The Official Newsletter of THE NAVAL AIRSHIP ASSOCIATION, INC. No. 74 Summer 2007 .

ISSUE # 74 Summer 2007

Editorial 2President’s Message 3Reunion 2007 4Pigeon Cote 5Treasurer’s Strongbox 10Shore Establishments 12L-8 Mystery: 65 years 14European Report 18Short Lines 19Media Watch 22USS Akron: 75 years 24History Committee 25Black Blimp 30Lighter Side of LTA 32

THE NOON BALLOONOfficial Publication of the Naval Airship Association, Inc.

Eric Brothers and David Smith.

Opposite: America, Model 2 by Herman Van Dyk: “Asmentioned elsewhere in this magazine, expeditions to theNorth and South Pole were in the center of public interestduring the years around the turn of the previous century.All expeditions by sled, ship or skis had failed. As early as1845, M. Dupuis Decourt suggested to the FrenchGovernment to use a dirigible and years later theAmerican Dr. De Bausset announced his plan to build astainless steel clad airship, capable of transporting 200passengers to explore the Polar region. However, theannounced departure date of June 1, 1888 came and wentwithout an airship. The very first attempt to try to fly overthe Arctic was made by Solomon Andree. On July 11,1897, he left his balloon shed at Virgohamna, on the islandof Danskøve, Svalbard (Spitsbergen), never to be seenalive again. 33 years later his remains and those of histeammates were found on the island or Kvitoya togetherwith their diaries and photographs. Walter Wellman, areporter for the Chicago Record-Herald newspaper, and aveteran of two unsuccessful arctic expeditions, managed toraise enough public interest and capital to attempt to reachthe North Pole by dirigible. He traveled to France and metwith the famous experts in Paris and chose Louis Godardto build the airship America. On July 8, 1906 the airshipwas delivered to the island of Danskøve, where a hugeairship shed was being erected close to Andree's balloonshed. Trial runs, after assembly of the dirigible, revealedfailure of the driving gear, collapse of the propellers andother faults. (Continued next column)

A new airship America (Model 2) was designed and builtin France by the American Melvin Vanniman and wasdelivered to 'Camp Wellman’ at Virgohamna in thesummer of 1907. Bad weather conditions delayed theattempt of the America 2 until Sept. 2, 1907. Shortly aftertake-off, technical difficulties forced Wellman to make anemergency landing on a glacier and the airship wasreturned to Paris for modifications. It was not until Augustl5, 1909, that Wellman was able to try again. A few hoursinto the flight, the America lost its ‘equilibrator’ (dragrope) and was forced to make a landing at sea. A smallship was able to rescue the crew and salvage the airship. Itwas the end of Wellman’s Polar expeditions. The next yearhe would try to cross the Atlantic in the America Mod. 3.”– Herman Van Dyk

The Naval Airship Associationwww.naval-airships.org

President - Robert L. Ashford389 Harvard Ct. - Naples, FL 34104

Tel. 239-353-1306Email: rlashford6@yahoo.com

Vice President - Donald E. Shorts1495 Main St. - Crete, IL 60417-0481

Tel: 708-672--0136Email: fourstacks@aol.com

Secretary - Margret M. Hinrichsen653 Alvarado Lane - Cottonwood, AZ 86326

Tel.& Fax: 928-634-0727Email: hinrich@comspeed.netTreasurer - Peter F. Brouwer

1950 S.W. Cycle St. - Port St. Lucie, FL 34953-1778 Tel: 772-871-9379

Email: peterfbrouwer@bellsouth.netNAMF Liaison - Mort Eckhouse

Email: mortusn@aol.comNMNA Liaison – Joe HajcakEmail: jghajcak@juno.com

Webmaster - Michael VinnarickEmail: michael_vinarcik@email.msn

Technical Committee Chair –Norman Mayer

Email: normanmayer@juno.comSmall Stores - George W. Allen

Email: cdra@juno.com

All material contained in this newsletter represents theviews (and sometimes typos) of its authors and does notnecessarily represent the official position of the NavalAirship Association, Inc., nor its officers or members.

Front Cover: L-7 at Lakehurst 1942. U.S. Navy Photo via

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This issue marks the first anniversary of your“new” TNB production team (no one is under55). Speaking for Dave and myself, weappreciate your encouraging words, e-mailsand photo-rich submissions. You’re keepingthe quality high – and let’s keep it going!

NAA Secretary Margret M. Hinrichsenkindly donated her large collection of airshipphotographs, manuals and books to the NMNAvia the H.C. Chair. Allowing us the privilege ofscanning the material before it is entered intothe Pensacola library was most useful; in fact,it immediately lead to the L-8 history in thisissue being more complete.

Jim Hughes wrote to say he appreciated theK-72 case being made public; no one elseseemed to be interested. If anything, one e-mailmessage suggested it didn’t matter if an airshipsank a sub (!) That got me to worrying – andlead me to add, to my History report, my ownFather’s HTA ASW story (see page 26).

Our efforts to preach the LTA word shouldextend beyond the choir's pews, yea, even untothe valley of... the disbelievers, that is to sayHTA oriented museums and periodicals.Recently Bill Walker decided one item fromhis Dad's collection, the last known remainingpiece of the Army-Navy airship TC-14, couldbe entrusted to a non-Navy museum. A recentAir & Space Smithsonian article devoted toGlen Curtiss visited his hometown ofHammondsport, New York, but the resultingarticle made no illustration of Curtiss' LTAwork. It left the reader doubtful there is even amuseum there. Indeed there is, but in spite ofits rich LTA heritage, the Curtiss Museumseems to have little demand for that side of hisstory. Their gift shop won't carry Jim Shock'smostly-Curtiss Army Airship book, nor do theywant to sell the Curtiss Sparrowhawk-dominated DVD, THE FLYING CARRIERS.However, reflecting their close ties withMercury Aircraft, museum director Trafford L-M Doherty not only accepted Mr. Walker'sdonation of the TC-14 manufacturer's tag, butthey built a small display around it (photo).

Next time you're upstate NY in the KeukaLake area, drop by and encourage them toexpand on their LTA heritage. Their team builtan entire ‘Jenny’ airplane from scratch – howmuch easier it would be to build a ‘B’ ship car.

Milking the LZ-129 cash cow this 70th

anniversary finds TV producers playing HerbMorrison’s record while showing the spliced-together newsreels. (See pg. 25) I decided toturn tables on them. Again thanks to Mr.Walker, I have managed to put his Dad’s radiorecording made aboard the USS Macon in1933 together with Macon footage. The resultis a rather interesting and positive audio-visualmix. In keeping with ‘Hep’ Walker’s wish, Ialso (finally) got around to putting together acollection of USS Akron footage not on theother DVDs. Hopefully the folks fromGermany’s der Spiegel TV that contacted uslast winter about a Macon show will appreciatethe accomplishments rather than the crashes.

Maybe not. If life were fair, there would be noquestionable cases like the K-14’s loss. Goodnews is, there is still plenty of time for you toregister for the Reunion! Let’s talk it over then.See you at Lakehurst, - R G Van T

EDITORIALR. G. Van Treuren, rgvant@juno.com

Box 700, Edgewater FL 32132-0700

THE NOON BALLOONVolunteer Staff

Contributing Editors: NAA MembersMasthead Artwork: Bo Watwood

www.navyblimps.tripod.comEditor: Richard G. Van Treuren

www.airshiphistory.comPublisher: David R. Smith

www.gyzep.com

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My dear friends in the Naval AirshipAssociation (NAA), this is probably the next-to-lasttime that I will get to address you in this currentissue of “The Noon Balloon” (TNB) since my termof office will be over with the next issue, #75. Infact, if I don’t hurry up and get this copy to oureditor, I may “miss the boat” altogether.

My two years as President have literallywhizzed by at warp speed. Part of that has beenour problem since my wife, Phyllis, and I havebeen consumed with moving our household fromthe lovely retirement community of Charlestown onthe outskirts of Baltimore and dividing it betweenour two homes in Naples, FL, and Powhatan, VA.Now we have established ourselves as residents ofFlorida and we qualify as bona fide “Snowbirds” inthat we spend 7 to 8 months in Florida and theother 4 to 5 months in Virginia. To help compoundthe issue, Phyllis broke her hip almost exactly ayear ago (the end of May 2006). It was patchedtogether with bolts, screws and plates but left herwith one leg 1_ inches shorter than the other. InFebruary of this year she had a total hipreplacement to get rid of the temporary hardwareand to restore her leg to the proper length and isnow just about “back to battery.” Our latest movefrom FL to VA was completed a week ago.

On the other end of the spectrum, NAAactivities have kept us busy. Your elected officersand other volunteers make up the ExecutiveCouncil (EC) of the Naval Airship Association andwe have met our scheduled goal of meeting everysix months to hash out our problems and plan forthe future. We met in March 2006 in Sarasota, FL,and were hosted by our now departed “Mr. Ed”Higginson, formerly the editor of TNB; again wemet in October of 2006 at the “Dome Home” of ourcurrent TNB Editor in Edgewater, FL; and inMarch 2007 we gathered at the home of NavalAviation, the National Museum of Naval Aviationin Pensacola, FL. The council meetings have beeninvaluable in helping us to assess where we havebeen and where we are going. Mainly we haveused those meetings to plan for the future and, inparticular, for our upcoming reunion inLakehurst/Toms River.

My term as President of NAA has beenmarked with a several events of sadness. Just a fewdays after our last reunion our long-time Treasurerand our friend, John Kane, passed away in hissleep. Several months later the former editor of

TNB passed away after a long term illness, whichforced him to retire from the editorship of ournewsletter. The entire two years has been markedwith the death of many of our long time andfaithful members, which has served to make us allmore aware that airshipmen of World War IIvintage are a “dying breed.”

On the bright side, it has been an excitingjourney. We saw Pete Brouwer “appear out of thewoodwork” to become our new treasurer and wehave been pleased beyond our wildest dreams withthe new look of TNB, the work of our newproduction team. A stout and hearty Bravo Zulu toPete, as well as Dave and Rich for their splendidwork. I want to thank our recent past President,Norm Mayer, who has always helped so much inkeeping us going in the right direction, and toGeorge Allen who has continually prompted meabout what needed to be done so that nothingslipped into the cracks.

My thanks to the Executive Councilmembers who have traveled from afar at their ownexpense to attend our EC meetings – MargaretHinrichsen from Arizona, Norm Mayer fromVirginia, and Vice President Don Shorts fromIllinois. And thanks to our Florida troops – NAMFLiaison Mort Eckhouse from Pensacola, TNBEditor Rich Van Treuren from Edgewater, NMNALiaison Joe Hajcak from Pensacola, Treasurer PeteBrouwer from Port St. Lucie, and Small StoresManager George Allen from Jacksonville. Withoutthe faithful help of all of you we would be “dead inthe water.”

Also, the thanks of all of us goes to WalterAshe who once again chaired our NominatingCommittee which has selected an outstanding slateof candidates to lead the NAA into the future [seepage 11]. The one huge highlight (and “SwanSong”) of each NAA President’s tour of duty is thebiennial reunion which will occur September 4through 6, 2007 in Lakehurst and Toms River, NJ.There is no way that a reunion can happen unlesssomeone close to the scene steps up to chair theReunion Committee. Rick Zitarosa, the Historianof the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society, is theman. I had never met Rick until about a year ago atthe Motel in Toms River which will be our reunionheadquarters. Rick has done an absolutelyoutstanding job of making the arrangements for ourgathering in September. Thank you, Rick.

See you all at NAA Reunion 2007. Don’t miss it!- Bob Ashford, NAA President

View From The Top:PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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Naval Airship Association ReunionTues-Thurs September 4, 5 and 6, 2007Toms River, (Lakehurst), New Jersey

Preliminary Schedule:- Sept 4 -Tuesday Afternoon – NAA ExecutiveCouncil Meeting. Registration opens.1800: Welcome aboard cocktail party, heavyhors d’oeurves, cash bar.

-Wednesday, Sept 5 – NAA business meetingat 9:00 AM followed by Bus trip tour of NAESLakehurst. (See page 13) Lunch at the base.A reminder about Lakehurst: Foreign Nationals are notallowed on tours of the base. At time of this writing,military ID and/or a picture driver's license or picture IDare usually required to gain access to NAES Lakehurst.Depending on Security Conditions, Social SecurityNumbers of all visitors may be needed as well. In anycase, these are handled through the Base Securitydepartment and no outsiders see the information. Wewill only ask for this information if it is absolutelyrequired. We apologize for any inconvenience this maycause, but security conditions at Lakehurst are verystringent since 9/11/01.

Late Afternoon Sept 5: Memorial Service atthe Cathedral of the Air

- Thursday, Sept 6 -Bus trip toappropriateestablishment(s) inAtlantic City forrefreshment,pleasure andFinancial Planning

(World - famousBoardwalk, below)

- Thursday Evening Sept. 6 – No host cocktailparty followed by Reunion Banquet.

Attached to this issue is a Registration Form.This is your last chance to sign up; do it now!Life is uncertain; Lakehurst, like all bases, issubject to closure with a change inGovernment. We might not get the chance tomeet here again! Please sign up as soon aspossible so that you will not miss out on theQuality Inn room discount.

Hope to see you all at NAA Reunion 2007!

Quality Inn, Toms River, New Jersey

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Dan Brady reflected on the loss of B o bShannon: “I flew with Bob on most of the lastflying wind tunnel flights, the #559 atLakehurst. This was the joint project withPrinceton. He was command pilot. I was thecrew chief. We also ground handled together.Whenever we had bad weather, winds snow etcWalter Ashe would have us put the ship intothe barn. We were a team. Bob Shannon was inmy estimation the most cool, calm and bestairship aviator that I ever crewed for. He wasthe command pilot of the last airship flight I atLakehurst. In the video I gave to [ChapterFive] in one shot the 559 is making low flightsover hangar one for observation of the flyingwind tunnel. Bob is at the controls and it showsall the movement necessary to airship control.

