Thursday, January 2, 2020

Zeppelin LZ 126

The LZ 126 was built by the Zeppelin company for the US as part of war reparations, becoming the USS Los Angeles. The delivery trip from Germany turned out to be the first actual transatlantic flight, 3 years before the Spirit of St. Louis.  
To get around German postwar manufacturing restrictions it was built as an passenger craft and was mainly used for training and experimental work. It was one of the few airships not to end its life in a crash, possibly the closest it came was an incident at Lakehurst when weather conditions stood the craft on its end (below). Grounded as a cost cutting move in 1932, the craft was reactivated after the USS Akron crash though it apparently was not flown again. It was dismantled in 1939. 



thanks, Jon!

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