What Happened To Airships? | Answers With Joe

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Airships took over the skies and imaginations of the early 20th century. They were a symbol of technological progress and a prosperous future. And then, they vanished. What happened? And why are they possibly making a comeback?
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LINKS LINKS LINKS:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...
www.thoughtco.com/history-of-...
science.howstuffworks.com/tra...
www.airships.net/helium-hydro...
www.businessinsider.com/hinde...
www.nytimes.com/2010/ 09/26/realestate/26scapes.html?_r=0
R101
History channel doc on the R101: • Video
Old Movietone footage: • R101 Airship
Engineerguy: • Britain's Giant Airshi...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
aeroscraft.com/fleet-copy/4580...
www.hybridairvehicles.com/our...

[@bubbles4769]

More airships in the sky would make me feel like we’re living in Batman The Animated Series’ Gotham City, thus I’m all for airships.

[@WhiskyCanuck]

Or the Alt-timeline in Fringe.

[@RobJuneau]

Or a planet that cares about itself.

[@ewmegoolies]

make it out of hydrogen, make them autonymous or remote piloted, and only use them to travel over the seas. could transform overseas shipping

[@ADerpyReality]

Also spacemining for helium. It's very common outside earth.

[@livingcorpse5664]

That's honestly the first thing that pops in my head when I think of Gotham or Batman thanks to that cartoon.

"unlike in a cruise ship, all this luxury has to float" Joe would get along well with the folks who built the Titanic.

[@John73John]

I had to go back and make sure I heard that one right.

[@Selfinflictedhummusrocket]

Is this an error? Both float lmao

[@shibolinemress8913]

@@Selfinflictedhummusrocket I'm guessing he meant to say that the things had to fly.

[@lowres96]

The titanic sank you morons. Hence the floating joke. Yeesh

[@Femaiden]

Hindenburg, anyone?

[@Thanathos1991]

My Grandfather won a ticket for a ride in a Zeppelin for his 80th birthday and was SO happy and amazed. At the time of the Hindenburg Disaster he was 11 years old, so he remembered his Parents talking about it. My grandfather was an overall curious person, it always was fun to talk to him. =)

[@lynnadames9526]

I found your channel last night. I can't explain my glee in sufficient words. Your topics are lofty, history oriented, slightly macabre at times, but always so entertaining with your twist of humor and sarcasm. Your education exudes through your videos and I am a HUGE FAN now.

[@bootysnatcher4207]

That was me earlier tonight. After I realized I burned 4 or so hrs I just took a min to think to myself, “fuck, maybe I do love learning?”😂

[@c0ldsh0w3r]

Reddit moment🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮

[@kngtrdr_]

The fact that the R101 scrap went into the Hindenburg is an amazing fact I never would have guessed. Brilliant.

[@RobotacularRoBob]

Sounds cursed like James Dean's car.

[@johnathanmartin1504]

It's like making your new yacht out of the wreckage of the Titanic. Talk about tempting fate!

[@angelarch5352]

@@johnathanmartin1504 Name your new yacht "Titanic 2" and really thumb your nose at fate:)

[@zombiasnow15]

Im superstitious.. I would never use the scrap metal from a airship or anything!

[@douglasjackson295]

don't put Cursed metal in your airships

[@296jacqi]

“But don’t worry, it was lined with asbestos, so it was TOTALLY safe.” 😆 Also, it’s insane that the same metal was used in two huge disasters.

[@Mariano.Bernacki]

By now there's a chance your soda can has a few atoms of Hindenburg metal in it.

[@MrSuperbeast92]

@@Mariano.Bernacki That explains why my soda spontaneously combusted... *shot*

[@waylontmccann]

@@Mariano.Bernacki you can only find Hindenburg Atoms in the aluminium/tin containers of 7-Up Lite (weighs less). Whereas other Light Sodas usually contain Chernobyl Uranium mixed into the beverage before bottling (it glows). I thought this was common knowledge these days... As added trivia, the actual reason for helium scarcity is due to the food industry using so much of it in products such as Lean Cuisine, Michelina's Light, and items for the Weight Watcher's Diet Program. Whom industry insiders are saying are planning a new "Flamey End Down" Hydrogen Infused TexMex line of Do Not Heat Or Serve light meal options. Me personally, I can't wait for when the Hostess/Frito-Lay Sodium Hexafluoride Low Salt Maltvinegar Chips drop, its gonna hit us in the chests bruh.

[@brucebaxter6923]

Paranoid much?

[@amykonecny1265]

Clearly that metal was cursed

[@Gendrix00FU]

Iron Maiden's 18 minute song, Empire of the Clouds, tells the story of the R101 very well. Up the irons!

[@gingataisen]

*\m/*

[@robertbensema6268]

🤘

[@dvt1393]

That was the first thing that I thought of when Joe started talking about the R101. It's an epic song... If you roughly 20 minutes to kill. 😅😂

[@btk1213]

"A crash course in ballooning..." Thank you, Joe.

[@purplebunn]

"An airship that uh... you might have heard of." Me: uh oh "The Hindenburg-" Me: UH OH

[@_JayRamsey_]

Exactly, lol

[@leftover7766]

Zeppelins look cooler when on fire than the other kind

[@radioanon4535]

cursed metal

[@matthewking4232]

Lol

[@michaelbalfour3170]

"Ohh the humanity!"

[@Richard-Freeman]

Igor Pasternak definitely **looks** like the kind of person that would say "Airships are the future!".

