Talk:LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin/Archive 1

Old talk
I'm delighted to see a page on the Graf Zeppelin. However, I think the paragraph on the Hindenburg should be greatly shortened. There is already a full discussion of the Hindenburg fire on it's own page as well as on the Zeppelin page. It seems unreasonable to repeat it for a third time on this page. If anything, the contrast between the Graf's safety record and the Hindenburg publicity should be emphasized. Blimpguy 13:54, 1 Apr 2004 (UTC)


 * I can see the merits of your suggestion, however I would counter that the Hindenburg disaster had a massive effect on the viability of dirigibles as a whole and directly impacted the fate of the Graf Zeppelin as well as the Graf Zeppelin II. I think providing enough context with, and a portal to the article on the Hindenburg is important. I strongly agree with your suggestion about adding something about the Graf Zeppelin's safety record vs. the public outcry caused by the Hindenburg and R 101 disasters. If you have more information and sources to cull from, please put something together and add to it. I am not overly informed on the subject so I hope you or someone else can run with your suggestion and craft more content about it. Lestatdelc 18:16, Apr 1, 2004 (UTC)

"He (German airships have always been referred to in the masculine)"

Is this really true? In German its referred to as she ("die Graf Zeppelin"), whereas the person ("(der) Graf Zeppelin") is referred to as he. Moon light shadow 07:28, 2 Apr 2004 (UTC)


 * I was going by this information on the original entry on zeppelins. You are correct in pointing this out though. In German, every noun (person, place or thing), whether it refers to a tree, a thought, a planet, a car or a man (all masculine nouns in German), has a gender. After a little more googling, it seems that generically speaking, airships of any kind are neuter, das Luftschiff. Der Zeppelin, of course, is masculine, but it is not clear whether this is because it also references or the words etymology is being that of a male person of the same name. Yet some Germans of the mid-thirties wrote or spoke of die Hindenburg - feminine, a carry-over from nautical terminology. So this certainly seems to call into question the veracity of the passage from the original zeppelin entry I culled that from. That said, gooling either gender nominative term for the dirigibles Hindenburg and Graf Zeppelin turns up numerous entries using the masculine name. Though over on the German Wikipedia in the entry on the Graf Zeppelin, they use the feminine nominative case. All things being said, I think on balance you are correct, and we should probably revise (i.e. remove) the passage in both this article and the original one on zeppelins I took this from. Lestatdelc 15:47, Apr 2, 2004 (UTC)
 * It seems that the usage has changed over time. In the early 1900's the usage was always "he".  In large part this seemed due to the merging of the myths of man and machine. Historians have commented that when crowds saw an approaching zepp, they would always shout "Here he comes."  -- never seeming to make much of an issue of whether they were referring to man or airship.  There were also a lot of jokes that when the Zepp built LZ126 was recristened "Los Angeles" in the United States, it went through a sex change from "he" to "she". Over time, and with the zepps receding into history, the "she" (which I think is the article used) from water craft seems to have crept into use on airships.  So today there is mixed use, with the common use being "she" and the more historical/technical folks often making a point of saying "he".    We've had this same discussion on the zeppelin talk pages.  I don't know what the right answer is.  It is a source of continuing confusion. Perhaps there should be a separate article on the subject  Blimpguy 15:58, 2 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Good reply, I think perhaps a brief sentence explaining this very point in both articles might be the best course instead of deletion. The point about jokes being made about it undergoing a "sex change" when it was "Americanized" and re-christened "Los Angeles" in the States certainly sheds some light on the issue of the gender nominative and I think adds some interesting detail. Lestatdelc 16:09, Apr 2, 2004 (UTC)
 * Today, when referring to a zeppelin by name, using anything but feminine form would seem strange in German. Currently, I cannot dismiss your idea that this might have been different in the days of Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg, but as a German I have never come across such a form, not even while researching for my contributions here and in the German Wikipedia, and so I suspect that the "confusion" among English speakers may at least in part be based on a misunderstanding concerning the importance of gender in German grammar. The grammatical gender of the German word "Zeppelin" is masculinum. You may attribute this to the count in some way, however this fact should not be overrated, as grammatical and biological gender are much less in one-to-one correspondence in German than in English. Many words for objects and abstract entities are masculinum or femininum, while, more pathologically, "das Mädchen" (the girl) is neutrum. So, while in English adressing objects as "he" or "she" is rather uncommon and more or less automatically implies some sort of personification, referring to things as "er" (he) or "sie" (she) is completely normal in German. For example, my computer is masculinum, and so are my monitor and my table. My keyboard is femininum, and so are my mouse and my hard disk.  That said, when talking about a zeppelin, a speaker or writer may refer to the airship as "er", which expands to "der Zeppelin" without per se implying any personification. Thus, "er" would here accurately be translated as "it", for "zeppelin" (as an object) is a neutre in English. In fact, a zeppelin without a name, such as any German military zeppelin (which includes the vast majority of zeppelins ever built), would certainly not be referred to in femininum, not even today, but in masculinum (like "Zeppelin") or neutrum (like "Luftschiff"). Usage of the "she" form is tightly connected with names.  Certainly, the crew would have called LZ126 "er". Like many nautical crews, they may have personified their ship to a certain extent and, based on the grammatical gender, made it a "he", which explains the jokes. However, I doubt this would have been the same if the ship had had a name already.  Moreover, I believe that the cheering crowds calling out "Da kommt er!" (There "he" comes!) really had no personification in mind and used "er" simply as a substitute for "der Zeppelin". Expanding "er" to "der Graf Zeppelin" or "der Hindenburg" sounds so plain wrong to me that it would require a contemporary German source to convince me that these forms were ever preferred to the feminine "die Graf Zeppelin" and "die Hindenburg". --J.Rohrer 18:45, 2 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * Many thanks J.Rohrer. I'm fascinated at how such a small issue as he/she/it gets tangled by time and usage. I think that every English-language history of airships makes at least passing reference to the choice of article.  While amusing, it is hardly central to this page.  I am left wondering what the least distracting choice is.  On the one hand, using "she"  will be the least likely to confuse casual English readers.  However, "she" will no doubt raise the ire of (and reopen the topic by) English speaking airship history buffs. Blimpguy 16:50, 3 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I think the "Zeppelin" as object is masculin, but the airship "Graf Zeppelin" or "Hindenbug" is femenin. Ships are generally femenin in german too. We will start a discussion in the german Wikipedia and i will examin some historic articels about the airships. LZ127 had the masculin nickname "The Graf" ("der Graf") I dont know any use of the "Hindenburg" as femenin form when the name was used alone. hadhuey from german wikipedia