Bob was really liked by all who served withhim and in the inner circles who partied withhim, he was nicknamed “The Silver Fox.” Itwas with great sorrow to hear of his passing. Ireally lost a great friend, and the NAA lost agreat member.” (Photos from Bob’s daughter Claudia) Ω

Robert F. Martin, who is patiently waiting foranyone to respond to his request for photos andinfo requested in previous issues, sent aclipping from the NY Times. It contained aphoto of a large crowd taken from an airship,during a July 14th celebration, this one in1911. It looks to be one iteration of theAdjudant-Vincenot, the craft that a few yearslater actually made the first air-raid of WorldWar One. (No, not a Zeppelin.) The articledescribes an art exhibit at Paris' Jeu de Paumeentitled “Historic Moments and TheirRepresentations.” Ω

Responding to the History CommitteeChairman's phone call (which had resultedfrom a local author looking for information onFlorida air crashes and contacting ourtreasurer), member Ronald P. Stevens, a 2ndclass Sonarman at the time, wrote about his 5Kexperience, not in the published histories:"Thanks for the clipping... I was unable to findanyone who remembers the incident so I'll justtell you what I remember. On 05 DEC 57 at0930 we lifted off for a routine ASW flight. At1700 we started back when we got a contact onour MAD gear. We had to stay and check it outbut it didn’t amount to anything. At 1900 westarted back again when both engines stopped.After several attempts to restart the engines thebatteries went dead. I remember how quiet itwas free ballooning over the Atlantic 60 milesoff the Georgia coast. We saw some lights onthe horizon so we fire our flares. In a fewminutes there were about 10 or 12 ships belowus. They were the Forrestal and her escorts,and the E s s e x and her escorts. Aftercommunicating with the Essex by blinker lightfor a few minutes, the Forrestal and her escortsdeparted. After discussing the situation for awhile the men in charge decided to try andhook us to the fantail of the H. G. Ellison (DD-864) and be towed to the shore. We did comedown and hook up with our lines, but just aswe did a gust of wind came up and blew us allover the ship. They cut us loose and we floatedback up. After a while they decided the onlything to do was to ditch. After letting somehelium out we floated down to the water.When we hit the water we sailed along like asailboat for about 5 or ten minutes. The Ellisonhad sent out their whaleboats and they wereright beside us. After coming to a reasonablestop we got the order to evacuate. One by onewe jumped from the starboard engine right intothe whale boat without getting wet. I was the

Pigeon Cote

third of eight crewmen to get off. Only onecrewman got wet. Just as Billy Pembelton wasgoing to jump, the wind picked up and theengine went from five to twenty feet high. Soinstead of jumping into the boat he jumped intothe water, but was picked up immediately. Thelast man off was LCDR Tom Madagin. Hepulled the zipper and then jumped into a whaleboat, but the zipper didn't go all the way. All ofthe blimp sank except the tail section whichstood up in the air about 30 feet. The Ellisonhad to shoot it down as they thought it wouldbe a navigation hazard. We spent the night onthe Ellison and we transferred the nextmorning by highline to the USS E s s e x(CVA9). We pulled into Mayport Florida about1700 on 5 DEC 57. There was a lot of mediaand we stayed there for about 1.5 hours. Wewere back at Glynco at 2100. About a monthlater we had to fill out a lot of forms andanswer a lot of questions to people fromWashington. I never did know why the enginesstopped. (Bermuda Triangle?) I got out of theNavy 3 months later so I don't know if therewas anything new on that or not. I reallyenjoyed my tour of duty in ZP-2. I was onlythere for 17 months but I racked up over 840hours in LTA. It's funny but.. the transfer fromthe Ellison to the Essex by highline officiallydesignated me an 'old salt'...” Ω

Franklin Schroer (dutchschroer@juno.com)e-mailed our treasurer: “I saw your entry inthe log of VP Navy. I was a member of ZP-1from March 1951 to Sept. 1952. I was the CPOin charge of the HTA aircraft (F6F, SNJ &SNB) and have many favorable memories ofthe squadron. I did not have any groundhandling duties or experience until March of'52 when we were deployed to RooseveltRoads, PR for ConVex III. Some of thesquadron had already gone back to Weeksvillewhen a blimp crew sighted a disappearingradar contact, of a Russian Sub (?). We chasedthat around for more than a week and they gotshort of Chiefs for ground handling. One daythey said "Schroer, you have the groundhandling duty tomorrow". I really didn't knowwhat I was doing as I had never handled thelines during an event, but I muddled throughand had to take a regular shift until I left thesquadron. I have attached a photo of our CPOsand a Flight Crew list for 1951. I don't supposeany were left when you were there but you cancheck. CPOs: back row: Henry AMC;Mizveski ADC; Kline AMC; Dozier ADC;Nicholson TMC; Peet AMC; Oversltreet AKC;Berry AMC; Streeter BMC. Front row; SchroerADC; Davis ADC; Hash ADC; MossmanAEC; Verbonic ADC; Caudel ALC; KinserAMC, Beyer ADC (Leading Chief) We also

had a BMCwho had losthis right handin a dockingaccident andw a s t h epermanent ODbut I do notremember hisname.

After I leftthe squadron Iwent throughTD B schooland changedmy rating toTD. I retiredin 1961 asTDCM.” Ω

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Dan Toleno e-mailed, "A few of us who servedin Airship units at NAS Glynco and NASLakehurst from 1958 thru 1961 were happy tofind out that there would be a reunion atLakehurst in September. Since theannouncement we have encouraged many peopleto attend. Thus far we have made contact withEd Pietrzak, Warren Winchester, DonDavidson, Ben Hughes, Don Champlin, TaylorSanford, Ben Fish, Stan McNaab, Joe Hajcak,Dave Venn, Bill Hunter, WW "Woody"Smith, Ernie Anderson, Bill O'Hea, JimBrodes, Chief Brewster, John Chilcoat andGeorge Mulligan. Many of these people willattend and the rest will try.

Wehope that others might read about ourefforts in the Noon Balloon, contact us and makean effort to attend. We are particularly hoping tohear from Phil Dawson, Paul Platt, GeorgeBruen, Jim Christopher, Ed Mayfield, Pat Henry,Dave Abner, Dick Sirch, Gerry Macomber, LeeRoach, Charlie Davis, Walt Thomas, and "Red"Claussen. If anyone has an email address forthese people or others from the 1958-1961 era,please contact me at torptoleno@aol.com, or619-469-6412… For the September Reunion, Iam putting together a scrapbook of pictures andarticles I collected from 1958 thru 1961…” Ω

Robert C. Muller of Bidwell, Ohio wrote,"While reviewings o m e WWIIphotos I camea c r o s s thispicture I thoughtthe Noon Balloonreaders might beinterested to see.I took this picturefrom the flightdeck of the USSEnterprise (CV-6) as we came upthe Hudson Riverto dock. We werethere with the 7thFleet to celebrateNavy Day onO c t o b e r 27,1945. My duty atthat time was AirNavigator with

Torpedo Squadron VTN-55. All of the AirNavigators were ex-LTA pilots that had beenreassigned to Air Navigation school followingthe surrender of Germany and the end of the U-boat threat. We had never seen a "M" ship beforeso this was quite a sight for us.” Ω

Mort Eckhouse wrote, “I sure did enjoy the NB.It was an eye opener to get a “White Hat's”perspective on the Snow Bird's journey. It wasalso quite a surprise to see the Nan Ship photo onpage 18. If I read the BuNo correctly (135446)she was MY ship ca. '55-56. I had CAC 3,inherited it from Jack Piper, and the ship hadJG's stripes on the prop spinners. At the time shewas the only sonar equipped (except for ZX-11)blimp. Ah, the memories!” Ω

New member Marc Frattasio AW1 USNR-R,reports his VP-92 book is ready. "Although thisis primarily a book about fixed-wing maritimepatrol aviation, I did manage to throw in quite abit of LTA material including many blimpphotos." (See Fred Morin's review, pg. 23) Theprimary way to obtain a copy of this book is toorder one on-line, using your credit card, athttp://www.lulu.com/content/757344 or bysending a check for $24.50 to Marc J. Frattasio,PO Box 30, Pembroke MA 02359. Ω

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Renewing member Mark Lutz stopped by theeditor's domicile for a fruitful visit. He sharedmany things from his Dad's collection, includingthis impossibly rare photo of mail being deliveredby wartime blimp - in a late-model, stern-clamshelldoor K-ship. Mark writes, “I remember Dad said Iwasn't to show it to anyone. The back of the photohas a stamp saying something like: Not for releaseby order of The Chief, Aeronautics. Dad said theNavy didn't want to give the idea that Blimps wereavailable for mail delivery. I've wondered if maybethe Navy didn't want to give the idea that Blimpshad so little to do they had time for mail delivery.Blimps were rather expensive

according to my father. Dad said the Navy made abig deal about how expensive the Airship was eachtime he signed one out as skipper, and that theywanted it back intact, and he was personallyresponsible for that Airship. My guess is the mail-drop photo was taken in a NAS Santa Ana Airshipin 1945 as Dad was made a Command Pilot beforehe was transferred to NAS Santa Ana…. Dad'slogbook corresponds to 2 of the 1943 night radarcontacts in the Richmond records you sent me afew years ago. Dad reported one such disappearingnight radar contact to me. Dad said they markedtheir best U-boat location estimate with a centralflare and then 4 more flares to form a cross, ranbombing runs over both arms of the cross, andstayed on site a while hoping to see some piece of aU-boat, or some oil, or some bubbles come up.Nothing did... Dad had some stories about beingsent out to meet up with a Naval task force in thePacific, and being pleased he flew right over theships without having to make any corrections. Healso described being impressed seeing Destroyersin the Pacific take off from a dead stop, as though

they were motor boats - I suspect he saw thisduring other flights, probably to recordperformance of new ships for the Navy. As youknow, the Blimps fairly often went out on photoflights (code P) Dad's log shows he made 18 "P"flights from March 1945 through July 1945, all outof Santa Ana. I'm guessing one of these is when themail-drop was made. Dad said he made a point ofmaking friends with the photographer(s) so hecould get prints he wanted. After 26 July 1945 Dadwas sent to Hawaii, where he processed paperworkto send Navy men home. In December 1945, hewas made a full Lieutenant and discharged from theNavy. In late 1949, Dad took a job in Madison, WI,where he lived for the rest of his life. He was in theNavy reserves in Madison until 1955…” Ω

John Ferguson not only e-mailed some of hisZPG-2 photos, but printed and mailed them as well,and when we had trouble scanning some, he had abig print made of Bu No 126717 in Bermuda in’61. John writes (in part): “We had been on amission to Wallops Island to be an airborne radarplatform for a missile shoot out in the Atlantic.After they were through with us, we were returningto Lakehurst and over Cape May, N.J. weencountered a snow storm. We contacted Lakehurstand found they were socked in so we were divertedto Bermuda… we arrived early the next morningand the Air Force inquired as to our fuel status as itwas going to take a while to get the groundhandling crew there from the NAS. We informedthem we could use some fuel and they arranged forus to pick up 1000 lbs. They inquired if this wasenough to last us until we landed – we said that wasplenty (we could throttle back to burn only 75-100lbs. an hour). We had to stay there 5 or 6 daysbefore we could return to Lakehurst. Can youimagine being in Bermuda with only winter flightsuits and no toiletries along… I had arrived at ZP-3in August 1958 from VR-3 at McGuire AFB forduty. I was sent to LTA school at Hangar #5… Iwas assigned to CAC 306, where I flew the entire 3years I was with ZP-3, as flight rigger. Shortly afterLTA school the squadron deployed to Gitmo for 2months operations...One [local] mission was torefuel from an aircraft carrier. We managed to pickup the bag of fuel from the carrier but the bagswung so hard it hooked on one of the aft stationcargo doors and busted it…we continued on patroland during the night our MAD antenna broke looseand was swinging below the props…one of thecrew managed to pull it in and we made our way toGlynco…” Ω

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History Committee member Robert E. Hunter writes:Not long ago, I was stunned to learn of the "Snow Bird”(ZPG–2 BuAer No. 141561) gondola’s imminentdisposal in Pensacola. Unbeknownst to me (andprobably the majority of Naval Airship Associationmembers), the National Museum of Naval Aviationapparently had chosen to junk the aft two-thirds of thisaeronautical relic following its decision to restore thecar’s forward section. Given that the “Snow Bird” wasthe only surviving ZPG-2 car and the embodiment of thebasic Nan-ship design, I am appalled that the NMNAthought it best to destroy most of this artifact 50 yearsafter the ship’s record-setting flight of March 1957. Wasthe Naval Airship Association consulted about this? Ifso, when, and in what manner? Who exactly made thisdecision, and according to what criteria?

The remainder of the car (the section beingscrapped) reportedly was "in terrible condition," but Iwonder if that is a relative term. After all, the entire carwas not that dilapidated when removed from Lakehurstin 1992. The “Snow Bird” then spent over a decade anda half outside at Pensacola, exposed to the elements withonly minimal protection, so its physical deteriorationbecame a self-fulfilling prophecy. The decision makersalso reasoned that most of the car was "gutted ofanything useful" and "not practical...to restore," yetthose responsible said that the same was true for thecockpit section which they did restore! I recognize thatthe Museum may not have felt they currently had thespace or funds to fix the entire car, but their supposedlogic that justified destroying most of the gondoladoesn't fit: either the entire car was useless, or it all hadthe potential for future restoration.