[@MrSuperbeast92]

Eh... He looks more like a villain from the Adam West Batman, to me. 😅

[@barxracerful]

Looks like he could be father of the "Aliens" guy

[@annando]

And in fact even his name sounds like it had been taken from some steampunk story.

[@gkess7106]

“............, Marty!”

[@patrickobrien5311]

I lived in Albuquerque for a few years when I was in around 3rd through 5th grade or so. The balloon festival is amazing, even if you didn't actually go down to the festival grounds, you can see hundreds of balloons from all over the city. Also the balloon festival food was fantastic.

[@Knapweed]

The story about Ox stomachs sounds like a load of tripe to me.

[@btk1213]

🤨 BOO! 😁

[@fixedgear808]

🤢

[@Sakkeru96]

Sir, thou hast won one internet.

[@fomalhaut_the_great]

A smoking room, encapsulated in asbestos, on an airship held aloft with a *lot* of flammable gas. Aristocrats: *chuckles* I'm in danger

[@TheNickleChick]

I thought asbestos didnt burn at all??

[@alissamcdaniel126]

@@TheNickleChick Asbestos is incredibly deadly tho......

[@hugebigpenis1]

@@alissamcdaniel126 only in disturbed though. It's not worth the risk but as long as nothing is moving it or rubbing against it then you are fine.

[@angelarch5352]

@@hugebigpenis1 ...or flexing it, or if there is any wind or anything...

[@4nd3rzzon]

@@hugebigpenis1 in other words; its pretty bad stuff

[@tobiasknoll8235]

In the 2000's there was a company in Germany, called Cargolifter. They wanted to build huge airships to carry huge loads aroud the globe - didn't work out unfortunately. They build one of the largest buildings in Europe to construct the things, there is now a waterpark in it. Interesting topic, though...

[@flyingfire908]

Do you mean tropical island near berlin?

[@2357y1113]

It's the location for the music video "Deichkind - Ich Betäube Mich (Feat. Sarah Walker)"

[@kpgartner]

Dang! That’s what happened? I remember Cargolifter and their mock up of one of their ships in Walmart livery.

[@Youbetternowatchthis]

@@kpgartner They went bankrupt before they could get OFF THE GROUND. Get it? GET it? I will show myself out now...

[@rogerstarkey5390]

@@Youbetternowatchthis You're full of hot air (😉😁)

[@ThePdeHav]

My Great Uncle Kurt was an officer on the only Zeppelin shot down during The Great War. This occurred over Paris.

[@comie666bruh5]

Cool but sad

[@amethyst1826]

@Peter de Havilland Was he on it at the time?

[@duncanandrews2557]

77 out of the 115 German rigid airships were shot down by 1917 when their use was permanently halted. (TheNationalArchives.gov)

[@comie666bruh5]

@@duncanandrews2557 over Paris not over the whole of france

[@R-Mc-3]

My great great grandfather was responsible for bringing down over a dozen nazi planes. To the Allies, he was known as a hero. To the Axis powers, he was known as the worst mechanic they ever had...

[@ChazBoy03]

“Slightly German” made me laugh. Thank you

[@estudiordl]

I always love airships. There are something really appealing in their retro futuristic feel and look. Thanks a lot Joe for this amazing video.

[@semi-useful5178]

Yeah I love Airships too. I personally feel the modern one s don't quite capture the sheer aesthetic of the old ones, but I'm glad they're coming back.

[@lukeskywalker7457]

I have been a fan of airships for 15 years. I have been thinking about new designs. I think they would be revolutionary and would cut back on some road tax to remote locations. It would be ideal to bring down shipping costs in some in land locations. More importantly it would allow for the transportation of large structures that normally need to be built on site. I don't know how much helium is created but some stages of nuclear decay does produce helium. Maybe an insensitive for nuclear power plants?....

[@paulmanning8897]

It`s simply impossible to design a non-art nuvoeu airship...... I can`t spell.

[@TheSimChannel]

Small mistake in your German there: "Graf" Means "count", so you have that double. Thus, his German name would be: "Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin" or, traditionally: "Graf Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August von Zeppelin" Alternatively, the English version would most likely be: "Count Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August von Zeppelin" or (but I'm not sure if you can do this to a German name) "Count Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August of Zeppelin" Uhh yeah... you're welcome.

[@tara5742]

The Sim Channel I didn’t know Graf meant Count. How have I not known this before. Learn something in the comments even! Thanks.

[@TomandSpace]

Also, the monopoly guy.

[@hin_hale]

Huh, I didn't know that Graf means Count. But reading your comment, I instantly understood that it must be the same as the swedish title Greve.

[@bluemountain4181]

@@hin_hale It also makes its way into English as Margrave (Markgraf)

[@MasterShake9000]

And if you want to get more into it, von was also an indicator of nobility through birth. Unlike English royalty, German/Austrian royalty could be untitled - meaning you could be born noble but not have a title like baron or count. So Graf von Zeppelin is doubly meaningful because it indicates he was both born noble and had acquired a title. In contrast to someone who had simply been born noble (ie Von Zeppelin) or who had become noble and given a title (ie Graf Zeppelin), who, depending on the time and place, would be able to use the title (graf in this case) but not the “von” as they themselves hadn’t been born noble (although any subsequent children they had would be allowed to).