 * Doctor Robinson was pretty clear on this subject. A German speaker and an Airship historian of note. Yet Harold G. Dick, writing with Dr. Robinson, writing in English, uses 'she' to refer to the Graf Zeppelin. Almost a moot pointMark Lincoln (talk) 18:43, 25 August 2011 (UTC)

Engines
I like this page on the Graf Zeppelin is great, but I've heard that it uses a certain type of gas to run its engines. I think the name is blau gas. I got it off the web page that spoke about famous zeppelins. The website name is www.zeppelins.com. I'm not sure about the website, but I am sure about the Graf Zeppelin using some other gas than gasoline. The reason, I think, is that gasoline was too heavy and as it is burned up it make the zeppelin lighter. This forces the captain and crew of the airship to release precious hydrogen. If this website has any info on blau gas, please tell me. Capt. Z.


 * Yes thats true. German Wikipedia has some more information in several articles. Do you want to know somthing special? Hadhuey 10:16, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure how to correctly edit Wikipedia stuff, but I got here when searching for more info on a calypso by Atilla the Hun called "Graf Zeppelin." Someone should add it as another possible meaning :)

Passenger capacity and associated information
How about adding the number of passengers carried? Also, for long flights, how were accomodations handled? Was food prepared and served? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.230.194.82 (talk) 01:34, 24 February 2007 (UTC).