As you know, I am quite sympathetic forpersonal and professional reasons to the idea ofpreserving the last of the first production (ZP2N/ZPG-2)Nan-ships, and I simply cannot accept that the bestoption was for this rare artifact to be thrown away like abroken washing machine. This ship, and the men whoserved aboard her, deserved better. Selling the “SnowBird” for scrap may very well have been the easiestpath, but I think those involved owed it to the history ofNavy LTA and future generations to explore otherpossibilities. I can't imagine the U.S. Air Force Museumchopping the nose off the legendary B–17 "MemphisBelle" and junking the rest of its fuselage in this day andage. In fact, I think very few museums would now treatthe only remaining example of an aircraft type asdisgracefully as the NMNA has. Would the Museumhave behaved similarly if the object in question had beena Convair R3Y–1/2 Tradewind (of which only 11 werebuilt) or a McDonnell F3H Demon (of which only 3remain) rather than a Goodyear ZPG-2 (of which 12were produced and just 1 was left)? There is also a hugedifference between deciding not to restore the whole carbut keeping it in storage (or donating it to another groupwhich might have the interest or ability to restore theremainder) and trashing the rest. (It would seem to methat if the NMNA could restore the forward section, then

someone eventually could have gotten the rear two-thirds of the car in presentable order. Even if most of the“Snow Bird” had been mounted against a wall, anexhibit that focused on the aft-compartment operationswould have made a pretty impressive display!) The“Snow Bird” was also a record-breaking aircraft, muchlike the Douglas D–558–1 Skystreak or LockheedP2V–1 Neptune Truculent Turtle on display inPensacola. Given such historical importance, the entire“Snow Bird” gondola was therefore even more worthyof preservation. For all these reasons, the Museum'snarrow–minded and parochial treatment of the onlysurviving ZPG-2 car went against the spirit if not theletter of just about every custodial standard I know.

I have visited Pensacola on more than oneoccasion, and have generally been impressed at thevariety and quality of artifacts on display at the NationalMuseum of Naval Aviation. The Naval AirshipAssociation and the NMNA have accomplished muchtogether, including the K–47 and L–8 restorations. Thesecommendable successes make the Museum’s recenttreatment of the “Snow Bird” that much harder tofathom. Such disposals happened regularly in the lastcentury, but curators and restoration staff are moreenlightened in their approach than they were 50 or even25 years ago. To me, this deplorable episode raisestroubling questions about the Museum’s stewardship ofLTA history. If this is how the NMNA treated the lastremaining example of a Navy ASW airship, what is itsattitude toward other LTA artifacts? When de-accessioning other historical items, will it choose todestroy such materials rather than make an effort to findanother good home for them?

This unfortunate incident also raises thequestion as to whether more positive action should nowbe taken to preserve the only surviving N-ship car, thatof the ZPG–3W (BuAer No. 144243) at Davis–MonthanAir Force Base. While the car officially belongs to theNational Air and Space Museum, it appears that theSmithsonian has no immediate plans to restore thisaircraft. Perhaps another institution would be willing toundertake such a project, much as other SmithsonianAffiliates have done. In the past, schoolchildren donatedpennies to support great American monuments. Would itbe that hard to ask airship enthusiasts, veterans, orrelatives of those who worked on or served aboard theblimps to raise a few thousand dollars for the cause?Corporate assistance may also be available. While itseems that we can no longer expect to save the entire“Snow Bird” for posterity, there may still be a chancethat we can keep her sister ship intact for subsequentgenerations, and in so doing provide a more fittingtribute to her crews, the company that built her, thenaval airship service, and the future potential of lighter-than-air flight. Ω

(Mr. Hunter is a historian who has twice served as aGuggenheim Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution’sNational Air and Space Museum.)

10

TREASURER’S STRONGBOX

Congratulations! Great job! Everyone's duesare paid! Your response and donations havebeen exceptional. We had a good response tothe renewal letter and with a few phone calls,the remainder of the list was checked. Sorry tosay, some phones and e-mails weredisconnected, and letters returned. All in all,everyone is accounted for.

We can also report that our total NAAmembership is 866. We have 687 regularmembers and 179 honorary members. SinceJanuary of 2007, we now have 40 newmembers. Thanks to our regular membersefforts, gift memberships, web page andadvertising in the VFW and Legion magazinesby George Allen. If anyone you know isinterested in joining, the application is locatedon our web site: www.naval-airships.org

You will be receiving your dues renewal noticethe first week of November for the year 2008.(Membership expires: December 31, 2007)We have a few members who are paid for 2008and beyond. These folks will not receive anotice. Please check with me if you have anyquestions pertaining to your status. There areno longer dues reminder forms in The NoonBalloon.

WELCOME ABOARD - NEW MEMBERS!

Hall, Charles, Brookfield, IL; Davidson,Donald, Stuart, FL; Hughes, Ben, Charlotte,NC; Lynch, Maureen M. Glens Falls, NY;Adams, Paul A, Las Vega, NV; Weiss, Len,Jackson, NJ; Grech, Christopher V., MossLanding, CA; Geoghegan, John, Kentfield,CA; Applegate, Henry, Pennsauken, NJ;Szoboszlay, Zoltan, San Jose, CA; Bowser,David R., Windsor, PA; Blagbrough, Norman,Hatfield, PA: Gillis, Elizabeth A., San Juan,PR; Mellberg, John, High Point, NC; Lutz,Mark, Minneapolis, MN; Albi, Michael F.,Gresham OR; Stinnett, James A., Palmyra, NJ;McClung, Scott A. Ellicott City, MD;Hochstetler, Ronald D., Arlington, VA;Rolander, Bertil W. Spartanburg, SC;LeCompte, Gary, Hurlock, MO; Jones, Stan,Murrieta, CA; Halke, Peter W., Blackwood,

NJ; Champlin, Don G., Irvine, CA; Clark,Ernest W., Brockton, MA; Munn, George L.Brick, NJ; Jackson, Max B., Donthan, AL;Yiin, Philip, Malaysia; Partridge, Rowan,Queensland, Australia; Bock, Juergen,Germany; Weigand, Edna, Irvington, NJ;Jablonski, Carl S., Beachwood, NJ: Yates,Charles W. Jr., Naples, FL; Sullivan, GeraldE., Tomah, WI; Platt, Paul, PlymouthMeeting, PA; Jisi, Christopher, Whitestone,NY; Clough, Philip E, Waupaca, WI; Dubois,Ricardo S., Prairieville, LA; Dean, William J.Sr., Hamersville, OH.

DONATION LIST -5 JAN thru 17 APR 2007

$5 - $49POULIOT, LEONARD B.SMITH, DAVID R.ROSENBERG, PAULHORAN, HELEN M.JENNISON, MYRAGANTZ, BEVERLY S.JAMES, DONKARADIN, LAURENCEMOFFIE, MARVINSPARKS, BOBFIKE, RALPH "DICK"YULE, FRANKLIN J.OERZEN, ROBERT L.SNIDER, WENDELLWHEELER, JEAN F.LINKENHOKER, WILL W.MCDOUGALL, CHARLESPIETRZAK, EDWARDSHRIVER, CHARLES E.SORRENTINO, ROBERT L.TROXELL, MRS. SHARONWALL, KATHRYNKIEFER, ROBERTFOULKE, ROBERT P.VAN NOSTRAND, ARTHURGORDON, NINA J.ADAMS, PAUL A.SAPP, CHARLES 'CHUCK'ADAMS, GORDON T.BLENN, JESSEBRAUN, RAYMOND F.COATS, BARRY W.LINDSAY, DAN J.LILLEY, JOHN T.MAHNE, FRANKFREER, CHARLES H.KEENE, ROBERT W.KOSCICA, MARIAN A.SCHERER,RUSSELL J.

MARTINI, MARIOHARVEY, WALTCONOVER, DONYANEY, JOHN C.VINN, DAVID J.VON FECHT, KENT C.WALLACE,REUBEN J.(IN MEMORY OFNELLINE,MYERS )FRAZEN, BILL H.ZIDBECK, WILLIAM E.BIEDEBACK,DAVID H.CLARK,ERNEST W.HALKE, PETER W.NASSIFF, DONPFEIFER, MATTHIASROLLANDER, BERTIL W.McNAMEE, PETER J.MUNN, GEORGE L.VINARCIK, MICHAEL J.PATRONE, ROBERT T.ROBECK, ARNOLDCOLEMAN, GARY G.

$50 - $99KLINGBERG, FRANCESSPANGLER, JOHN H.VAUGHN, JOHN W.ROCHE, JOHN R. 'JACK'AZZARETTO, EVELYN'EPPI'

$100-$499SMITH, DAVID R.GANTZ, BEVERLY S.JAMES, DON

On Behalf of the NAA,Thank you all! See youat Lakehurst! -

PETER F. BROUWER

11

NAA EXECUTIVECOUNCIL MEETING

6 MARCH 2007 NMNA PENSACOLACALL TO ORDER 0915PRESENT:

P-CAPT BOB ASHFORDVP- LCDR DON SHORTSSEC- BETTY BROUWER (ACTING)TREAS-PETER BROUWERPP-NORMAN MAYERNMNA-JOE HAJCAKNAMF-MORT ECKHOUSESM STORES- GEORGE ALLEN

SECY-MINUTES OF OCT 06 WERE PASSEDTREAS-CHECKING $9014, MM $29,140.05,REUNION $7556, report filed.USS Akron stamp sales 1/03 through 4/19$2,455.75

DISCUSSION ITEMS:

1. VP lead discussion on membership andsubmitted a idea for a flyer to be sent tomilitary oriented magazines advertising NAA2. ZP squadron history program forpurchasing same. No history purchaseswithout prior Council approval.3. Small stores selling caps, patches andpostage stamps4. Sec'y to coordinate obits and maintain filefor Memorial service..5. USS LOS ANGELES plaque to be placed inairship museum in Freidrichshafen, Germany6.Briefs by CAPT Bob Rasmussen, museumdirector thanking NAA for their continuedsupport and CAPT Ed Ellis from NAMF 7. Bank of America account set up forreunions.8. Nominating Committee established: WaltAshe, Chmn, Bob Keiser, Dick Crosby, EdKasner9. TNB name change, tabled.

MOTION: The Council voted to support amembership price increase to $20. Motion tobe made at the membership meeting inLakehurst.

MEETING ADJOURNED 1500, NEXTMEETING SEP IN Lakehurst. NJ

Submitted: Betty Brouwer (acting)Condensed for TNB by George Allen

NEW OFFICERS NOMINATED

Walt Ashe and the committee has thefollowing nominations:

President - Herman SpahrVice-Pres. - C. C. MooreTreasurer - Pete BrouwerSecretary - Margaret Hinrichson

Reference: PAST PRESIDENTS1985-1991.........M.H.EPPES. ......CAPT USN

1991-1995.........G.W.ALLEN.. ......CDR USN 1995-1997.........J.A.FAHEY...........CDR USN1997-1999..........L.W.PROST.........CDR USN

**1999-2001...........H.E.BIEDEBACH.........CDR USN2001-2001......F.N.KLINGBERG....CDR USN

*** 2001-2003....H.E.BIEDEBACH.....CDR USN 2003-2005...........N.J. MAYER.................CIV 2005-pres.......R.L.ASHFORD.......CAPT USN

** W.W. MOORE ELECTED/RESIGNED(HEALTH)

*** FRANK KLINGBERG DIED (CANCER)

Editor’s Note: If does not take a rocket scientist tofigure out that, by renewing one’s membershipnow, before the vote is taken, you’ll be helping outNAA, making our treasurer’s job more even,saving having to send out a renewal notice atyear’s end, and you’ll save the five bucks besides!

12

SHORE ESTABLISHMENTS

Above: Crew of U.S. Navy MZ3A airship #167811paused at Lakehurst after flying most of the day inunseasonably warm temperatures.

As part of their status in the LTAV (Lighter ThanAir Vehicle) Unit, they decided to go for someunique identifications on the backs of theirindividual cranial gear. LIMA- LieutenantCommander Brian Stephens, USNR; TANGO-Lieutenant Commander Robert Pudlo, USNR;ALPHA- Jim Dexter, Senior Airship Pilot ISSICorp.; VICTOR- Senior Chief Petty Officer DaveDickson, USN. Ship's callsign is "Waterbug 811"individual callsigns are "Lima Waterbug, TangoWaterbug, etc."

Hydrogen powered Toyota and Ford 20-passengershuttle bus were joined later by a GM "hydro-generator" auto at the Hindenburg crash site[historic hangar #1 in b.g.].

Hydrogen powered vehicles made a "public debut"in "Nor Easter" winds at Lakehurst April 16 for aNew York Times article on hydrogen and thestigma remaining from the Hindenburg disaster.The Hindenburg crash site seemed like a goodplace to show that, under the right circumstances,the gas which proved so unsuitable and dangerousfor lighter-than-air travel in the legendary airshipdisaster can, in fact, be used as a viable, availablefuel for vehicles in the near-future with very littlemodification. The full story will appear in NewYork Times [29 APR 07]. (My own take, when

interviewed, was to say that it would be a verygood fuel and I will certainly own a hydrogen carsomeday, but it is the lifting gas of last resort forlighter-than-air craft and all the postulating aboutthe Hindenburg outer cover flammability beingresponsible for the disaster is the stuff of "cranks.")

During the ini t ialshooting for the story,the photographer keptmoving around the roomquickly, grabbing dozensof "shots" for the Timesarticle… was none otherthan Mr. Dith Pran,legendary survivor of the"The Killing Fields" ofPol Pot followingAmerican and Frenche v a c u a t i o n f r o mCambodia. Pran wasvery kind and veryhumble. And so, inhistoric Hangar #1 itbecame my good fortune to have my photo takenwith legendary news photographer Dith Pran.

We had a turnout of over 200 people at theH i n d e n b u r g crash site to mark the 70thAnniversary of the disaster, May 6 1937. Amongthe more noted guests on hand were: Siegfried"Sig" Geist, a good friend and LTA supporter,whose Father helped build the Hindenburg andLZ130 in Friedrichshafen; Mrs. Mary Alice DolanNoone, granddaughter of J. Burtis Dolan who waskilled in the Hindenburg disaster; Chery Ganz,Postal Artifacts Curator for the Smithsonian; LouProst, former President of the NAA, Navy WWIIand postwar LTA pilot; Robert Buchannan, whowas a 17-old-civilian line handler and is one of thevery last (if not THE last) living ground crew leftfrom the disaster at age 87; and Addison Bain,researcher and author of the controversial IPT"Inflammable Paint Theory" regarding the disaster.