[@kellyriddell5014]

I just started learning to can my own fruits and vegetables, and the elevation of my house impacts the setting I have to use on my pressure canner. You talking about how water boils and evaporates differently with different amounts of air pressure provoked some thought for me about the science of that and how it affects how food can safely be canned. Neat :)

[@kiwitrainguy]

Water boils at a lower temperature the higher its altitude is. So a cup of tea made with "boiling" water on the top of Mt. Everest won't taste as nice as a cup of tea made on the shores of the Dead Sea as the water won't be as hot and therefore not brew the tea correctly.

[@DawnDavidson]

Ain’t science grand? Also, Joe rocks. :)

[@rustomkanishka]

If it's a pressure canner, consider adding a bit of salt to the water before you bring it to a boil. Ideally, salt tends to increase the boiling point, and whatever is immersed in the pressure cooker will cook at a higher temperature, making the cooking slightly faster. Please don't do that to your tea, unless you're making himalayan butter tea, which definitely has salt as one of the ingredients. Also, few days go by that I don't internally thank the guy who invented pressure cookers and the creators of the rice cookers. They make my life a lot easier.

[@dinoschachten]

The Hindenburg disaster actually has lots of fascinating aspects to it, including the materials used (flammable coating of the whole airship) and the cause of the spark likely being static-related. I think these would have deserved a mention here (because I love your content, but it often makes me ask "why did that happen?"), but there's also a great episode of Seconds from Disaster about it including an interview with one of the survivors.

[@hazezero689]

"Basically a buncha of dudes pulling on ropes." - Even modern day sea-going ships and vessels, both civilian and military still do the exact same things to moor and dock pier-side. Even military replenish this ships while at sea, using a buncha dudes pulling on ropes.

[@markplott4820]

the GUY who invents AUTO Docking and Morring will make a Fortune.

[@NikStamps]

I love those sexy men pulling on ropes!

[@CineSoar]

Sadly, I recall more than one old film of airships losing ballast control and rising suddenly, leaving those dudes desperately hanging onto the ropes, for as long as they could. Which unfortunately wasn't long enough.

[@gumunduringigumundsson9344]

Ropes are 'tight!

[@luddity]

@@G.Freeman92 You have nasty weather to deal with either way

[@ChrisVogtmann]

"Unlike on a cruise ship, all this luxury had to float" 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 Haha love your videos Joe!

[@UpScaleRNG]

nothing "has to float"...

[@mrvaticanrag3946]

The Hindenburg was coated with a Thermite coating on the fabric contained both iron oxide and aluminum-impregnated cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) which remain potentially reactive even after fully setting. Iron oxide and aluminum can be used as components of solid rocket fuel or thermite. For example, the propellant for the Space Shuttle solid rocket booster included both "aluminum (fuel, 16%), (and) iron oxide (a catalyst, 0.4%)". The coating applied to the Hindenburg's covering did not have a sufficient quantity of any material capable of acting as an oxidizer, which is a necessary component of rocket fuel, however, oxygen is also available from the air. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster#Incendiary_paint_hypothesis

[@Ektalon]

Before watching this, all my zeppelin knowledge came from Monty Python. Seriously there are a lot of communities in the Canadian North that are only accessible by air for most of the year, and the same can be said for Alaska. I’ve always thought that cargo flights by airship would be easier, and might reduce the high cost of goods due to transportation.

[@Uncephalized]

"We can't make more of it" *laughs in nuclear fusion*

[@pressaltf4forfreevbucks179]

@Chirag Patel thank you for explaining

[@thatman8562]

+Chirag Patel; The funny thing is, current predictions put it 10 years away. Doing some basic calculations, it’s 31 years away. Have fun.

[@STSWB5SG1FAN]

@@thatman8562 That is if we put more money into fusion and LFTR research rather propping up a dying fossil fuel industry. Correction. Rather than padding the very large wallets of the fat-cats of a dying fossil fuel industry.

[@hatmann5697]

@Chirag Patel *yes*

[@CharlesBosse]

Controlled nuclear fusion will probably produce less than alpha decay. Either way, we aren't talking the tons of it we vent to the atmosphere every year. Main offender: NASA. But since we need it for superconducting magnets to work at their best, we probably shouldn't be venting it to the atmosphere in any way, from rocket testing to kids' balloons.

[@Polycreosis]

Incredible. For all his feats, I'm most impressed to learn that Benjamin Franklin was still alive in 1893 (@2:24). His death must have been a ruse to confound the Templars.

[@joescott]

dammit

[@craigcorson3036]

Joe often makes such small errors. He said 1893 for some reason, but it was actually 1783. Franklin died seven years later.

[@timeaandrea11]

Im just really happy to see something else other than coronavirus, kudos to you Joe for giving us something new and interesting to watch, because reasons :))) i really liked that :)))

[@kiwitrainguy]

@@joescott If it makes you feel any better, I watched a video yesterday about canals and they said that a meeting was held to build the first canal in England in 1966 (I think they meant 1766).

[@jessie.jay03]

Hahaha love the “Ancient Aliens” reference. I’ve been binging on it the last few days...again 😳 I love that show. Giorgio’s spray tan and luscious hair always makes my day better when I’m feeling down 😂🤭 🖖🏿👽👾🐙🦑

[@JakobJWinter]

I live at Lake Constance, where the original Zeppelins were built. And they still operate a few blimps (tourist attraction / billboard space). It fills me with quiet joy, every time one flies by my house. So yeah, I would love to see more of those behemoths traverse the skies!