Some information regarding passengers is incorrect. For example, Sir Hubert Wilkins was not yet married when Graf Zeppelin made it's record trip around the world and his wife was not on that trip. There were 20 passengers on board. Russians, Japanese, American, British, Austrians, French, Australian and Spaniards. There was even a chimpanzee bound for the New York Zoo.Yoyoboys (talk) 00:51, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I believe Sir Hubert and his new wife travelled on the final Lakehurst to Friedrichshafen leg (i.e. following conclusion of the American round-the-world journey). Have amended the article accordingly but left the "citation needed" tag in place for now, as direct source still needed. -- Picapica (talk) 11:44, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Lakehurst
Did the first long-range voyage lead to Lakehurst, New Jersey or Lakehurst NAS? I know the Hindenburg went to Lakehurst NAS. Lakehurst NAS is not located in Lakehurst, New Jersey, it is located in Manchester Township, New Jersey. Jons63 13:10, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I did find and correct the paragraph about the round the world flight. It did start and end at Lakehurst NAS, not Lakehurst, NJ.  Jons63 11:36, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Why is cite id removed?
Is there a consensus to remove use of cite id tags from references here?

This edit removed cite id from the "Graf Zeppelin: Bomberguy Aviation History" video clip collection in References. That caused the loss of the anchor used by various inline citation links and so stops the link from working. I used cite id (see my edit here and here, last one with comment " cite id for movie clips needed because I used it to cite claims in Golden Age, is this better?" ) because I read it in Cite (in the "Inline citation styles" section):

Creating an anchor to the References section is highly recommended ...

Now, the article has several inline Notes to the same clip collection, each pointing to a different clip to help verify the historical events claimed (Chicago flight for example). But each Notes entry link is now stale and does not direct the reader to the relevant References entry.

Comments? 84user (talk) 07:02, 12 June 2008 (UTC)


 * One of the issues remains that Youtube references are normally not acceptable although there is a case to be made here as the material is an exact copy. What you are creating in the first instance is a Harvard Citation that links to the bibliography; it is the reference citation that works and is all that is needed. However, resurrect the cite template by all means, as I still intend to have a fuller reference statement eventually. I have written to the editor of the Youtube film for permission to use his full name as the source of the reference. FWiW Bzuk (talk) 12:43, 12 June 2008 (UTC).

Yes, I'm aware youtube is on the edge of acceptability, and I would prefer to use a text reference or links to the source clips if possible. Yes, the Harvard style with link was what I had in mind. However wikipedia's templates for Citation frighten me! I'll gradually learn to flesh out citations manually I guess. Meanwhile, related to the "Graf Zeppelin crossing Atlantic" youtube cite, there are original Pathe News clips viewable and usable for non-commercial purposes, I will make a list in the next section. I assume verifying articles counts as non-commercial! -84user (talk) 21:56, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

British Pathe News clips
I searched the britishpathe.com website for "Graf Zeppelin", like this and got a list of 27 clips to do with the Graf Zeppelin (some were for the LZ 130). I will apend a formatted table as soon as I convert the UK dates to a sortable syntax. - 84user (talk) 21:56, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Sortable table
This www.britishpathe.com search URL gives this list of clips 1 to 27:

(I removed my two "meanwhile" items) -84user (talk) 22:23, 12 June 2008 (UTC) (completed list of 27) -84user (talk) 22:36, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

The above table is not complete, because somehow britishpathe's search engine does not return all clips that contain the search string. For example there are two more "FLYING DOWN TO RIO" clips (the first and the second). I only managed to preview the first as the site was giving no end of Fatal PHP and misconfigured CGI errors I was about to give up. Here are my notes on the 2:36 clip: FLYING DOWN TO RIO 	 Date: 10/11/1932  Film ID: 1600.09 Footage of the first stage of airship flight to Rio De Janeiro. SOUND -84user (talk) 23:23, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
 * nearly 3000 horsepower, speed nearly 70 mph
 * 7 tonnes of petrol to fly from Friedrichshafen to Rio
 * passed over France before dawn, heading for Balaeric Islands
 * flew along coast of Spain and passed the Straits of Gibraltar
 * one of the passengers starts a gramophone, looked like the righthand photo but no handle visible:
 * 80 mph as they pass to west coast of Africa
 * "And here we leave you until our further adventures next week" - title card "FURTHER INSTALMENT ... Next Week"

ITN Source video clips
As www.britishpathe.com appears to be broken today, I searched www.itnsource.com for video clips. It's free but requires a tedious registration. Some of the clips are incorrectly dated and described. I couldn't see a way to make hard links, so one would have to repeat the search and scroll to refind these.