In the meanwhile, I made sure that Addison got hisproper due for traveling 1200 miles to be here andhe was asked to bring forward the HindenburgMemorial Wreath with Robert Buchannan, MaryAlice Noone and Sig Geist. Lou Prost and I took upthe Navy Lakehurst wreath. Everybody had a"positive" experience... we can disagree tomorrow.For the 36 unknowing victims of May 6, 1937,there were no more "tomorrows.” --Rick Zitarosa

13

Lakehurst (con’t): NLHS Newsletter "TheAirship" reports the Society received twoletters of commendation from senior officersoverseeing the new airship effort.Remembering the NMNA Fly-By alsomentioned the Navy's visit to the PensacolaMuseum Library, it is clear that all ourhistorical efforts are doing some good in thereal world! Bravo Zulu to the NLHS activistswho made it happen. Ω

Moffett Field:

Mercury News reports: “High-tech companiesare talking with NASA about paying for therehabilitation of historic Hangar One and usingMoffett Field as a landing strip for companyaircraft, NASA officials say.

In one of the scenarios under discussion, acompany would take on the cost ofrehabilitating the hangar to service some planesthere, said Marv Christensen, deputy directorof the NASA/Ames Research Center.Christensen declined to name any of thecompanies or groups because discussions areinformal at this stage. A representative of theMountain View-based search engine company,Google, said the company is not involved withthe talks. The Navy has estimated thatremoving toxic materials from Moffett Fieldand Hangar One would cost around $30million. The Navy has spent more than $100million on clean-up projects at Moffett Fieldand an additional $78 million has beenbudgeted for future projects, according to arecent report released by the federal GeneralAccounting Office.

“At this time, the Navy has not beenapproached by NASA regarding this issue,'”John Hill, Navy base closing manager forMoffett Field, said in an e-mail. If NASA doesreceive a formal proposal from a company,Christensen said, that proposal must offer a“pragmatic partnership.” “If someone came tous about wanting access to the airfield but theydidn't have a technological or synergisticpartnership with us, we wouldn't consider it,”he said. “It has to be relevant to NASA'smission.” Ω

Santa Ana (Tustin):

Oddly enough the blimp hangar you are mostlikely to see today is the one most likely todisappear soon. One of the former NAS SantaAna hangars just appeared in another Taco Bellcommercial where the excitement caused by anew product supposedly blew the doors’windows out. Evidently, renting it out as alocation is not lucrative:

“Tustin OKs Razing WWII-Era Blimp Hangarfor Homes” - February 22, 2007 - The giantblimp hangar where military blimps werestored during World War II will be razed tomake room for a 2,105 home development.The City Council unanimously approved themove Tuesday, saying other proposals thatwould have kept the wooden Hangar [Bldg] 29in place weren't economically viable orproperly planned. The development willinclude homes, businesses, parks and schools.The council rejected proposals for a motocrossfacility, a culinary complex, shops catering tothe elderly and a futuristic airship buildingcenter. Those proposals would have preservedthe hangar. "Overall, they were very poorlydone," Councilman Tony Kawashima said.“They were not specific and didn't comply withour questions.” Hangar [building] 29 is one oftwo blimp shelters on the former Tustin MarineCorps Air Station that are on the NationalRegister of Historic Places. The hangars aremore than 1,000 feet long, 300 feet wide and170 feet high. The hangars were built in 1942for Navy blimps that prowled the Pacific coastfor Japanese submarines. The base laterbecame the Marine Corps' primary West Coasthelicopter base, which closed in 1999.” Thesecond hangar is being turned into a sports andentertainment complex.

Having said that, we just saw the hangar again,this time in a Ford commercial, with FordSUVs driven about the deck with thedistinctive wooden trusses in the background.One might say it’s not unlike the last days onUSN LTA: cutting funding, questioning theneed for the program, while at the same timedemanding more from it. Ω

14

LONG LINES

The Flying Dutchman: The Mystery of the L-8By Jeffrey Cook

The story of the U.S. Naval airship L-8remains to this day one of the most mysteriousincidents in the history of lighter-than-air. TheL class ships, 22 of which were purchased bythe Navy between April 1936 and September1943, were used primarily as training vesselsfor new airship crews. Early in the war,however, there were not yet enough of thelarger K class ships to fulfill the Navy'sdesperate need for patrol vessels, and as aresult some of the little L's were pressed intotemporary service in this role. The mostfamous of these was L-8, of Airship Squadron32, stationed at Moffett Field, California.

Construction of L-8 began early in 1941. Shewas originally intended as a replacement forthe NC-10A Ranger, which had been sold tothe Navy as L-2 on February 1, 1941. But warcame before she flew, and upon completion ofher envelope (D-166) on January 27, 1942, shewas shipped directly to Moffett Field. Erectionwas completed on February 22, and afterseveral test flights on the 23rd and 25th, she wasturned over to the Navy as L-8 on the 26th ofthat month. [Opening “stock” photo, top.]

The L-8 was stationed at Treasure Island,inside the Golden Gate Inlet, during hertemporary assignment to patrol duties. Early onAugust 16, 1942, she was made ready for aroutine patrol mission carrying two Mark 17depth bombs on her external racks. A thickmorning dew had made the ship heavy, soassigned mechanic J. Riley Hill was given theSunday off. Lieutenant Ernest Dewit Cody,USNA ’38, and recently commissioned ten-year LTA man Ensign Charles Ellis Adams, a

USS Macon vet, performed a heavy rollingtakeoff from the Treasure Island parking lot at0600. [Additional photos of the L-8 at T.I. arein the NARA collection, but all show her priorto the spring 1942 Navy-wide edict that alldesignation letters be blotted out. Previouslypublished images – like the one at left – whichclaim to be from the time of her loss, are notcorrectly captioned. All photos of her famouslast flight clearly show the “blot.”]

At 0750 a message was received from L-8'screw. They gave their position as five mileseast of the Farallon Islands, or about 25 mileswest of San Francisco. “Investigatingsuspicious oil slick,” the message continued,“stand by.” Oil slicks were often seen in thatarea, and there was always the fear that theymeant an enemy sub was lurking somewherebelow the waves; Moffett Field waited. But thefollow-up message never came. The radio crewat Moffett tried to re-establish contact with L-8at 0805, but after repeated attempts there wasno reply from the little blimp. Two OS2U‘Kingfisher’ seaplanes were sent out fromAlameda to look for the missing airship. Therewas a 500-foot cloud ceiling, and the twoplanes' pilots decided to conduct their searchfrom above the clouds rather than descendbeneath them.

In the meantime, L-8 had been seen by severalsurface vessels which were in the area wherethe oil slick was sighted. There were a CoastGuard boat, a Navy vessel, and several fishingboats, all of which saw L-8 come down lowover the water and drop two smoke flares.(One report mentions the Albert Gallatin, laterinvolved with K-34 off Georgia.) One of theboats was so close to the airship that they feltcompelled to remove themselves to a saferdistance, for fear that she was preparing todrop her bombs! This did not happen, ofcourse, and after dropping the flares, L-8ascended and flew off into the overcast. Itseemed clear to all who saw her that she wasunder the complete control of her crew duringthe whole incident. She was last seen bywitnesses on the surface vessels sometimebetween 0900 and 0945. The derelict ship wasnext sighted at 1020 by a Pan Am clipper. At

15

1030, she was spotted rising out of the cloudsat 2000 feet, well above her 1000 foot ceiling,by one of the OS2U seaplanes which had beensent out to search for her. She was drifting, andclearly not under control. She quicklydescended back into the clouds anddisappeared again. The L-8 was next seen bytwo bathers on the beach about a mile fromFort Funston. She drifted slowly in to shore,her engines still and the gondola door open,and two witnesses later swore they saw acrewman aboard. She came down on thebeach, so close to the two bathers that theyattempted to grab the forward handling lines.But upon striking the sand, one of the airship'sdepth bombs was knocked off its rack; relievedof the weight, she rose again, back up into theclouds. (This incident was later reported toMoffett Field by telephone—incorrectly, itturned out; for the telephone report stated thatthe airship had landed at Fort Funston, wheretwo crewmen got off before the airship took offagain. It was later confirmed that the "landing"was on the beach a mile from the Fort, and thatthe "two crewmen" were the two bathers whotried to grab the ship's landing lines. Anothersource says the depth bomb actually fell on thePacific Grove gold course.) She was tracked bya Navy photographer who took the photos seenin published articles, though his film was alsoinitially confiscated, like that of bystanders.(His photo below, from the author / NAWCWarminster, has never been published before.)

L-8 finally drifted to earth again in Daly City, afew miles from where she had touched downnear Fort Funston. She descended slowly andsilently, sagging badly in the middle from theloss of gas during her excursion above pressure

height. At 1100 she made a perfect landing onher landing wheel right in the middle ofBellevue Avenue. Except for the loss of liftinggas, the L-8 was essentially undamaged at thistime. Unfortunately, she was quickly attackedby a gang of local firemen who, apparentlyunfamiliar with the principles of the non-rigidairship, slashed her envelope open with axes inorder to reach the "men up inside." By the timeNavy officials reached the scene, the envelopewas completely deflated, the gondola leftresting on its after end. (Photo below courtesyMargret M. Hinrichsen)

The salvage party, sent from Moffett Field,found the car in good condition. The propellerswere bent, apparently when the envelopedeflated and the car tipped back on its stern.One depth bomb was missing; this was laterrecovered from the beach near Fort Funston.The motors were stopped, but there was plentyof fuel in the tanks, and the valves to theengines were open. The ignition switches werein the "on" position, and one throttle was fullopen and the other half open. The gondola doorwas open, as reported by the bathers near FortFunston. The radio was found to be in perfectoperating condition. The crew's lifejacketswere missing, but this was not surprising, sincethe crew always wore them while flying overwater. The inflatable life raft was in its properplace, as was the confidential portfolio. Therewas no sign of a fire, nor was there anyevidence that the car had come into contactwith the water. The crew had simply vanishedwithout a trace. The damaged envelope wasdetached from the fins and gondola, and allwere brought back to Moffett Field in trucks. Asearch was begun for the missing crew of theairship, but their bodies were never recovered.In spite of beach patrols made for a year

16

afterward, no clue was ever found which mightexplain what happened to them. They wereofficially listed as missing and presumed dead.

There are several theories as to what happenedto Lieutenant Cody and Ensign Adams, butnone has yet adequately explained the mystery.Whatever really happened, it seems to havetaken place between the time L-8 was last seenby the surface ships near the Farallon Islandsbetween 0900 and 0945, and the time shedrifted to earth near Fort Funston between1000 and 1015. One possibility is that theairship encountered an enemy submarine afterleaving the area where the crew spotted the oilslick. This does not seem likely considering thenumber of surface ships which were in thearea; a surfaced enemy sub would almostcertainly have been spotted. If the L-8's crewhad been captured or killed by such asubmarine, there should have been some recordof the incident, unless the submarine was laterdestroyed by American ships. In any case,there were no bullet holes in the envelope, norany other evidence that an altercation hadtaken place.

A more likely explanation is that one of thecrew accidentally fell out of the gondola, andthat the other also fell out while coming to theassistance of the first. Normally, if both crewmembers had to leave their seats for anyreason, the throttles would first be closed allthe way down. That this was not done in L-8suggests that the engines might have gone deadfor some reason, and that one or both crewmenhad climbed out onto the outrigger while tryingto restart them. Then again, it is possible thatthe engines had been idling and simply chokedout, and that throttles were moved by the DalyCity firemen while attempting to rescue anyonewho they thought might be aboard. In aninterview, J. Riley Hill suggested the enginesmay have carbon fouled; another report pointsto carburetor icing.

Both crewmen knew that if their engines failed,the prevailing winds would drive them backtowards land, so it is unlikely that they wouldabandon their ship intentionally, especiallysince they had two 325-pound depth bombs todrop as ballast if necessary. In any case, they

would not have intentionally abandoned theairship without the life raft.

If both men had fallen from the airshipaccidentally, they might or might not havesurvived the fall into the water. If they did,they might have drifted out to sea and died ofexposure, or been attacked by sharks whichfrequent the area. Any of these possibilitieswould explain why no evidence of their fatewas ever found.

None of the above theories, however, explainswhy the L-8's crew failed to respond to MoffettField's repeated efforts to contact thembetween 0805 and the time they left the sceneof the oil slick an hour or more later, or whythey never followed up on their initial report at0750. Because no concrete evidence was everfound which might explain the disappearanceof the crew of the L-8, the incident wasofficially classified as “100% Unknown-/Undetermined.” Sixty-five years later, themystery of the “Flying Dutchman” is still justas much a mystery as it was on 16 AUG 1942.

[Ed, Caption: NASM’s entire inventory of basictrainer “L” ships were sent aloft in what isprobably the largest mass flight of airships inhistory – ten “Ls” and what appears to be a “K”taking the pictures -- when the MGM crew was atMoffett to film “This Man’s Navy.” We are goingto assume (until we are told differently) that thelarge tail numbers painted on the lower finscorresponded to their original “L” numbers,meaning this ship maneuvering to appear over thefield parade is L-8. Largest number see in anyphoto is “122” which would jive with the last L-ship built, L-22. This NARA photo via EricBrothers and David Smith has not been publishedbefore.]

17

Following the salvage of L-8’s remains, theenvelope was laid out in the USS Macon’sshed, Moffett’s Hangar One, and L-8 wasrebuilt. She was the first airship to land at thenew Santa Ana Naval Air Station (later TustinMCAS) on 19 October 1942. Turned over totraining after the arrival of the larger K-typepatrol ships, L-8 was fitted with a newenvelope, D-219, and erection was completedin July, 1943. The ship served for nine monthsbefore being dismantled on March 25, 1944.

After the war was over, Goodyear reclaimedthose ships commandeered and bought severalformer L-ships from the Navy. The latter wereall stationed at Moffett Field during the war,and included L-8 with the newer envelope. Shewas not immediately re-erected by Goodyear,the car instead being stored at Wingfoot Lakefor the next twenty-odd years. (The D-219envelope was used to erect Mayflower IV,which was completed May 24, 1948.)