[@TravelblogJoyDellaVita]

Those are NOT Blimps! 🙈

[@JakobJWinter]

@@TravelblogJoyDellaVita Oh, you are right. I always thought the ones here (Zeppelin NT) were just held in shape by pressure. But they do indeed feature a skeletal structure of carbon fiber and aluminium struts (with a weight of only 1.100 kg for a 75m long vehicle!!!). So they are indeed proper Zeppelins! Thanks for pointing that out.

[@Cbricklyne]

"OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!" Right up there with..... "These words shall live in Infamy!" ....in the pantheon of great historical quotes and words that will forever......um............live in infamy.

[@criticalthought7527]

Actually this Reporter is cited as a prime example of how not to report the news, in Journalism schools. At least that is, before cable news, especially now in the post Trump media age.

[@davidrobinson3621]

I know how to fly a zeppelin...I took a crash course!

[@melvinjansen2338]

I remember playing Crimson Skies and was so bummed out airships werent a thing in the real world

[@bidumb6566]

I know right? That game made me fall in love with them

[@zaneal-amood5474]

I too played Crimson sky’s that was one of the best games from my childhood it really did teach me to fall in love with their ships and aircraft

[@jbirdmax]

I loved that game. Think I’ll go boot up my old system...

[@craigcorson3036]

@@zaneal-amood5474 What a shame that there wasn't a game that taught you how to pluralize words that end in Y.

[@LobsterPuncher]

I love that game. It still holds up today.

[@maggieplummer2950]

As someone from Albuquerque, I can confirm that this is accurate. At the International Balloon Fiesta aside from having hundreds of balloons assend into the sky, we also have skill events, such as key grabs and target drops. The balloons will also often get caught in "boxes," which is when a balloon will be flying say, North, catch an updraft, and then catch another current which pushes them South. Then they catch a down draft, which brings them back to the original northern current, and repeat.

[@whatopher]

"Empire of the Clouds" 🤘

[@HerbieHerbHerb]

“Crash course in ballooning” HA!

[@anieanton7266]

I immediately thought of the tv show “Fringe” where the parallel universe in it had commonly used modern day airships all over.

[@phoenixdavida8987]

loved that show!

[@vealito]

@@phoenixdavida8987 And now I'm watching Fringe clips . While thinking about Huge Zepplins with Massive Dynamic logos on the side .

[@quattrocity9620]

Me too, then my 2nd thought was Archer and the Hindenburg 2.0

[@jadall77]

Also remember 2004-2005 in our tech cell phone being used by them in 1985 in fringe. I love it too.

[@shibolinemress8913]

Doctor Who did that too 😊

[@angelaengle12]

19:56 You couldn't pay me enough to ride a giant butt in the sky.

[@dcterr1]

Fascinating history of airships! I'd like to see them come back and maybe even take a ride in one someday. Perhaps that's more likely than going into space!

[@pierreoconnor5635]

"R 101 was the titanic of the Sky" Fun fact R101 was so big, the titanic would have able to actually fit inside the airship.... The thing was a Monster !

[@DanielA-pg2no]

Pierre O'Connor the R101 was 777 feet long. The titanic was 883 feet. Don’t lie.

[@pierreoconnor5635]

@@DanielA-pg2no My mistake, thanks for correcting me. I read it in "To Ride The Storm" by Peter Masefield so i thought it was credible, i should've double check.

[@Phobos_Anomaly]

@@DanielA-pg2no "Never assume malice when ignorance will suffice." In other words - in this case - don't accuse someone of lying when they may actually just be mistaken.

[@esharp3722]

I can imagine the R-101 eating the ship

[@ABrit-bt6ce]

Barnes Wallis was responsible for the R100 the Government decided to go with the competition hence R101.

[@ku8721]

Thank you sooo much!!! I needed an actual distraction, in the last 7 days everything has fallen apart, we had a Nor'easter, lost Tom Brady, my truck broke down, my 80+ year step-dad fell and broke his ankle, I might be losing my job, and now my step-dad has a cough and sore throat from the hospital. Oh and I've been having daily panic attacks.... Or as I call them brief moments of clarity! UNCLE universe UNCLE!!!!!!!

[@petebyrdie4799]

Hold steady K U, I hope things improve for you. Sometimes the world gives us a lot to deal at once.

[@joescott]

Sorry to hear all that. When it rains it pours. But it does stop raining eventually.

[@billmcgarry3300]

Get your step Dad and everyone you know loaded up on Vitamin C 22mg/ pound, six thousand IU D3 and Chaga mushroom tea 6 ounces 2-3 times per day...you all will be bulletproof to the Virus!,

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

“Kirov reporting” “Helium mix optimal”

[@James-xx7yt]

I'm loving the idea. I remember seeing a bit of reporting about the mining corps that dominate my state (the second-largest country subdivision in the world which is mostly desert) using airships to deliver heavy mining equipment to their remote mining operations.

[@AlexanderStone]

Blimps/Airships are exactly what I've been saying Canada needs to reach the Arctic regularly, where the land is difficult to ship supplies to.

[@wallykimball8829]

Kinda windy up there, isnt it?

[@TheGrinningViking]

It's more noticably windy near the ground because of a lack of ground cover like trees, but there's no trees at Zeppelin cruising height anyways.

[@riggs20]

The size of the Zeppelins is just incredible. I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been for the Brits in WW1 to see these gigantic monsters overhead dropping bombs all around!

[@TheCriticom]

Not very nervous I would imagine they had extremely poor accuracy.

