Invisible Themepark

Category: Airships

Cutaway views of lighter-than-air craft: blimps, airships, zeppelins.

  • Hindenburg “A” Deck Walkthrough Video

    Video Script

    The Hindenburg‘s “A” deck was the place where most everything happened–eating, dining, sleeping, lounging, sightseeing.

    Dining Area

    As we walk up the stairs from the “B” Deck, we go towards the Dining Area.  There were only a few tables in the Dining area, and meals were served in shifts, much on a train.  But you’ll notice the generous spacing between the tables.

    And that’s something you find a lot on the Hindenburg:  lots of open space.

    Promenade

    On the other side of a low wall was the promenade–for sitting or leaning against the rail to watch the Atlantic Ocean pass far below.

    Lounge Area

    On the other side of the “A” Deck–separated by the passenger cabins–was a similar space, but it had a different purpose.  This was the Lounge area with another large open space and aluminum chairs and tables.  The piano was largely aluminum and pigskin and weighed around 400 pounds.

    Reading/Writing Room

    For a little private time, there was a Reading/Writing room in back.  Passengers could browse the small collection of books or write letters or postcards at the small writing desks.

    Passenger Cabins

    Finally, at night there were 25 passenger cabins with bunks that could accommodate up to 50 people.  Walls were thin–made of fabric and  foam–and had no windows.  But they were just as good, and maybe even better, than railway sleepers.  They had hot and cold water taps, a small fold-down writing desk, call buttons, and a closet.

    The Hindenburg‘s “A” Deck:  Not the height of luxury by today’s standards, or even by the standards of contemporary ocean liners, but remarkable for that time, especially when compared to previous airships.

  • Hindenburg “A” Deck Cutaway

    Hindenburg “A” Deck Cutaway

    One of the best, and cheapest, books that I have ever had about the Hindenburg is called Hindenburg: an Illustrated History, by Rick Archbold, with paintings by Ken Marschall. The art is too beautiful to even talk about in this space. But because one interest of Invisible Themepark is cutaways, let’s look at one cutaway drawing of the “A” Deck of the Hindenburg.

    The Hindenburg’s Cabins

    On the “A” Deck were 25 passenger cabins that had two beds apiece, in bunk-like fashion. The walls between the cabins were fairly thin, just foam and a layer of fabric. The cabins could be quite noisy if you had a loud tenant in the adjoining room. Unlike the outer cabins in a cruise ship, none of these cabins in the Hindenburg had windows. The cabins were not a space where you spent a lot of time. Most time was spent in the more spacious public rooms.

    Public Spaces:  Promenade, Dining, Lounge, and Reading Room

    On either side of the “A” Deck were promenades where passengers could sit or stand while looking out at the angled windows to the ground or clouds moving below. On one side was the large six-table dining room, hardly the cramped, all-purpose public area found earlier in the Graf Zeppelin.

    On the other side was another big lounge complete with an aluminum piano. Two men could easily move the piano because it was made of pigskin-covered aluminum and weighed less than 400 pounds. For a greater sense of quiet and peace, the reading and writing room provided a small library, two writing desks, a mailbox, and stationary.

    The main thing that distinguished the Hindenburg’s public places from that of other airship: space.

  • Zeppelin Sub-Cloud or Spy Basket: The Ultimate Secret

    Zeppelins, despite their mammoth size, are by nature secretive modes of transport.  Even when they plied the skies on a regular basis, zeppelins were largely misunderstood by the general public.  I think I will puke if I read another book with an overly simplistic wrap-up like this:

    And the the fiery destruction of the Hindenburg effectively marked the end of the airship age.  The End.

    God bless my Time-Life Books Epic of Flight series book, The Giant Airships, but that’s pretty much the neat ‘n’ tidy way they wrap up this whole, complicated saga.  Nothing is that neat.  There were many factors that contributed to the demise of airship travel (or I should say lull, since it is starting to come back) in the late 1930s.  One tiny factor, out of perhaps hundreds, is the fact that helium, the heavier but safer gas, came mainly from two sources:  the U.S. and Russia.  In other words, not in Germany.  But I digress.

    That said, let’s look at one super-cool, secret part of the airships:  the sub-cloud or spy basket.

    Sub-Cloud Facts

    As one crewman described the experience of being in a sub-cloud:

    There I hung, exactly as if I had been in a bucket, down a well.

    A sub-cloud was an aerodynamic “car” that was lowered on a cable below the zeppelin for purposes of spying or simply “spying” the conditions below the clouds.

    • Often, the sub-cloud hung up to 500 feet below the zeppelin.  Sometimes, the sub-cloud would be lowered as far as 750 or even 1000 meters–well over half a mile.
    • Because of the isolation and lack of comfort, the sub-cloud could be equipped with a wicker chair, chart table, electric lamp, compass, and telephone.
    • The support wire was steel with a brass core, and would also be used as the telephone line.
    • Later spy baskets were not so much “baskets” as they were fully aerodynamic, fish-shaped cards–with fins, tails, and even small windshields.
    • Crewmen loved one aspect of the sub-cloud:  because smoking was forbidden on the hydrogen-filled airship, the sub-cloud was one place where they could smoke.

    Lehmann and the Observation Car

    Graf Zeppelin officer and Hindenburg Captain Ernst A. Lehmann, in his classic book The Zeppelins, describes the first usage of what he calls the “observation car”:

    I did not see the preparations, but they must have been bungled somewhere. When the airship had reached a sufficient height Strasser got into the little car and gave the signal which would lower it a half mile below the ship. About 300 feet down, while the winch was allowing the cable to unwind slowly but steadily, the tail of the car became entangled with the wireless aerial. It caught the car and tilted it upside down. The cable meanwhile continued unwinding from the winch above and was beginning to dangle in a slack loop below Strasser, who only saved himself from being tipped out by clinging to the sides of the car with a deathlike grip. Suddenly the aerial gave way, sending the car and Strasser plunging down until it brought up at the end of its own cable with a sickening jolt. It was not a propitious introduction for the new device.

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