[Ed. caption: This image and caption is lifted from“The Goodyear Airships” by Zenon Hansen,updated by James Shock and David Smith, AirshipInt’l Press, 2002. America worked like any othermember of the Goodyear fleet.]

In 1966, the L-8 car was taken to GoodyearAerospace in Akron and rebuilt to GZ-20standards. Fitted to envelope D-640 of 202,700cubic feet at the Wingfoot Lake hangar, shebecame the America (N10A). This ship flewfrom April, 1969 until late 1973. A new GZ-20A envelope was then fitted, D-643, and the“Flying Dutchman” continued flying until mid-

1982, when the N10A America was dismantledand replaced by the N3A America. Againstored, car serial number C-64 was finallydonated to the National Museum of NavalAviation where, following restoration to L-8wartime trim, she joined the LTA exhibit in2007. [See back cover.] Ω

[Ed. caption: # C-64 aka America was availablefor viewing at the last NAA Reunion in Pensacola.Shortly afterwards volunteers began work restoringher to its wartime trim and colors. See back cover.NMNA photo via Mort Eckhouse]

Sources:

The major sources of information used in this monograph weretwo U.S. Navy chronologies of airship accidents during WorldWar II. The first is entitled "Airship Accidents World War II",and was compiled in September, 1945- It reports in detailevery airship accident which resulted in the deflation of thebag during WWII. The report on the L-8 was written on 8August 1943. The second source is entitled “Airship Accident,All West Coast”, and was assembled by Moffett Field andforwarded to Lakehurst on March 26, 1944. Two of thephotographs herein are from this report, the others as credited.

These two compilations contain several discrepanciesregarding the times at which events occurred in the L-8incident. The first of the above reports is assumed to be themore accurate, as it was based on conversations with theCommanding Officer of Squadron 32 at the time of theaccident. Both reports were originally classified"Confidential", but were declassified by authority ofOPNAVINST 5513.5A-5 of 10 Dec, 1981. Both were obtainedfrom the Lighter-Than Air library of the Naval Air WarfareCenter, Aircraft Division, Warminster Pennsylvania.

The history of the L-8 car and the envelopes to which it wasfitted was obtained from The Goodyear Airships (ZenonHansen, 1977, updated by James Shock/David Smith 2005),from Jane's All the World's Aircraft from various years, andfrom a compilation entitled “Army, Navy, and CommercialAirships Manufactured by Goodyear.” The latter, also locatedin the NAWC LTA library, was assembled by Goodyear in1966, in part for historian Clyde Schetter, who had requested arecord of airship deliveries for a Goodyear company history. J.Gordon Vaeth's Blimps & U-Boats and James R. Shock’s USNavy Airships 1915-1962 also contain good accounts of the L-8 mystery.

The first GZ-20, America, at Wingfoot Lake at the time of its first flight, April 25, 1969. The America was christened Sept. 23, 1969 at Wingfoot Lake by Mrs. Charles Hooks, Jr. of Houston.

18

News from Friedrichshafen Composed andSubmitted by Sig Geist, Mendenhall, PA

Zeppelin Museum FridrichshafenMuseum Needs New Director

It was a surprise when during late October 2006the regional press reported that ZeppelinMuseum director Dr. Wolfgang Meighoernerwas leaving his post to assume the directorshipof the 'Landesmuseum' (state museum) atInnsbruck, Austria by January 01,2007. Its genrebears no resemblance to the Zeppelin Museum.Meighoerner first came to Friedrichshafen in1989 to accept the position of archivist atLuftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH. Then in 1991 hewas given the temporary post of museumdirector. It became final in 1993. During histenure Dr. Meighoerner played a pivotal role inthe reconstruction of the 'Hafenbahnhof'building, the conceptualization and execution forthe new Zeppelin museum. In between, hecontributed richly to the public's knowledge ofZeppelin and Lighter-than-Air history throughhis many well-staged exhibitions and scholarlywritings. He leaves behind an excellent staff, amuseum with a world-class reputation that'sattracting about 300,000 visitors a year. "Forhim", he said, "the switch to Innsbruck after 15years of building up and leading the ZeppelinMuseum means a new challenge one more time".Following the city's advertisement for theposition of director, it may well be mid-year2007 before a new director is in place. Until then,an interim team is in charge and the museum'shigh level of excellence is continuinguninterruptedly.

Museum Receives Rare Award

On April 22, 2007 Zeppelin MuseumFriedrichshafen was awarded the rare title "FAI-Recommended-Museum" by the "FederationAeronautique Internationale" (FAI). Worldwide,only 24 museums have been honored this way.The title is indicative of outstanding collectionsin aviation and especially valuable exhibitionsthat further educate the public, but especially theyoung people in the area of air and space travel.Over the years the Zeppelin Museum has drawnattention to itself through a series of exhibitionson the history of aviation. FAI, founded 1905 inParis is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization that worldwide organizes and

coordinates activities in the areas of air and spacetravel in some 100 member countries.

Schoener Fliegen-Faszination Zeppelin NT(Flying in Style - Zeppelin NT Fascination)

To commemorate the tenth anniversary since amodern day airship, the Zeppelin NT (NewTechnology) took to the air on September 18,1997, Friedrichshafen's Zeppelin Museum isstaging a special exhibition to let visitorsdiscover the NT airship's fascinating technology.The show is scheduled to run from June 29 -September 30, 2007. Using original parts,models, exhibits and visual media, the temporaryexhibition illustrateshow a Zeppelin isbuilt, how it worksand what applicationsit is suited for due toits flight charac-teristics. Its use as aflying research andmeasuring station andits special missions,such as diamondp r o s p e c t i n g insouthern Africa, arean additional theme ofthe exhibition. Stag-ing effects and 3Dfilm projection let the visitor experience thatslow movement through the air which is typicalof the Zeppelin, along with the change inperspective from a height of a thousand feet, thenormal operating altitude of the Zeppelin NT. Inaddition, the use of a webcam lets visitors watchthe construction of a Zeppelin NT live. Theexhibition displays varying original parts of thisairship - until they are needed at the shipyard andsubstituted by others. Thus part of the exhibitionarea is changing constantly - like a stockyard.With a flight simulator, visitors can get behindthe wheel themselves and make their own first

attempts atflying.

Priorarrange-

mentsrequired.

(Left:Hauling

out prior totest flight.)

FrankDoelle(2)

18

News from Friedrichshafen Composed andSubmitted by Sig Geist, Mendenhall, PA

Zeppelin Museum FridrichshafenMuseum Needs New Director

It was a surprise when during late October 2006the regional press reported that ZeppelinMuseum director Dr. Wolfgang Meighoernerwas leaving his post to assume the directorshipof the 'Landesmuseum' (state museum) atInnsbruck, Austria by January 01,2007. Its genrebears no resemblance to the Zeppelin Museum.Meighoerner first came to Friedrichshafen in1989 to accept the position of archivist atLuftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH. Then in 1991 hewas given the temporary post of museumdirector. It became final in 1993. During histenure Dr. Meighoerner played a pivotal role inthe reconstruction of the 'Hafenbahnhof'building, the conceptualization and execution forthe new Zeppelin museum. In between, hecontributed richly to the public's knowledge ofZeppelin and Lighter-than-Air history throughhis many well-staged exhibitions and scholarlywritings. He leaves behind an excellent staff, amuseum with a world-class reputation that'sattracting about 300,000 visitors a year. "Forhim", he said, "the switch to Innsbruck after 15years of building up and leading the ZeppelinMuseum means a new challenge one more time".Following the city's advertisement for theposition of director, it may well be mid-year2007 before a new director is in place. Until then,an interim team is in charge and the museum'shigh level of excellence is continuinguninterruptedly.

Museum Receives Rare Award

On April 22, 2007 Zeppelin MuseumFriedrichshafen was awarded the rare title "FAI-Recommended-Museum" by the "FederationAeronautique Internationale" (FAI). Worldwide,only 24 museums have been honored this way.The title is indicative of outstanding collectionsin aviation and especially valuable exhibitionsthat further educate the public, but especially theyoung people in the area of air and space travel.Over the years the Zeppelin Museum has drawnattention to itself through a series of exhibitionson the history of aviation. FAI, founded 1905 inParis is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization that worldwide organizes and

coordinates activities in the areas of air and spacetravel in some 100 member countries.

Schoener Fliegen-Faszination Zeppelin NT(Flying in Style - Zeppelin NT Fascination)

To commemorate the tenth anniversary since amodern day airship, the Zeppelin NT (NewTechnology) took to the air on September 18,1997, Friedrichshafen's Zeppelin Museum isstaging a special exhibition to let visitorsdiscover the NT airship's fascinating technology.The show is scheduled to run from June 29 -September 30, 2007. Using original parts,models, exhibits and visual media, the temporaryexhibition illustrateshow a Zeppelin isbuilt, how it worksand what applicationsit is suited for due toits flight charac-teristics. Its use as aflying research andmeasuring station andits special missions,such as diamondp r o s p e c t i n g insouthern Africa, arean additional theme ofthe exhibition. Stag-ing effects and 3Dfilm projection let the visitor experience thatslow movement through the air which is typicalof the Zeppelin, along with the change inperspective from a height of a thousand feet, thenormal operating altitude of the Zeppelin NT. Inaddition, the use of a webcam lets visitors watchthe construction of a Zeppelin NT live. Theexhibition displays varying original parts of thisairship - until they are needed at the shipyard andsubstituted by others. Thus part of the exhibitionarea is changing constantly - like a stockyard.With a flight simulator, visitors can get behindthe wheel themselves and make their own first

attempts atflying.

Priorarrange-

mentsrequired.

(Left:Hauling

out prior totest flight.)

FrankDoelle(2)

19

Since the TNB #73 article “Zeppelin NTinvolved in climate research”, ZeppelinLuftschifftechnik (ZLT) announced thesuccessful completion of additional test flightswith its mission-modified NT airship. Brieflyreiterating the mission: Zep NT will be used asan aerial platform to measure the loweratmosphere during a 10-day period in July 2007.The project will be carried out in cooperationwith Juelich Research Center. The announce-ment also made clear that together with JuelichResearch Center, ZLT is not only enteringtechnologically new ground, but also new areasin the field of climate research. Said ZLT'smanager for development: "Our test flights havedemonstrated that Zeppelin NT's 'Platform' modeoffers a suitable infrastructure for this andadditional complex demands", and he added:“preparations for deployment in July went well.”

(Portions of this article were excerpted from ZeppelinMuseum press releases. Photos: ZLT ) Ω

Short Lines

Following up on Sig’s ZEP NT/DeBeersdiamond search story from TNB #71, the 24JUL issue of FORBES magazine reports, “At

the heart of the scheme is Bell Aerospace'sgravity gradiometer sensor. “Its technology,”says Bell President Scott Hammond, “was firstdeveloped for the US Navy and used fornavigation on Trident submarines. The sensordetects, in three dimensions, minute variationsin the Earth's gravitational field. Deployed byair, the sensor can determine the size, shapeand density of underground anomalies, sincethe presence of absence of them minutelyaffects gravitation... The technology on theZeppelin is the only airborne system of its typein the world.” The article explains why

airplanes were not suitable for this mission. Dr.Bernard Straeter told the 6th Annual AAConference in London the combination ofgravity and magnetic data provides virtualcomplete discovery of buried economickimberlites. In particular, larger kimberlitesthat have higher propensity to be non-magneticusually possess a strong gravity response. Ω

Arctic Heating Up for Airships

Barry Prentice reports the Canadian mildwinter complicated ice road construction withthe corresponding increased demand for aircargo, with more impetus to develop cargoairships. Those with a LTA cargo interest canvisit www.isopolar.ca for further info. Ω

Airship Expedition Will SurveySea Ice In The Arctic

Photo composition of the airship "Dirigeable,"carrying the EM-Bird, being built in Moscow.

“In 2008, scientists will, for the very firsttime, create a continual profile of ice thicknessin the Artic, extending from the Canadian coastacross the North Pole to Siberia. At the core ofthe project lies the crossing of the North Poleby zeppelin. The airship will be equipped withan electromagnetic sensor developed at theAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and MarineResearch, one of the 15 research centers withinthe Helmholtz Association. The sensationalproject of French physician Jean-Louis Etienneis financed by the French oil company Total….During the crossing, the so-called EM-Bird, aninstrument specifically developed at the AlfredWegener Institute to measure ice thickness,will be able to collect ice thickness data for the

20

first time continually and across extensiveregions of the whole Arctic. In April of 2008,the airship will fly from Spitsbergen to theCanadian coast via the North Pole, and then onto Alaska, whilst surveying the main sea iceregions in the Arctic.” Their website alsoreports, "The current team will later be joinedby 2 experienced pilots and 6 future airshippilots who will receive specific training for theexpedition, as well as a mechanic, twoelectrical mechanics and a ground-staff chiefwho will handle landing, take-off and mooring.Dominique Maniére is a very experiencedairship pilot, with 8,300 hours (Zeppelin,Goodyear, Skyship, etc) in America and Asia.A test pilot for Zeppelin, he is also providingback-up during construction of the airship andwill act as instructor for our future pilots.” Ω

Canadian HasBig Balls:‘Aerospace TestingInternational' March2007 issue carried aphoto-rich report on2 1 s t C e n t u r yAirship's progresson their sphericalairships, runningsevera l photosincluding the onesshown here. Thereis news that HokanColting's companyis building the round-the-world ship, and ofcourse making progress on the high-altitudecommunications relay airship. (Hokan alreadyholds the world's altitude record for heliumfilled airships.) Also mentioned is the factthey've designed a more conventional-lookingairship for possible passenger use. Ω

Hugo Chavez: Big Brother?

