The Miraculous Voyage

XLV

After leaving Los Angeles so dramatically just after midnight on August 27, 1929, the Graf Zeppelin headed due east to Lakehurst for the end of its "American Voyage."

As it turned out, the U.S. transcontinental flight was the most difficult leg of the Weltrundfahrt. The ship, which had valved a lot of hydrogen to land at Los Angeles and then dumped a lot of ballast to take off, was unusually tender.

Dr. Eckener knew he couldn't cross the high Rockies so he stayed over the American Southwest, essentially tracing the U.S.-Mexico border to bypass the high country. The ship was difficult to control. At night she flew well, but during the day the hot Southwestern air reduced lift in the remaining hydrogen. She lost altitude and she fought updrafts and downdrafts, rising and sinking by turns. For the first time during the whole trip, some of the passengers felt distinctly queasy. Finally, she turned northeast over El Paso.

The Graf Zeppelin over Tucson, Arizona

As she passed over the high Plains her problems increased. A line of particularly violent summer thunderstorms buffeted the ship. Pounding rain soaked the envelope further reducing lift, and lighting struck all around the ship. Inside the hull, men hoped like hell that the gas cells had no lazy leaks. The boom-boom of the thunder startled and enthralled the passengers at the same time, but a few worried. These were prime conditions in which airships had been lost. On the bridge, Commander Rosendahl U.S.N. advised the crew as to the vagaries of Midwestern weather. Finally, the big Luftschiff passed into calmer air.

 

From the bridge, Dr. Eckener could see hundreds of people on the ground looking up at the ship. What he didn't know was that Hearst had published announcements in hundreds of local papers reporting the estimated flyover time of the Graf Zeppelin in a given area. The public reaction was amazing. Employers gave their workers the day off. Farmers left their tractors and craftsmen their workshops and merchants their stores. Towns held hastily organized rallies, complete with flags and patriotic speeches. Schools let out. The Graf Zeppelin might as well have been an American ship completing a miraculous voyage.

Seeing the gathered crowds, Eckener reduced altitude, and pulled open the gondola windows. He waved jauntily at the people on the ground who excitedly waved back. Soon all the passengers were waving to the thrilled crowds. Many was the youngster who remembered all their life sharing a moment with people on the Graf Zeppelin as it sailed overhead, a treasured memory passed on through the family

 

Dr. Eckener smiles from the pilot’s window