[@JMarch05]

The lack of accuracy is what’s terrifying

[@alphagt62]

But Zeppelins were fragile, a well placed tracer round would blow that sucker up! Seeing they were full of hydrogen, for many reasons. Helium has only half the lifting power of hydrogen, it weighs twice as much. And the US had the biggest helium supply. So they might drop bombs but they risk being blown up by a single bullet! Dirigibles were used for observation more than anything else, to see behind enemy lines.

[@sumdud23]

@@alphagt62 ummm actually, hellium is 4 times heavier than hydrogen

[@1locust1]

They were more effective in generating anxiety and tying up war resources on the home front rather than effectively striking strategic targets.

[@JonVonBonbon]

I’ve loved airships ever since I read the book Airborn by Kenneth Oppel when I was a kid. There’s just something so romantic about cruise ships in the sky like you were saying.

[@austinwilliams8106]

Iv seen a blimp maybe 4 times in my life and I get ecstatic when I see them!! I love that it is possible that airships may still be useful! I would love seeing them more 😍

[@bigsamehada7700]

Airships looks so damn cool, we need them back cause aesthetics

[@SDRIFTERAbdlmounaim]

even the two guys who made that early balloon knew not to get in it's maiden test, yea aesthetics 👀

[@SwizzleDrizzl]

@@SDRIFTERAbdlmounaim I am willing to die for a steampunk aesthetic society

[@00ddub]

I love the idea of lighter than air ships that were proposed in the book “The Diamond Age”. In it, humans use nanotechnology to create diamond-oid airships which would create internal vacuums to create buoyancy. It’s a great book if you haven’t read it. It’s by Neal Stephenson.

[@terrelldurocher3330]

Please respond to this.

[@harlequin2584]

The Zeppelin Aircraft Carrier reminds me of the videogame series "Crimson Skies" and I cleary see now where they got their inspiration from for the videogame.

[@carloss745]

Thank you Joe Scott for all your entertaining, informative and educational videos. I love what you do and hope to see and learn much more. You're an excellent educator. Thx again.

[@valky5318]

Another good thing about airships is fuel efficiency. They need a lot less than planes to move the same amount of cargo.

[@jackprier7727]

John McPhee wrote a great book describing overcoming the lifting force decades back-

[@NiftyShifty1]

Your package will arrive in the next 6 months!

[@rush4you]

@@NiftyShifty1 I guess it's faster from inside the US, but ordering something from Amazon or Alibaba to Latin America usually takes more than a month unless you are willing to pay almost as much as the product itself for faster shipping.

[@KyriosHeptagrammaton]

@@rush4you It's like that in northern canada too. It all comes by trucks on winding unreliable roads anyway so an airship would probably be much faster.

[@MadDEMENTOR]

even les than shipps I recon...

[@regular-joe]

"...unlike on a cruise ship, all this luxury had to float..." Say, what?!

[@ofthecaribbean]

Lol

[@TheMariusDarkwolf]

Well given the whole Titanic of the sky comment a few minutes later...

[@bobbobington2921]

Shots fired at Carnival Cruise Line.

[@terryf6696]

Yes please! I would love to see airships in the sky! And for freight and environmentally it makes a lot of sense

[@TravelblogJoyDellaVita]

You should visit Friedrichshafen at Lake Constance then!

[@funkdoktor9099]

I learn so much from you Joe. And am highly entertained

[@davidskessler]

I was really surprised that you didn't mention the Graf Zeppelin (LZ 127) or its captain Hugo Eckener. The Graf was the far more successful predecessor to the Hindenburg and was really the one that people all over the world fell in love with. Eckener was a former journalist and held firm anti-fascist beliefs even as the zeppelin company was taken over by the Nazis. Even though it was eventually used by the Nazis for propaganda, the Graf was better known as a symbol of global unity - and it never blew up!!

[@sofip6293]

I live in Montevideo, Uruguay. During the lead up to the war the Graf Zeppelin overflew the city on its propaganda campaign. They even threw down some flowers for the Uruguayan dictators wife. Eckener apologized for not being able to land because they wouldn't be able to refill with gas if they did.

[@MadDEMENTOR]

And it was given the name that firmed ZEPPELIN. Where can the airship be viewed? Or was there some other incident destroying it?

[@kiwitrainguy]

@@MadDEMENTOR It was broken up for scrap in 1940 along with the LZ130 which was also named Graf Zeppelin

[@dereksgc]

Seeing all these beautiful machines getting destroyed made me think of a quote from Giovanni Caproni after his own weird plane with 18 wings crashed. _"So the fruit of years of work, an aircraft that was to form the basis of future aviation, all is lost in a moment. But one must not be shocked if one wants to progress. The path of progress is strewn with suffering."_

[@harriehausenman8623]

Thanks for the hint! I didn't know about the Ca.60 'till I read your comment.

[@hannakinn]

I'm really glad I finally discovered your channel. Where have you been hiding during my online life??? Lol I'm currently binge watching your videos and really loving the content, wonderful content for distraction during the Covid19 lockdown. Your videos contain content that I often actually learn from so while it is a distraction it's definitely not a waste of time. Your statement about you being adorable is factal and your wife is a lucky woman. I hope she appreciates you and your uniquely adorable intelligence.

[@mattroid2955]

15:49 idk why but him saying it was a gorgeous airship whilst showing the swastica on it just cracks me up

[@akarshsharma2870]

Seems to me like all they needed to do to avoid disasters was to avoid New Jersey So basically like everything else ever

[@angelarch5352]

was gonna say... does New Jersey have an ancient curse for lighter than air vehicles or something?