Reuters reports: “Venezuela launched aZeppelin [sic] on Thursday to patrol Caracas,seeking to fight crime in one of LatinAmerica's most dangerous cities but alsoraising fears that President Hugo Chavez couldbe turning into Big Brother. Around the hot-dog stalls of the run-down suburb where theairship took its first flight, most people felt theunmanned eye-in-the-sky could help counterroutine hold-ups, shootings and carjackings. "Itis a necessity," said street vendor Pedro Marinwhen asked about the 15-meter helium-filledblimp that had been looming silently over hisstall beside a busy highway.

The $465,000 Zeppelin, built by South Koreanfirm HanGIS, is the first of three such craft thatwill beam images into a command center.Police will be able to control the blimpsremotely, steering them over the city of about 5million. In therefined cafes ofeast Caracas, therew a s m o r ecynicism,condemning theblimps as a wasteof money thatwould not work inbad weather or atn i g h t , w h e nCaracas is at itsm o s t r i s k y ,r e s e m b l i n g ashuttered-up ghosttown…” Ω

Photo: HanGIS

Aerospace Testing International (2)

20

first time continually and across extensiveregions of the whole Arctic. In April of 2008,the airship will fly from Spitsbergen to theCanadian coast via the North Pole, and then onto Alaska, whilst surveying the main sea iceregions in the Arctic.” Their website alsoreports, "The current team will later be joinedby 2 experienced pilots and 6 future airshippilots who will receive specific training for theexpedition, as well as a mechanic, twoelectrical mechanics and a ground-staff chiefwho will handle landing, take-off and mooring.Dominique Maniére is a very experiencedairship pilot, with 8,300 hours (Zeppelin,Goodyear, Skyship, etc) in America and Asia.A test pilot for Zeppelin, he is also providingback-up during construction of the airship andwill act as instructor for our future pilots.” Ω

Canadian HasBig Balls:‘Aerospace TestingInternational' March2007 issue carried aphoto-rich report on2 1 s t C e n t u r yAirship's progresson their sphericalairships, runningsevera l photosincluding the onesshown here. Thereis news that HokanColting's companyis building the round-the-world ship, and ofcourse making progress on the high-altitudecommunications relay airship. (Hokan alreadyholds the world's altitude record for heliumfilled airships.) Also mentioned is the factthey've designed a more conventional-lookingairship for possible passenger use. Ω

Hugo Chavez: Big Brother?

Reuters reports: “Venezuela launched aZeppelin [sic] on Thursday to patrol Caracas,seeking to fight crime in one of LatinAmerica's most dangerous cities but alsoraising fears that President Hugo Chavez couldbe turning into Big Brother. Around the hot-dog stalls of the run-down suburb where theairship took its first flight, most people felt theunmanned eye-in-the-sky could help counterroutine hold-ups, shootings and carjackings. "Itis a necessity," said street vendor Pedro Marinwhen asked about the 15-meter helium-filledblimp that had been looming silently over hisstall beside a busy highway.

The $465,000 Zeppelin, built by South Koreanfirm HanGIS, is the first of three such craft thatwill beam images into a command center.Police will be able to control the blimpsremotely, steering them over the city of about 5million. In therefined cafes ofeast Caracas, therew a s m o r ecynicism,condemning theblimps as a wasteof money thatwould not work inbad weather or atn i g h t , w h e nCaracas is at itsm o s t r i s k y ,r e s e m b l i n g ashuttered-up ghosttown…” Ω

Photo: HanGIS

Aerospace Testing International (2)

21

LTA Science lacking in public schools?Recently an ABC new program interviewed aman who'd sponsored a program for teachers topromote math & science in public schools.Wouldn't it be great if we could promoteteaching the math and science of LTA? We have,at least helped, to make this happen! Severalmembers of the history committee have assistedthe Akron Ohio PBS station in their creation of“Math & Science of the Blimp,” an interactiveteaching program for educators that uses LTAtechnology to teach principals used therein. Thelesson plans are free and available to bedownloaded at:>http://www.pbs4549.org/floating/index.html<Be sure to let every teacher you know to beaware of this free yet excellent education aide!Meanwhile, if you are interested in your Editor/History Committee Chairman's effort to translatethe best LTA text book in the world today fromits native German, please call or drop a line andperhaps we can each sponsor a chapter or two.Right now even Embry Riddle Tech, put on themap by Jack Hunt himself, does not offer anLTA or aeronautic course. The major problemthere as everywhere is lack of a textbook. Moneymakes the world go around, and if we don't dothe translating and publishing in English, you canbet your bottom dollar no one else will. Wecould break up the work into more affordablechunks. Does the expertise stay in Germany? Ifwe do nothing, it certainly will. Ω

Most Active Oxygen-Reducing Catalyst Ever

The development affordable of hydrogen fuelcells for all vehicles is another step closer.Researchers with the U.S. Department ofEnergy's Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory (Berkeley Lab) and ArgonneNational Laboratory (ANL) have identified anew variation of a familiar platinum-nickel alloythat is far and away the most active oxygen-reducing catalyst ever reported. The slow rate ofoxygen-reduction catalysis on the cathode - afuel cell's positively charged electrode - has beena primary factor hindering development of thepolymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cellsfavored for use in vehicles… A challenge hasbeen the platinum. While pure platinum is anexceptionally active catalyst, it is quite expensiveand its performance can quickly degrade throughthe creation of unwanted by-products, such as

hydroxide ions…The researchers identified theplatinum-nickel alloy configuration Pt3Ni(111)as displaying the highest ORR activity that hasever been detected on a cathode catalyst - 10times better than a single crystal surface of pureplatinum(111), and 90 times better thanplatinum-carbon… The next step will be toengineer nanoparticle catalysts with electronicand morphological properties that mimic thesurfaces of pure single crystals of Pt3Ni(111). Ω

…and the Navy is already experimenting…

The April 2007 issue of AEROSPACEENGINEERING devotes three pages toNAVAIR's efforts to study and develop “next-generation propulsion.” Like many aerospaceplayers, the Navy looks to placement of fuel cellsaboard aircraft to meet increasing electricalpower demands independent of engine speed.Unlike other efforts already reported in thesepages, this Navy program seeks to create thenecessary hydrogen by reforming the liquid fuelalready at hand around airplanes, JP-5. Since JP-5 contains sulfur, poisonous to fuel cells, andreforming it creates detrimental coke in the formof carbon whiskers, the experiment turned tosynthetic JP-5. S-JP-5, already in limited use inthe Navy, is not dependant on foreign oil anddoes not require as much pre-treatment processbefore reformation. Airship applications arecertainly possible, toward the day when a nuclearpowered vessel, using its unlimited power to splitabundant seawater, could produce all the fuelneeded for an escorting radar airship without theservices of an oiler. History would not berepeating itself, exactly, because the on-boardhydrogen generators on tending vessels of old(ranging from Lowe's portable on the Civil Warbarge, to the British cruiser supporting H.M.A.#1in 1910, to balloon ships, to the USS Patokaeven after helium) were for lift, not fuel. Ω

JLENS Making Progress

USN Institute Proceedings reports RaytheonNetwork Centric Systems is developingsoftware to integrate the Navy's CooperativeEngagement Capability (CEC) with the Army'sJoint Land Attack Cruise Missile DefenseElevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS). Thisis a major step in intra-service cooperation toextend area-wide the aerostat-based nettedsensor system. Ω

22

MEDIA WATCH

TV Program Review by C.P. Hall II

The T.V. Cable network, "The Discovery Channel"has a program called “Mythbusters.” The purposeof the program is to dissect “urban legends” to seeif they are true, or even possible. The basic formatof the program is to examine two completelyunrelated "urban legends" during a one hourepisode, switching back and forth from one topic tothe other on multiple occasions. Presumably, if youare interested in one topic but could not care lessabout the other, you will sit through the entire hour,including commercials, to see the half of the showabout which you care. On January 10, 2007 thetopics were: “A.” If one is pursued by an aquaticreptile, should one run away in a straight line, orattempt to zig-zag? "B." Was the inferno destroyingthe Hindenburg caused by the chemicals on itsskin? (This review will not concern itself furtherwith escaping from aquatic reptiles.)

The Hindenburg episode was hosted by two motionpicture special effects artificers, Adam Savage andJamie Hyneman. The program's starting point wasthe thesis put forward by Dr. Addison Bain citinghis article which made several points regardingstatic charges in an airship, fabric ignition as aresult of static discharge, the speed and nature of afabric / chemical conflagration, and the likelihoodof hydrogen having a small or minimal part of sucha conflagration. This is a complex, multi-facetedthesis which Savage and Hyneman quickly reduceto an initial question, was the inferno caused by thechemicals on its skin? The inquiry is furtherreduced in scope to questions of relative,comparable fabric sample burn speed in the air;later with or without hydrogen present. To me, theinteresting question is, can the situation berecreated where either St. Elmo's fire, or someother static phenomenon can be made to ignitefabric comparable to the outer cover ofHindenburg, in comparable circumstances? As thisquestion is neither simple, nor the stuff of goodT.V., it was never considered in this venue. Thefirst test which is undertaken is to compare the burnrate of 6 inch square samples of cotton cloth. Onesample is plain, a second has a replication of theHindenburg's dope compound covering it and athird is painted with "thermite paste." The sampleswere burned and it was decided that larger samplesmight yield more meaningful results. The point wasconfirmed when hydrogen - pumped into a 1 footsquare box with a fabric top - exploded whenignited demonstrating little more than hydrogen

contaminated with air will explode when ignited ina confined space. The final tests were three 16-footlong wire and cloth proximate replications of theHindenburg frame and outer cover. The first twounits' covers were painted with comparable dope tothe original; the third was coated with “thermitepaste.” #1 was burned with no hydrogen. #2 wasburned with hydrogen being fed into the model. As#2 burned faster than #1, the conclusion was thatDr. Bain's “myth” was “busted.” #3 wasunashamedly for show. It burned magnificentlyfilling out the time allotted and, once again,proving that “There is no business like showbusiness.”

Since May of 1937, the qualified and the not-so-qualified have attempted to prove, either somethingdid happen, or something did not happen, regardingthe Hindenburg disaster by staging some sort oflaboratory experiment testing one theory oranother. While my lack of expertise in chemistry,physics, static electricity and related atmosphericphenomenon may disqualify me from undertakingsuch experiments, my knowledge of airships andtheir history allows me some claim to being able tospot flaws in the work of others regarding thistopic. I regret to inform that Hyneman and Savagehave added their names to the list of those whohave undertaken flawed efforts yieldingmeaningless results regarding the points inquestion. Ω

Airships in the Arctic by John Duggan, Publishedby the Zeppelin Study Group. London, 2006.Hardcover, 8 1/2 x 11 inch, 302 p.; 112photographs; 4 diagrams; 5 maps; dustjacket.Reviewed by Herman Van Dyk

For several decades before and after the turn of the19th century, the 2 great geographical mysteriesleft on Earth were the Arctic and the Antarctic.Many unsuccessful expeditions, by different meansand from different directions, and at great costs,were undertaken to explore these regions. As thename of the book implies, it describes the variousattempts to accomplish this goal by, the seemingly,easy way of using a dirigible. After mentioning

Ed. Caption:Mythbusters model setalight before hydrogenwas injected into its interior from awelder’s K-bottle.New York Times photothanks to Walter Lion.

23

Andrée’s tragic attempt to fly over the North Polein 1897 in his hydrogen balloon Omen (Eagle), thebook describes in great detail, and beautifullyillustrated, the unsuccessful expeditions by theAmerican reporter Walter Wellman in his dirigiblesAmerica in 1906, 1907 and 1909, as well as thesuccessful flight of the Italian built Norge, the firstaircraft to fly over the North Pole, during theEllsworth / Amundsen / Nobile expedition in 1926.An extensive account of the next expedition byUmberto Nobile in his airship Italia and thesubsequent rescue of Nobile and other survivingcrew members is fully covered. The unfortunatecontroversy between Amundsen vs. Nobile is,finally, fully explained.

A major part of the book is devoted to the Polarflight of the LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin in 1930, when itexchanged mail with the Soviet ice-breakerMalygin. Plans to use the British R-36, the USSShenandoah , as well as special airships to bedesigned by Parseval and Schutte-Lanz arecertainly not left out.

A chapter devoted to the Arctic expedition of SirHubert Wilkins in the submarine Nautilus in 1931seems somewhat out of place in a book aboutairships. The successful Soviet semirigid V6Ossoaviachim is not mentioned. In 1938 it wasordered to rescue members of a Soviet scientificteam marooned on breaking Polar ice floatingtowards Greenland. It left its base near Moscow onits way to Murmansk and to the ice. TheOssoaviachim flew into a mountain, killing 13 ofits crew. The V6 may not have been designed forPolar exploration, but it came closer to the Arcticthan either Parseval or Schuette-Lanz. It wouldhave been the third airship in the Arctic designedby Umberto Nobile. Mr. Duggan picked up theomission of a lifeboat on a line drawing of theAmerica 2, made by this reviewer (since corrected).The author also refers to the extensivearchaeological research conducted by Dr. Capelottiat the launching site of the Andrée and Wellmanexpeditions on the island of Danskye, Svalbard(Spitsbergen), where large remains of the airshipsand sheds can still be explored, a century later.(Capelotti, P. J. , 'The Wellman Polar AirshipExpeditions at Virgohamna, Dansk Oya, Svalbard.Oslo, 1997)

The author’s fluency in German and convenientlocation to the vast archives in Friedrichshafen,gave him an ideal opportunity to research countlessprimary and original sources denied to most otherEnglish and American historians. Thoroughly

referenced and indexed and richly illustrated, withclear maps and beautiful photographs, many ormost of them published for the first time, make thisbook a “must” for anyone interested in theexploration of the Arctic or the development ofairships. Ω

The Minutemen Of VP-92: The Story of NewEngland's Naval (sic) Air Reserve Patrol SquadronBy Marc Frattasio, AW1 USNR-R Self Published,Printed and Distributed by Lulu PressReviewed by Fred Morin

This book is primarily about Navy ReserveSquadron VP-92 from it's commissioning at NASS. Weymouth through it's BRAC-95 mandatedtransfer to NAS Brunswick in 1996 and endingwith the BRAC-05 decision to deactivate thesquadron. The ten chapters cover NAS S.Weymouth's beginnings, VP-92's predecessorsquadron, also designated VP-92 in WW II, VP-92's history at S Weymouth with P-2 and P-3aircraft, the Brunswick years, a very good selectionof photos of Vp-92’s aircraft, and a lengthyselection of personal recollections from VP-92personnel. A six section Appendix covers aircraftassigned to the squadron including bureau nos., keypersonnel, deployments and awards.