ZEPP'S ATLANTIC FLIGHT, wrongly dated, appears to cover first flight to America:
 * title card "Wonderful pictures taken on board by staff cameraman -- also arrival scenes in America"
 * 00:05 shows cameraman pointing moviecamera on trip through window (so, two movie cameras?)
 * 00:08 Eckener and crew in control room, view aft of Graf exterior port fin
 * at 00:17 Lady Hay Drummond-Hay is seen sitting at table taking tea between who I guess is Karl H. von Wiegand on the left and an unknown man on the right. 00:25 shows Eckener I guess.
 * 00:40 flying over New York
 * 01:09 possible port stabiliser damage visible?

Untitled, Ref BGT407131390, Graf at rest in Los Angeles and New York ticker-tape parade...
 * (note wrong description, and very poor quality clip)
 * 00:02 view inside hangar of the Graf next to USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) on left
 * 00:21 title: "Yankee sailors repair the damaged stabilizing fin which slowed up the huge craft's flight from Germany"
 * 00:22 view of ladders up to the port fin with most of the skin removed, repairmen look very small, closeup at 00:34
 * 00:40 title: "Meanwhile New York vivdly demonstrates its admiration of Dr. Hugo Eckener and his brave crew at an official reception"
 * 00:41 parade of cars and horses, snowlike confetti

It was interesting to see what must have been the midflight repairs to the port fin, as described in the article under First intercontinental passenger airship flight, and also described by this Channel 4 History page: "the storm damaged a tail fin. Volunteers, including Eckener’s son, went aloft in 50 knot winds and pelting rain to make urgent repairs." -84user (talk) 16:59, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

1934 First South America Flight?
In "Golden age" the postal cover is captioned "First 1934 South America Flight". Wasn't the Graf flying a postal service to S.A. since 1931 or 1932? Does the First mean first flight in the 1934 season maybe? I tagged it with clarify.-84user (talk) 01:04, 17 June 2008 (UTC)


 * The flights of the Graf were listed by "season" so "First 1934 South America Flight" means the first flight to South America in the 1934 season as per the schedule of 1934 SA flights seen immediately above the cover. (Centpacrr (talk) 02:02, 17 June 2008 (UTC))

1933 50th ocean crossing
A detail probably too minor to add to the article: this auction lot (requires free registration for large view) shows a 1933 postal cover postmarked New York Oct 2, 1933, commemorating the 1933 flight to Century of Progress Exposition. It has a red triangular stamping "Luftschiff Graf Zeppelin / 50. Ozeanüberquerung - Oktober / 1933 - Südamerika-Chicagofahrt", an arrow from Germany to Rio, an arrow from Rio to Chicago and an arrow from Chicago to Germany. Typewritten at the top is "via Graf Zeppelin from Friedrichshafen to Miami" and there are two US 50 cent "A Century of Progress Flight" stamps. The Chicago article has the Graf landing on October 26, so I'm curious how the cover was transported: maybe New York to Germany on an earlier flight/by ship? Germany to Rio, then dropped off at Miami? Why not at Chicago? Did it skip New York? -84user (talk) 19:24, 24 June 2008 (UTC) PS: bomberguy's video at 8 minutes 15 seconds shows the Graf landing in Florida with the commentary "fourth flight to America". (1st in 1928, 2nd and 3rd in 1929)-84user (talk) 19:37, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Red circle highlight
Just a quick note that the red circle highlight breaks in PDF export, and probably in other formats as well; I'd recommend hard-coding it in the image and keeping a separate, unhighlighted copy, for maximum compatibility.--Eloquence* 21:29, 17 November 2009 (UTC)