Tuesday, March 1, 2016

The "Dixmude" Mystery



XXIX

Although the French had pioneered balloon and airship flight from the 18th Century forward, their interest in airships seemed to flag in the Soaring Twenties. 

In 1920, they received the German-built LZ-114 as a war reparation, which they named Dixmude, and they used the airship for mostly government transport between Metropolitan France and French West Africa.

She was 743 feet long and 79 feet around, with a volume of 2.5 million cubic feet of hydrogen.

On December 20, 1923, Dixmude was apparently struck by lightning as she flew through a storm front over Sicily. All 52 people on board were killed. It was the worst airship disaster to date, and essentially put to an end French interest in lighter-than-air craft.


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