Of interest to NAA members is the NAS S.Weymouth and Squantum sections. The bookdescribes the origins of S. Weymouth in gooddetail, includes many fine airship and hangarphotos (many from your editor's and James Shock’sfiles), and a good description of NAS S.Weymouth's mission and activities during the war.NAS Squantum is covered only in regard to it'sclosure and move to S. Weymouth. Since VP-92had no connection to Squantum there is very littleregarding activities there relative to the airshipoperations after WW II when S. Weymouth was incaretaker status and Reserve airship operationswere conducted there.

Of interest during the 50’s and through 1961 wasthe assignment of a regular Navy Naval AirDevelopment Unit (NADU) that included ZPG-2and ZPG-2W airships among other HTA aircraft.The NADU supported research projects in airdefense and anti-submarine warfare with MIT.

All-in-all a fine book on the VP-92 history and it'srole in Navy Reserve Aviation. A lot of technicaldata, photos, great personal recollections and a fineclosing section on a day in the life of VP-92 atNAS Brunswick. Ω

24

NAA Foots Bill For USS Akron 75thAnniversary Postage Stamp

The Naval Airship Association chose to markthe USS Akron's Silver Anniversary with aunique offering: a commemorative US postagestamp. No airship has graced a USPS stampsince the Graf Zeppelin nearly 80 years ago,and the NAA officers felt it long overdue tohave a US Navy Airship grace the US mails.

Seventy-five years ago, as Dr. R. K. Smith putit, “The summer of 1932 held an almostinevitable turning point in the Akron's career.The feverish and premature efforts to force theairship to prove herself came to an end, andthere began a cautious program of trainingwhich was aimed toward the development ofsearch tactics which corresponded to theoriginal promise of the airplane-carryingairship. Most important, these tactics began tofocus upon the exploitation of the airship'shook-on airplanes. This shift in emphasiscoincided with four more pilots joining theHeavier-Than-Air unit, the delivery of herF9C-2 airplanes, and a change in command.”Following the west Coast flight, NASLengineers begin to install the superior MK IVwater recovery apparatus, making heliumoperation more practical with a more efficientcondenser design that was much easier to cleanand maintain. It saved weight, in addition todelivering greater than one pound of waterback for each pound of gasoline burned.

We were saddened by the loss of Mrs. MarieGraves, last of the Akron widows (see BlackBlimp). However we were thrilled to get aletter from Mrs. Esther Porter, who wrote,“Enclosed is my check for $35 for the [2 sheetsof] Akron memorial stamps... My daughter andI are the last of Leon D. Liles' immediatefamily, and we are grateful for what NAA wentthrough to get these stamps.”

Indeed, our Treasury was heavily burdened tomake this memorial possible, so members areurged to visit ‘Small Stores’ and order a fewsheets. A gift people would actually use,you’d be helping the NAA, and showing yourrespect for the pioneers of the rigid airship allat once. See you at the Small Stores! Ω

ATTENTION! COLLECTORS.PHILATELISTS, GRANDPARENTS

The ZRS-4 stamps are the best deal you will find. Ibought each one of my six grandchildren a sheet ofstamps for a Christmas present. Each child received alengthy explanation on the value these stamps wouldhave in years to come. They’re also a history lesson. Ifyou need talking points direct them to our web sitewww.naval-airships.org. - George Allen

Sheet of 20 each USS Akron self-adhesive USPostage Stamps $15, plus shipping. Includesphoto banner which can be used to broadcastboth the USS Akron and the NAA website onyour packages.Please enclose an address label with your orderto George – one of your small return addresslabels would be fine.

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HISTORY COMMITTEE

John Geoghegan noted from the internet:“Crashed Hood Blimp Garners Agency Top PrintAward” Last September the famed Hood blimpcrash landed... After the crash the dairy companyplaced an ad thanking the residents of the townfor their patience and cooperation during theblimp's clean up. Either out of sentiment or trueadoration, the ad, created by VIA, was handedThe International Dairy Foods Association's“Best Overall” award in the print ad category atthe organization's Smart Marketing 2007conference. If VADM Rosendahl were still withus, he could have restated what he once wrylyobserved, “Airship casualties have always beenheadlines; those of airplanes only statistics.” Allthat serves to remind us of the passing of the 70th

anniversary of LZ-129, taking time to notewhat’s being said about history’s most replayedaccident (owing to its film being public domain):

National Archives photo via Eric Brothers and David Smith

Mark Schubin, columnist for Videographymagazine, says in the March 2007 issue: “Indisasters, there were the General Slocum and theHindenburg ... Everyone knows about theHindenburg disaster. There are newsreels of thegiant airship bursting into flame and audiorecordings of announcer Herbert Morrison cryingto his radio audience, “Oh, the humanity!”Certainly, it was a tragedy, with 36 people losingtheir lives, most because they lept to the ground,not because they were consumed by fire. But, ofalmost 100 people on board, most survived,relatively unharmed. More (73) died in the crashof the airship Akron . The General Slocumdisaster, on the other hand, killed 1,021 people,the vast majority of the passengers on a riverexcursion on the steamship, all from one smallneighborhood. It was the worst peacetime

maritime disaster in U.S. history and the mostdeadly event in New York City before 9/11.”Schubin then discusses a DVD that sold half amillion copies the first day of release. “What didthe H i n d e n b u r g have in common withChappelle's DVDs? Both had availablerecordings. The General Slocum and the Akrondidn't..."

A long piece on NP Radio had the usualrecording and commentary... but the final tagadmitted that passengers who stayed on boardsurvived. Herb Morrison, upon realizing many ofthe passengers and some crew were runningtoward him, says into the microphone, “Isincerely hope that... that you don’t think it wasas bad as I made it sound there at first." (If youdon't recall that part, it's because they never playthe last part of his record.)

Ward T. Van Orman wrote in Wizard of theWinds: “...The Hindenburg was inflated withhydrogen, a gas inflammable beyondimagination... The crew wore asbestos suits andsneakers whenever they worked near thehydrogen-filled gas cells...”

By contrast, the report of Germany’s WirelessTelegraph and Atmospheric Electrical Stationstated in August 1938: “The basic cause of thecatastrophic fire is ultimately to be regarded asthe poor conductivity of the aluminum paintcoating on the outer skin and the good insulationof the blue anti-corrosion paint of the framework.Also, if the landing tow ropes had been attachedto the ship’s hatches directly, then the totalconductivity value of the tow lines probablycould not have reached the required amount fordischarge, or only then after the ship had beenhauled down to a lower height, when the fieldstrength would not have been sufficient.”

Robert Wise, producer of the Universal Studiosfilm “Hindenburg,” told Van Orman, “You can'tmake static electricity very dramatic.” NY Times21 NOV 06 report on the ‘Mythbusters’ TVshow: “Mr. Hyneman said that he sometimesworried about 'glorifying explosions,' whichcould send the wrong message to young andimpressionable viewers. ‘If I had my druthers, wewouldn’t be blowing stuff up,’ he said. Mr.Savage appeared behind him. ‘But then wewouldn’t have a show,’ he said with a cackle, anddarted away.” Ω

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War StoryOne not-so-encouraging e-mail messagequestioning our team’s combat history efforts leftme a bit shaken. It got me to thinking about mydear old Dad. (Now comes a long story, prepareyourself.) Philip Van Treuren was so old (30!) inJAN 42 only the Civil Air Patrol would havehim. Leaving his successful automobile shop anda partnership at the Asheville NC airport, newCAP Master Sergeant P.V.T. started flyingpatrols out of Daytona Beach, Florida.

(In the ’42 photo above, looks like their July 4th

parade featured a trashcan drum simulator. Notebombs.) CAP reimbursed gasoline cost and paideight dollars a day. The Gov’t had paid for bombracks to be added to the private planes, theirFairchild 24 capable of carrying two 100pounders. Dad (below) posed with theformidable ordnance, which certainly could have

really scared the sub-mariners if it went offnearby. The U-boatswere having their wayoff Florida – blimpswould not appear therefor many months – andone night a torpedo hit amerchantman not far outto sea. Dad’s outfitresponded and joined insearching for the sub fordays; he snapped a photoof vessel salvage efforts(right, top). On one

patrol they spotted what they thought was aperiscope and lined up for an attack. After‘bombs away’ it was full throttle for home.That marked the highlight of Dad’s ASWexperience, since in ’43 “they were getting tothe bottom of the barrel” when the Navy wasaccepting ‘old-fossil’ 31-yr olds.

Soon Aviation Chief Machinist Mate P.V.T.was a plank owner in VR-1, the first Navytransport squadron. As flight engineer he flewthe duration in DC-4s into Rabbat, Bizerte, etc.

Like blimps, no CAP plane was credited withsinking a sub during WWII. Not something tobe ashamed of, exactly; the entirety of CoastGuard Aviation was awarded only one, andthat turned out to be wrong. Yet, late in his life,Dad occasionally seemed emotionally troubledthat his charges might have hurt someone whowasn’t a fanatical Nazi. My assurances, thatmen in uniform doing their duty aren’t offeredmuch choice, seemed no more comforting thanthe fact his little airplane probably causednothing worse than heartburn.

Quite by accident our team, while looking forairship photos in the Nat’l Archives, stumbledon an official photo (below) of a vessel that

resembles Dad’s snapshot; the date andlocation jive. Yet Clair Blair’s definitive studyof subs and ASW does not list a SS La Paz. Awebsite, U-boat.net, says “A torpedo from U-109 hit the SS La Paz on 1 May, 1942. She didnot sink.” If that last is correct, one could theninvest some money in obtaining a copy of theU-109’s log book, pay someone whounderstood the jargon-rich German lingo to

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translate every page of their time off Florida in1942, all in hopes they recorded seeing a smallairplane through their periscope. Hardly anypoint; Dad is long beyond caring, having goneto his reward short of his 81st birthday.

I only bother you with all this to give you someidea what an ASW researcher is up against.Without financial support, one must have beliefin purpose. The role of the airplane in ASW isnot in question. The US built 300,000 of themduring the war; they could not, as atechnology, fail. The ASW role of the USNavy airship, whose total number 1915-thru-today number less than 300 period, wouldseem to have been addressed by previouslypublished histories. Trouble is, the actualcombat records of WWII were classified yearsafter those books were compiled. Manyquestions remain unanswered.

The troubling e-message I received criticizedmy effort to update ZP histories to includecombat records, classified years after today’sLTA histories were published. The gist of themessage was “What difference would it makeif Van Treuren uncovers some dubious reportthat states a blimp sank a submarine?”Flabbergasted, I had no quick answer. I alwaysassumed everyone would like to know.

. The Nat’l Archives photo (below) iscaptioned Walter P. Ozesky, ARM3, killed inthe crash of the K-14.” The gut-wrenchingphoto of one of the victims’ bodies beingrecovered from the submerged K-14 is all themore upsetting knowing we have no realisticway of researching what really happened.

So we will present what we do know in hopesof shedding some light on this dark episode.

What Happened to the K-14?Our team’s most baffling action began off BarHarbor, Maine, on 2 JUL 44 when (per ZP-11War Diary) a fisherman used his Navy-supplied radio to report he had “sighted thewake of a submerged submarine.” Alreadyaloft, “The K-14 had been ordered to make aMAD search for a submarine…” At 2115hours “The K-14 was conducting a MADsearch at an altitude of between 200 and 250feet…” A vessel nearby, the APc-94, recordedin its log that her crew felt two depth chargeconcussions about 2130. The Board ofInquiry’s (BofI) Finding of Facts stated “…thearming wires were still attached to the bombracks, indicating that the bombs left their racksarmed…” Three fishing vessels in nearbywaters reported feeling the detonations. ZP-11Diary recorded “…the two Mark 47 bombswhich the blimp had carried outboard weremissing. The fuse arming wires were stillsecured to the bomb rack, proving that the twobombs sank armed, and undoubtedlydetonated.” Eastern Sea Frontier - NorthernGroup Reports (ESF-NG) noted later “Nooffhand explanation could be given for thefailure to find two known depth charges in theafter racks and no [other] accounting was givenfor the dead fish in the area...”

Machine gun fire was also noted. A CoastGuard watchman ashore reported hearinggunfire and seeing flashes. Inside the K-14, the5th of July salvage diver reported... “a lot of .50caliber shells all strewn around...” inside thecar. ESF-NG Reports: “There have beennumerous reports of heavy explosions andgunfire and machine gun fire at or about thetime the K-14 crashed which may have beenresponsible for the crash.”

Though it does not speculate why, the ZP-11Diary states: “Ensign Sharp shouted that theship was going to crash. The ship crashed intothe water, throwing Ensign McDonnell againstthe Navigator’s table… The blimp carimmediately filled with water…” Kluber,Oldar, Ozesky and Powles were trapped insidethe sinking car, and drowned.

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When the K-14 could not be raised on radio,the Ypc-94 proceeded toward her last knownlocation, logging that it encountered a half-milelong heavy oil slick. When they found the K-14wreck, two more crewmen had perished. AnArmy crash boat photographed the bow of theenvelope lying on the surface (below) laterscribbling the caption on the photo’s back,

“Wreckage of the Navy blimp K-14, was shotdown by a U-boat.” (Dairy) “…the fourremaining survivors were taken aboard thePatriot.”