[@volusiasorange]

The Hindenburg, whatever happened there...

[@milsrichburg6066]

Nicely done, it’s great to watch a normal video , you know one where the “C” word is not the main topic

[@adamwest8711]

Mils Richburg - it’s a whole new ‘C’ word that gets you in trouble if you say it in front of the elderly or those of a sensitive disposition. Well, at least I can scream C*** at all the food and toilet paper hoarders now without upsetting Grandma.

[@dougrogan379]

Mamama my corona

[@7MonarC]

Cecum

[@JayPixx]

I love airships, and even more the idea that they could come back! Great, majestic entities of the skies. Amazon airship with hundreds of drones, Police airship with hundreds of drones, Army airships with... I'm gonna get one myself !

[@terrencedouglas375]

Some starcraft protoss carrier kinda shit here

[@rikspector]

Joe, I grew up in Jackson,NJ on a farm. We were there from 1944 to 1960 Only a few miles from Lakehurst Naval Air Station . As a little boy I would wave to the blimps flying over our farm and we also visited Lakehurst in the fifties and later. When we moved to Lakewood,N J my neighbor was John Iannacone.He was the last surviving Air sailor from the 20's and 30's He was 94 years old when he died He had been a hero of the Hindenburg crash,he was one of the sailors pulling it in to secure it. .. I asked him once what he did when the airship caught fire, He said, I ran like hell. Actually he did what he could to help dazed passengers who had survived the crash and fire. As a letter carrier in Lakewood from 1961- to 1968, one of my delivery people was Moody Erwin 201 east 7th street, who lived with his permanent girlfriend Mae Roos. He was one of the three people who has survived the crash of the Akron airship. Admiral Rosendahl who was an advocate of lighter than air craft,became after retirement the Dean of the Admiral Farragut Academy in Toms River,NJ. He never gave up his belief in lighter than air travel. It was a very interesting time for me as a young man and your show brought back a lot of memories Thank you. Cheers, Frederick"Rik" Spector

[@laur-unstagenameactuallyca1587]

I've been wanting airships to make a comeback since I was 7 😂

[@iloveamerica1966]

But...you look 4 years old.

[@TeamLegacyFTW]

@@iloveamerica1966 lol'd

[@maxmouche]

"Is that a dirigible in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?..."

[@BornToPun7541]

Nah, it's just a submarine

[@patrikwihlke4170]

I prefer the term "flying whale"

[@iloveamerica1966]

Honey, your cecum gas bag appears to be leaking. (12:58)

[@charlesshreeve319]

Damn big pocket or awful lot of happiness!

[@BitBert]

Very interesting...Good reseash and excellent presentation. Thank You

[@bfoot2211]

I loved hearing your shout out to Bill Hammack saying he reads “with a voice like velvet.”

[@hennyboy666]

i would love to see airships in the sky, it would be sick

[@cinnazeyy1245]

go visit Friedrichshafen (Germany)

[@HalNordmann]

@@cinnazeyy1245 Our family was once on a bike trip around Bodensee (from Friderichshafen). When we first saw an airship, it was amazing!

[@bartekltg]

7:55 Helium "molecule" has twice the atomic weight of hydrogen molecule (the atom is 4x time heavier, but helium flight as single atoms, while hydrogen makes two atoms molecules) but this do not mean hydrogen is two times better. Hydrogen weights 2g/mol, helium 4g/mol (mol of decent gas in decent conditions have the same volume), but the air these gases displace weight 29g/mol. So the difference in lift force is rather 27:25. A bit more since these gases are compressed a bit, and the difference is more important since there is a mass of the structure, but still not two times. Especially since the Hinderburg was designed to be helium airship, they use hydrogen because they can't buy helium (the US, the main producer, ban helium export to Germany).

[@alunjones3860]

I wonder if it's possible to mix the helium with some hydrogen, but not enough to make it explosive, to save expensive helium?

[@bartekltg]

​@@alunjones3860 This is a tricky question, hydrogen isn't explosive in the blimp in the first place. It burns with oxygen from outside (a smaller explosion may happen). As long as the gas is inside (not mixed with air) we are safe. The flammability range of hydrogen in the air is 4 -- 75 % (and it goes bum when between 18% and 60%), so when it escapes, hydrogen is dangerous when quite diluted. Lets say we get 50-50 of helium and hydrogen, and it escaped. When it dilutes that 20% of that gas is in the air, we have 10% hydrogen and still 21%*80% =~ 16% oxygen. It still looks like a flammable mixture. And adding 10% of hydrogen looks like unnecessary complication. Helium is expensive, but not that expensive. Couple $ per cubic meter. And we produce and use it a lot, 180 million cubic meters per year. WE get is with natural gas, as byproduct. A couple of blimps won't change anything. Some people claim we should start to save helium and keep (the resource is finite, and we won't find helium minerals:))

[@alunjones3860]

@@bartekltg Thank you for the detailed reply, so it seems like it's not worth adding cheaper hydrogen to the mix. Yes we do get helium with natural gas, but there's only a finite supply of that, so we will need to find an alternative source some day.

[@AstrumPuella]

@@alunjones3860 nuclear fusion, depending on the atoms used, generate byproducts of helium, it's not a lot of it but it's still producing helium. So that could be a solution.

[@shadowpoet4398]

I've done experiments with hydrogen and helium. I've consistently gotten stronger lift from helium at equal volume...

[@floridaman6643]

Your personality is truly amazing.

