during World War I, as bombers and aerial reconnaissance in World War I, as scouts. Numerous bombing raids on United Kingdom of Great Brita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buoyancy Compensator (aviation)
The static buoyancy of airships in flight is not constant. It is therefore necessary to control the altitude of an airship by controlling its buoyancy: buoyancy compensation. Changes which have an effect on buoyancy * Changes in air temperature (and thus the density of air) * Changes in lifting gas temperature (for example, the heating of the hull by the sun). * Accumulation of additional ballast (for example, precipitation or icing on the envelope) * Changes in ballast (for example, during a flight maneuver or the dropping of ballast) * Changes in weight of fuel on board, due to fuel consumption. This was a challenge especially in the large historic airships like the Zeppelins. For example, on a flight from Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst, the rigid airship USS Los Angeles (ZR-3), LZ 126, built in 1923-24, used 23,000 kg gasoline and 1300 kg of oil (an average consumption of 290 kg/100 km). During the landing the airship had to release approximately 24,000 cubi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maybach VL II
The Maybach VL II was a type of internal combustion engine built by the German company Maybach in the late 1920s and 1930s. It was an uprated development of the successful Maybach VL I, and like the VL I, was a 60° V-12 engine. History Five of them powered the German airship '' Graf Zeppelin'', housed in separate nacelles. The engines developed and were of capacity. They could burn either Blau gas or petrol. The American USS ''Akron'' used eight of them, mounted internally, as did its sister ship ''Macon''. The engines were reversible, meaning different cams could be engaged allowing the engine crankshaft to run in either direction, enabling reverse thrust. Lürssen built the fast yacht ''Oheka II'' in 1927; powered by three VL IIs, it was the fastest vessel of its type and became the basis of Germany's E-boats of World War II. Applications * LZ 127 ''Graf Zeppelin'' * USS ''Akron'' (ZRS-4) * USS ''Macon'' (ZRS-5) *Oheka II ''Oheka II'' was a private motor yacht built f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II
The ''Graf Zeppelin'' (; Registration: D-LZ 130) was the last of the German rigid airships built by Zeppelin Luftschiffbau during the period between the World Wars, the second and final ship of the ''Hindenburg'' class, and the second zeppelin to carry the name "Graf Zeppelin" (after the LZ 127) and thus often referred to as ''Graf Zeppelin II''. Due to the United States' refusal to export helium to Germany, the ''Graf Zeppelin II'' was inflated with hydrogen and therefore never carried commercial passengers. It made 30 flights over 11 months in 1938–39, many being propaganda publicity flights; staff of the Reich Air Ministry were aboard to conduct radio surveillance and measurements. The airship, along with LZ 127 were both scrapped in April 1940, and their duralumin framework salvaged to build aircraft for the Luftwaffe. Design and development The ''Graf Zeppelin II'' was virtually identical to the ''Hindenburg'', and was originally designed to use hydrogen as liftin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ 127 ''Graf Zeppelin'' () was a German passenger-carrying hydrogen-filled rigid airship that flew from 1928 to 1937. It offered the first commercial transatlantic flight, transatlantic passenger flight service. The ship was named after the German airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a count () in the German nobility. It was conceived and operated by Hugo Eckener, the chairman of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. ''Graf Zeppelin'' made 590 flights totalling almost 1.7 million kilometres (over 1 million miles). It was operated by a crew of 36 and could carry 24 passengers. It was the longest and largest airship in the world when it was built. It made the first circumnavigation of the world by airship, and the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific Ocean by air; its range was enhanced by its use of Blau gas as a fuel. It was built using funds raised by public subscription and from the German government, and its operating costs were offset by the sale of special postage stamps to sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Arnstein
Karl Arnstein (March 24, 1887, Prague – December 12, 1974, Bryan, Ohio) was one of the most important 20th century airship engineers and designers in Germany and the United States, United States of America. He was born in Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) to Jewish parents. He developed stress analysis methods that have been incorporated into bridges, airships and airplane materials. Before his involvement in airships he was one of the main engineers in building the Swiss Langwieser Viaduct. In World War I Arnstein worked on improvements to the design of the German Zeppelin airships; see Zeppelin#Technological progress, Zeppelin. He was the chief designer of the United States Navy, U.S. Navy airships, USS Akron, USS ''Akron'' and USS Macon (ZRS-5), USS ''Macon'', and was employed by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation in Akron Ohio. He also designed one of the largest Airship hangar, airship sheds in the US for sheltering huge Zeppelins. References External links Fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ZR-1
USS ''Shenandoah'' was the first of four United States Navy rigid airships. It was constructed during 1922–1923 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, and first flew in September 1923. It developed the U.S. Navy's experience with rigid airships and made the first crossing of North America by airship. On the 57th flight,Hayward (1978) p. 67 ''Shenandoah '' was destroyed in a squall line over Ohio in September 1925.Hayward (1978) p. 66 Design and construction ''Shenandoah'' was originally designated FA-1, for "Fleet Airship Number One" but this was changed to ZR-1. The airship was longHayward (1978) p. 64 and weighed 36 tons (32,658 kg). It had a range of , and could reach speeds of . ''Shenandoah'' was assembled at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1922–1923, in Hangar No. 1, the only hangar large enough to accommodate the ship; its parts were fabricated at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia. NAS Lakehurst had served as a base for Navy blimps for some time, but ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