ZP-11 scrambled to the scene: K-25 flew outfrom South Weymouth and joined the K-34 tocontinue the search into the night of 4 July.“The K-15 on hove Patrol sighted whatresembled a periscope and beather [breather]200 yards astern for a period of approximately20 seconds…” Rumors abounded back at thebase. Shipmate Lou Prost: “The skipper CDRBolam… informed us that we should not blame[pilot at controls] Ernie for the crash but hecould not tell us any more… Ernie Sharp wastransferred out of the squadron immediately.”Command pilot McDonnell’s roommate BobForand told us, “While at Bar Harbor, Iobserved a lot of activity going on,with meetings in small groups, with dignitariesand reps from the Eastern Sea Frontier, theSquadron, and Bar Harbor command.”

Meanwhile the car was cut loose and theenvelope towed back to shore (below).

Whenever a ship is lost, a Board of Inquiry isformed to determine the cause. Their ‘Findingof Facts’ also states “…examination of the bagshowed there were about 40 feet of the aftersection missing. Numerous small holes werefound…” The Diary repeats, “The entire tailsection of the envelope was missing.” ZP-11'sGrant Southward found and examined holesin the envelope, cutting out samples for testssubmitted to a Navy facility. Test results todetermine the weapon caliber, if run, werenever released.

The Board of Inquiry nonetheless ruled K-14’sloss and her crew’s deaths an accident,specifically ‘pilot error,’ blaming commandpilot McDonnell. The decision was notunanimous and did not sit well with somepeople aware of the action. In 1977Commander Alex W. Moffat, USN (Ret.)published his memoir A NAVY MAVERICKCOMES OF AGE (Bantam Books, 1977): “Itwas obvious that the court wanted no record ofany sub attack in those waters. At the hearingthey admitted no evidence except that obtainedfrom interrogating the survivors. It would noteven accept in evidence the written statementof the technicians that they found many bulletholes in the fabric... When the bag was spreadout on the field they were able to determinethat the bullets entered the bag aft of the carand exited at the top amidships.”

Member Fred Morin, a South Weymouthactivist, had pursued the K-14 case with theNavy. In November of 2003 W. S. Dudley,then the Navy Department’s Director of NavalHistory, wrote to Fred discussing the case. Astrong argument is made based on variousrecords showing there is no record of a U-boatin the area of Bar Harbor, Maine 2-4 JUL 44.

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U-107, which had been there, was mid-Atlanticby then and U-233, while inbound, never gotclose. (Survivors of both boats were reacheddirectly or indirectly by the chairman and bothverified they were not involved in a fight withan airship.) However those cited records alsoshowed no U-boat was lost in Atlantic watersnot far from Lakehurst – but one was foundthere anyway, torpedoed. It turned out to be theU-869, long “known” to have been sunk athousand miles away. In fact, submarinehistory is one of continual revision as newinformation (and wrecks) comes to the surface.

The Dudley letter states, “In reading thesurvivor’s statements, it appears that theconsensus was that the blimp simply crashedinto the water.” Many K’s struck the wateraccidentally, flying low for MAD, but theyrecovered. Heavy takeoffs knocked off wheelsand whole fins in the dirt, let alone water,without ship loss. K-ship history would seemto have no case where an intact blimp buoyantin the air could quickly sink in the water. Inhis arguments over the crash of the ZPG-3Wyears later, experienced command pilot LundiMoore pointed out an airship could not bedeliberately nosed down and flown into thewater with such speed as to burst a good bag.Can we detail a combination of actions whereMcDonnell worked his wheel, pedals, dampersand throttles to cause “The entire tail section ofthe envelope was missing” when Ernie Sharpwas at the controls? Though at the radar,McDonnell was blamed; what specific inactionof his caused the stern come off so the carwould sink like a rock, drowning four men?Unlike airplanes, the K-34, K-57, and even

shot-up K-74, settled slowly into the water andallowed the crew to egress. Not surprisingly,investigators suggest K-14 was not only piloterror, but that in combination with ‘mechanicalfailure,’ though the Navy never suggestedsuch. Yet even when the K-60’s rotten patchescaused a fin loss, again the ship only settled.

The Dudley letter suggests the “…blimparrives on station the weapons were clearedfrom the safety position and test fired. Perhaps,this could account for the gunfire heard byseveral fishermen that were interviewed.” Byday, certainly; at night, with fishing vesselsknown to be about, firing the .50-cal into thedarkness just to see if it worked seems ratherirresponsible. Next, in spite of the literaturestating the witnesses heard gunfire and feltconcussions, the Dudley letter sidesteps anyconnection. So, in total, by co-incidence wehad a test-firing of the gun just before someundefined miss-piloting and some unexplainedmechanical failure caused the stern to separate,setting up what Dudley describes as “…the twoMk 47 bombs, carried by K-14 and torn off bythe impact. Evidence found shows that thebombs sank armed and most likely detonatedwhen they reached the preset depths.” Take alook at the K-14 car, (below) with sterndamage from dragging on the bottom whilesuspended from the bag nose:

Does this car look like 700 pounds of Torpexbombs exploded about 50 feet away? Andwhat of the little pink bodies inside, escapinginto the water? Not even a headache?

If the twin 350-lb Torpex detonated near theirintended target, then a U-boat was likelydamaged; indeed, the APc-94 logged

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encountering a _ mile long heavy oil slick as itapproached the scene hours later. The Dudleyletter sets that aside, and further suggests theholes in the envelope were caused by agrappling hook - that obviously came after theship lost most of its helium so as to plummet.

Several years ago your chairman joined agroup of submarine fans based here in Florida,Sharkhunters , and started enjoying theirmonthly magazine. When I asked for help onour mystery of 22 JAN 42, they ran my pieceand one of their activist members, attorneyPaul Lawton, responded with a plausibleexplanation that we could verify, solving themystery. Lawton, you may have heard,spearheaded the fight that resulted in the Navyfinally reclassifying the loss of Eagle boat #56,supposedly lost the following year to a “boilerexplosion,” to a torpedo attack. K-14 wasunder the same sea frontier command, andwhen I asked, Sharkhunters again devotedspace to the inquiry and discussion. The fact noU-boat is shown in the area at the time wasrevisited. Further, Mr. Lawton writes in theirfollowing issue, “Had the other four survivorstaken the truth of some big cover-up to theirgraves? I believe not, particularly since myexperience with the PE-56 survivors not onlyproved their willingness to set the recordstraight, but to doggedly pursue the correctionof the official record… What possible nationalsecurity concern could keep those men quietfor sixty years, that none would have made adeathbed confession that their mates died as aresult of enemy action? As a practicingattorney for 16 years, I know that silence ofsuch a tragic event is not genuinely withinreasonable human nature.”

Hard to argue with that; since it’s unlikelysomeone from Germany will come forward asin the K-74 case, we are beaten. Fred and Imay be the only non-ZP-11 members whorefuse to believe the K-14 was lost due to piloterror, but we have to admit we have run out ofideas to get the Navy to award these brave menthe Purple Heart. That, plus the complete lackof response to the K-72 case, means we are lesslikely to completely correct the airship’s scorein World War II. Ω

Black Blimp

Robert Shannon, 87, passed away 1 APR 07.Shannon was born in 30 MAR 20, and enlisted inthe US Navy in 1937 (age 17). Severed on the USSDetroit and USS Plymouth. Assigned LTA Schoolat Lakehurst April 42, served as a rigger until OCT43. Attended flight school, earned LTA wings andreceived a commission 6 JAN 44, served with ZP-23 until OCT 44; served in Brazil remainder of thewar. Assigned NAS Moffett '45'-47, NAS Glynco'47-49. CDR Shannon was Command Pilot of thelast Navy airship flight, 31 AUG 62. (Below, DanBrady photo.) He is survived by wife KimikoShannon, daughter Claudia Shannon-Romans,s i s t e r I l aThoensen.R o b e r t w a sp receded indeath by his son,Robert ConradShannon, whodied in Viet Namon Jul 20, 1968.

James A. Earley, 89, of Whiting, Manchester, diedFeb. 18, 2007. Mr. Earley was born Oct. 27, 1917,in Tottenville, N.Y. He attended Tottenville HighSchool and graduated in 1936. He enlisted in theU.S. Navy in October 1942, where he attendedradio school in Boston and lighter-than-air schoolat Lakehurst. He flew out of South Weymouth,Mass., as well as Trinidad and Dutch Guiana as amember of U.S. Navy Squadron ZP-51. He washonorably discharged as a radioman second classpetty officer in October 1945. He retired from thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey in1975 with 26 years of service. He was predeceasedby his wife of 63 years, Doris J. Hahn; and his son,Richard Joseph Earley. He is survived by two sons,James F. Earley of Leesburg, Fla., and Dennis P.Earley of Rumson and two grandchildren.

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Marie Graves, 97, of Manchester NJ diedFebruary 12 at Community Medical Center, TomsRiver. She had been in poor health and living in aNursing Home facility for several years. Mariewas, as far as we know, the last living widow leftbehind from the crash of the USS Akron, (ZRS4) atsea off Barnegat NJ April 4 1933 which took thelife of her husband, Aviation Machinist's Mate 3rdClass Hilbert N. Graves and 72 others aboard.Marie was born in Trenton, NJ and met HilbertGraves when he was just starting Rigid Airshipduty. It was her intention that as a Navy wifemarried to a man in a glamorous branch of theservice flying the great dirigibles, she wouldeventually get to "see the world." As it turned out,she never got much beyond Lakehurst, NJ, some 35miles from her birthplace. In their short married lifetogether, they never had children and she neverremarried. Marie got a teaching degree fromTrenton State Teacher's College and settled in to a30 year career as an elementary school teacher inthe town of Lakehurst, where she also served assomething of an unofficial historian, Girl Scoutleader and a pillar of the small community. She wasa Member of the Naval Airship Association, theLakehurst Elementary Education Association andthe Lakehurst Borough Historical Society as wellas a parishoner at St. John's Roman CatholicChurch, Lakehurst for over 70 years.

Edward J. "MR. ED" Higginson III, 81, died 18February at his home in Sarasota. Born Feb. 9,1926 in North Tiverton, R.I., he was the son of thelate Edward J. Higginson Jr., and the late Dorothy(Brown) Higginson Garels. He spent his youth inFall River, Mass., graduating B.M.C. Durfee HighSchool in 1943. During World War II he served hiscountry in the Navy, attending radio serviceschools in Pennsylvania and at Texas A&MUniversity to prepare for the Joint CommunicationActivities unit in the Asian theater, where the unitmaintained liaison with Admiral Halsey's SeventhFleet. Honorably discharged as Radioman 2/C, heearned a bachelor's degree in businessadministration at Boston University in 1951. Along-time member of The Elks, he was also a lifemember of the Sarasota Veterans of Foreign Warsand a committed participant in the Naval AirshipAssociation. He is also survived by several niecesand nephews and preceded in death by his brotherCol. Leonard E. Higginson.

William A. Langen, Jr., 85, formerly ofDoylestown, PA, passed away on February 10,2007 at his home inWoodbury, NJ. Hewas born January 20,1922, in Union City,NJ, to William A.Langen and Carla(von Kuewnick)Langen. Bill grew upin Hoboken, NJ,graduating from A.J.Demares t H ighSchool in 1940. Hemet Helen Falls thereas a student; hemarried her in 1943on the same day that he got his Navy wings incatapult seaplanes at Pensacola, Florida. Bill spenttime as a flight instructor at Bunker Hill NAS inIndiana before being sent to seaplane training atPensacola and a squadron in Jacksonville.Following a serious crash with a student pilot andfor the rest of his life he called himself 'LuckyLangen'. Bill flew "everything except jets". Afterthe war, Bill returned to New York University forhis aeronautical engineering degree graduating in1951. His first professional position was designingairships for Goodyear at their North Canton, OH,plant; he returned to active Navy duty for airshippilot training at Lakehurst, NJ in 1953. Heconsidered himself lucky to accumulate over 3200flight hours prior to his 1982 retirement as aCommander. Bill continued to work for the UnitedStates Navy in a civilian capacity, first at the NavalAir Engineering Center, Philadelphia and later atthe Naval Air Development Center (Johnsville),Warminster, PA, retiring as Director of Air VehicleTechnology in 1980. Bill and Helen moved toHilton Head, SC, in 1991; she died there in 1994,and he returned to his beloved Doylestown,becoming an integral part of many military andengineering associations. He also served on theboard at Westwyk, his residence until his move toWoodbury Mews in late 2006. Three daughters andsons-in-law, six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and his brother-in-law survive him.

Alan H. Foster, former PHOM3, passed away on10/18/06.

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DRIFTING TOWARD THELIGHTER SIDE OF LTA

(Above) Have B-B gun, will travel. (Below)Delsey Luggage, Inc. "Helium" luggage line.“Unbelievably light weight yet fully featured.”

Alexander Graham Bell invented thetelephone. Thomas Edison invented the LightBulb. Joseph Lucas invented the intermittentwiper, the self-dimming headlight, and theshort circuit. Lucas systems actually use ACcurrent; it just has a random frequency. WhenLucas was told he had a problem with shortcircuits, he made the wires longer. A typicalLucas panel has two three-position switches:one is Dim, Flicker, and off. The other hasSmoke, Smolder, and Ignite. Rumor has itLucas bribed several members of Parliament toget them to repeal Ohm's Law.

They withdrew their efforts when they met toomuch resistance. Ω

The 70th anniversary of the Hindenburgaccident passes during this issue's period, butin happier times the year before found a groupof rich & famous & glamorous dignitariesaboard for what has come to be called "theMillionaire’s Flight." (Eddie Rickenbacher wasparticularly taken with the airship’s bar.) Storyhas it one attendant, so enamored with the richand beautiful Lady Ashley (above) that heforgot his prepared spiel about the hope formore business travel. Instead he blurted out,“Uh, I hope you've enjoyed giving us thebusiness, uh… as much as we have enjoyedtaking you for a ride.” Ω

(Above) L-type airship circa spring 1942 following the order to blot out airship designations. NARA photo via David Smith and Eric Brothers. (Below) Restored car of the L-8 as it appeared in the NMNA LTA display early this year, prior to cowlings being made. NMNA photo via Mort Eckhouse.