[@user-ei2sw5yr5r]

Joe, thank you for the info! This helped me with my engineering assignment.

[@NeorecnamorceN]

Where are all my fellow Fringe fans?! I thought it was really cool how they slightly tweaked a few things like having airships or the statue of liberty actually being cleaned so it isnt green their parallel earth.

[@hexenwulfen]

I'm a huge Fringe fan.

[@congorecluse8111]

I really need to watch it all again otherwise I'll have to go back to the mental hospital.

[@R3LF13]

Came looking for a Fridge comment. Thank you for not disappointing:-)

[@ArcherWarhound]

18:03 Okay, as soon as this guy came on screen I busted out laughing so hard I cried. Of *course* this guy is the CEO of an "airship revival" company! The only way he could look any more the part of the rich eccentric with a hair-brained idea "just crazy enough to work" is if he were wearing a monocle and holding a cane, the head of which was a dirigible!

[@matta5498]

I was thinking he looked like a hobbit.

[@matszz]

Great episode!

[@lukenysen]

Great vid ! Thanks sharing

[@LegionOfWeirdos]

The Albuquerque Balloon Festival is amazing. That weather effect is called "The Albuquerque Box," and apparently it comes and goes. I lived there for a while and worked UNM trauma center. Took care of a balloon crash victim that didn't get the northerly wind he was hoping for when the box effect stopped and had to set down in emergency conditions. He hit some structure (I think it was a power pole, can't remember) and ended up with some serious arm burns.

[@KaBoomStock]

Have you covered what’s going on with the helium reserves? That might make a good topic to cover.

[@JarthenGreenmeadow]

An airship docking on the Empire State Building would have been insane. I love that they built it with that in mind though. Humans are incredible.

[@JarthenGreenmeadow]

I also just realized where this video was going. I hope we get some kinda hydrogen cell some day that is more safe than the gas bags :\

[@BoringDad88]

The ideas at the end are fantastic ideas!

[@davidelliott5843]

Hydrogen is of course flammable but it’s so light that any gas escape literally escapes very quickly. The Hindenburg fire is thought to be the paint used on the external skin. Evidenced by its continuing buoyancy even while it burnt.

[@jackprier7727]

Powdered aluminum and iron oxide with varnish=solid rocket fuel. Used to ameliorate sudden solar heating and expansion.

[@sarahsmith840]

There was a Mythbusters episode where they built 3 scale models and burned them. 1 with hydrogen, 1 with the basically thermite skin coating, and 1 with both. the one with both looked the most like the footage.

[@cavaronev4869]

It is rather difficult to ignite pure hydrogen. The allies had a hard time to bring down German Zeppelins in WW1. They had to develop a special amunition mix (HE shots + pyro shots) to get a hydrogen-air-mixture at the hitzone that was easily ignitable.

[@bipedalbob]

@@cavaronev4869 it's rather easy to ignite pure hydrogen, encapsulated, as in an air ship slightly harder. That was the main reason they quit using them.

[@yahyaabushaheen589]

Also heat makes gas expand and more buoyant

[@WifeMamaArtist]

I love the idea of looking up to see if my Amazon package is on the way...

[@jeffkrebs]

Besides really enjoying your Channel I find it so interesting the way you shoot yourself on screen. You actually have to move around to different positions on the screen to avoid jump cuts quite brilliant actually

[@crawdad4823]

Just fascinating. Thanks.

[@davidshakespeare9767]

Step 1: Invent fusion reactor that also makes helium Step 2: Crimson Sky’s can finally happen!

[@AldrickExGladius]

OMG!!! i loved that game

[@Speeder84XL]

Haha - I was thinking the same. If we get fusion working, we will probably not have a helium shortage any more.

[@985476246845]

@@AldrickExGladius it was the best, so damn cool plane designs! Bloodhawk and the devastator. love cannard planes

[@STSWB5SG1FAN]

@@985476246845 It kind of reminded me of this Marvel/EPIC comic series that came out around 1980, _Crash Corrigan_ (nicknamed "Crash" because he caused so many of them, or because he survived so many🤔😁).

[@BadKEMistry]

Fuck dude that game needs a sequel yesterday!

[@dannyrho6588]

5:36 am. Learning about airship trapped in the house. Does it get any better than this? :))

[@Obvioustroller]

Did you wake up early or stay up all night?

[@lonegroover]

Please notify the authorities if there's an airship trapped in your house.

[@Bugman541]

@@lonegroover underrated comment.

[@martinda7446]

YES FFS!!!!

[@martinda7446]

(Holy crap)

[@cindyl4325]

“I know! I’m adorable.” Hahahahaha hahahahaha THAT was adorable

[@ghanova]

Another very knowledgeable and entertaining video

[@crackedemerald4930]

Ah yes, giant ominous ships flying over my head, Exactly what i needed for my sci-fi most certainly distopian future

[@HurricaneSA]

I think you'd have a far greater chance getting away from a falling air ship that a falling passenger plane.

[@dumitrulangham1721]

Steampunk!!!!!!

[@tgrules565]

I only learnt of the R101 from the Iron Maiden song 'Empire of The Clouds'

[@ahaveland]

Then should interest you that Iron Maiden's lead singer Bruce Dickinson is the main investor in Hybrid Air Vehicles that makes Airlander 10.

