Rick G. Posted June 13 Posted June 13 Any of the old duffers here care to hazard a guess as to what this picture entails? (You young whipper snappers under age 60 are welcome to guess as well) 🤪 3 Quote
BoilerRed Posted June 13 Posted June 13 Huge cajones? Seriously though, appears to be some kind of in flight maintainence on a dirigible. 2 Quote
oleman Posted June 13 Posted June 13 Military Surplus freon filled balloon. Believe the last active facility was Moffett Field south of San Francisco. The giant hangers were still in use in the 80's, when I was on active duty in the USN. Quote
53ihgarand Posted June 13 Posted June 13 It looks to be a big one, either the older Zeppelins our one of the US Navy. Looks like they have a hole to fix! Quote
Drysleeves Posted June 14 Posted June 14 12 hours ago, oleman said: Military Surplus freon filled balloon. Believe the last active facility was Moffett Field south of San Francisco. The giant hangers were still in use in the 80's, when I was on active duty in the USN. What freon was used? Quote
Rick G. Posted June 14 Author Posted June 14 The image is the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin, LZ 127. The above photo of crew working on the outside of the ship performing repairs was taken in 1934, over the Atlantic Ocean. Incredible times. At the time, Germany used Hydrogen gas as the lifting gas. The engines were Diesel powered. 1 Quote
New Englander Posted June 14 Posted June 14 Germany didn't have the inert helium so had to use hydrogen which is even lighter and easily obtained but has one small issue.................. 1 Quote
Rick G. Posted June 15 Author Posted June 15 On 6/14/2026 at 5:15 AM, New Englander said: Germany didn't have the inert helium so had to use hydrogen which is even lighter and easily obtained but has one small issue.................. Indeed. It may surprise some to learn that the Hindenburg LZ 129 had a twin sister- The LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin, sometimes referred to as Graf Zeppelin II. It too used hydrogen as its lifting gas. It never carried paying passengers, due to the lingering fear regarding the ill fated Hindenburg tragedy. Both the original Graf Zeppelin, LZ 127, and the Graf Zeppelin II, LZ 130, ended their flying careers being scrapped for recycling for their aluminum content, to support the Nazi war effort of WW II. Here's some interesting info on the LZ 130, the Hindenburg's little known about sister ship. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_130_Graf_Zeppelin 1 1 Quote
Tad Wicks Posted June 16 Posted June 16 On 6/13/2026 at 8:13 PM, Drysleeves said: What freon was used? I new that Freon is a hydrocarbon based on Methane, which is CH4 it just never dawned on me that it could be used for lighter than air craft.. Like the guys that went to the bottom of the Marianas Trench used diesel fuel for buoyancy, you just have to think about it for a second. Quote
New Englander Posted June 17 Posted June 17 16 hours ago, Tad Wicks said: I new that Freon is a hydrocarbon based on Methane, which is CH4 it just never dawned on me that it could be used for lighter than air craft.. Like the guys that went to the bottom of the Marianas Trench used diesel fuel for buoyancy, you just have to think about it for a second. US airships like the ones based at Moffett Field were filled with helium. Freon is heavier than air and not suitable as a lifting gas. 1 Quote
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