[@tgrules565]

@@ahaveland Yeah I thought he was going to mention it tbf

[@sugarfish]

Some good news: A lot of new helium sources have been found recently. Google "Help for helium users is on the way," and "Tanzanian Helium Discovery May Be Double Initial Estimate." Geopolitics and supply chain infrastructure are still problematic (google "Qatar helium blockade"), but prices will be going down soon. I'm not crazy about the idea of helium being used in airships, much as I love the idea; it's an endangered and relatively finite resource (on Earth). It has too many other applications that are much more important, including medical imaging and electronics manufacturing-for example, MRI machines. Google "10 helium uses." Neal Stephenson describes a fantastic (but currently, and I doubt ever likely to be possible) idea for replacing helium in airships in his AWESOME sci-fi novel, The Diamond Age: Impossibly strong thin-walled balloons with all of the air pumped out. A vacuum is lighter than air.

[@johnmcnulty4425]

Great video Joe! Thumbs up to more airships!!

[@Pvkasz]

Fun fact: Dirigible means "Steerable" in Spanish. I have 0 idea if that´s the origin, but its probably has Latin language roots at least

[@scratchy996]

Dirijabil in Romanian, all from Latin.

[@paavobergmann4920]

@@scratchy996 I think it does indeed mean "steerable"

[@nicf1555]

same meaning in italian, "dirigibile"

[@ThalassTKynn]

I think it's French in origin in this case.

[@mrrandom1265]

From Wikipedia: Airships were originally called dirigible balloons, from the French ballon dirigeable often shortened to dirigeable (meaning "steerable", from the French diriger - to direct, guide or steer). This was the name that inventor Henri Giffard gave to his machine that made its first flight on 24 September 1852.

[@80s_Gamr]

One of the GoodYear hangers (still active) is right in my back yard. We get to see them all the time around here. When the new one came out they sailed it along with an older one and WOW that things was so much faster and more manuverable! That was just summer before last if I remember right.

[@jamesneilsongrahamloveinth1301]

My concern would be wind. Something so massive would surely struggle to compete with a strong headwind, lengthening journey times. Crosswinds would create different problems, but I guess computer-controlled multi-directional engines are part of the solution these days . . .

[@digitalnomad9985]

@@jamesneilsongrahamloveinth1301 "crosswinds" Regardless of vectored engines you would point the nose to the vector sum of your desired ground track/speed and the reciprocal of the wind. This for an airship turns more into the wind than for a heavier-than-air craft because of the difference in airspeed.

[@CAMacKenzie]

"Dirigible" means "steerable," from "ballon dirigeable," French for "steerable balloon." There are non-rigid dirigibles ("blimps"), rigid dirigibles (Zeppelins are the best known rigids, but not the only such), semi-rigid dirigibles, similar to blimps, but with a rigid keel attached to the bottom to help with structural strength and to attach loads to, and metal-clad dirigibles, (only 2 actually flew) wherein the envelope is made of what amounts to thickish aluminum foil. And then there have been hot-air blimps. Although He is twice as heavy as H, the difference in lift is really quite small, as the lift comes, not from the difference between He and H, but the difference between the lifting gas (He or H, or methane, or any gas lighter than air). H has an atomic weight of 1, but H pairs up into diatomic molecules, so the molecular weight is 2. He has an atomic weight of 4, but doesn't molecule up. Air is A LOT heavier. N (78% of the air) has an atomic weight of 14, and is diatomic, for a molecular weight of 28. O (21% of the air) has an atomic weight of 16, and is diatomic, molecular weight of 32. So air has a molecular weight of about 28.8. H has a mass difference from air of about 26.8 g per mole (6.023x10 to the 23 atoms or molecules), while for He the mass difference is 24.8. By the way, wet air is lighter than dry air, as water has a molecular weight of 18, so steam has been tried as a lifting gas. And two more things, the z in Zeppelin is pronounced like ts, and the accent is on the lin. Say TseppeLEEN. Oh, and Graf is a title, being equivalent to Count. Calling von Zeppelin both Count and Graf is redundant. "...the final nail in the coffin of airships." Well, not quite. During the Second World War, K and M-class blimps were used for anti-submarine patrol, which continued (with N-class) into the 1950s. Also, there were early-warning blimps (modified N-class) in the '50s, equipped with radar to detect incoming bombers, part of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line.

[@adrianferroni350]

Great stuff Joe. Oh the humanity!!!

[@armandsimonis7992]

Not so very relevant but fun anyway: in the tv series "Fringe" - we all watched that right? - in the alternate universe airships were flying around and docking on skycrapers in New York.

[@WallBreakerOfficial]

Fun show.

[@stevencrawford6503]

Asterix

[@shibolinemress8913]

In the Doctor Who 2-parter Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel, the first clue that we're in a parallel dimension is that the sky over modern London (or Cardiff?😁) is full of moored airships.

[@billdale1]

I am against any use of helium for any form of balloon, including party balloons and airships. Helium, when leaking out heads straight out of our atmosphere, and is lost forever, pushed into deep space by solar winds. Helium is being sold obscenely cheap by such venues such as dollar stores, and so will soon become obscenely expensive, soon enough. Helium has a vital use: without it, the superconducting magnets in MRIs and other high-tech equipment would cease to function. MRIs are certainly a far more practical use than party balloons, and Fuji blimp rides.

[@ProlificInvention]

I've always wondered if there is a mixture ratio of Hydrogen to Helium where the danger of explosion is reduced or eliminated. Excellent video as usual *Joe Scott*

[@coast2coast00]

Any mixture of hydrogen and helium will not explode. You need an oxidizer for it to burn. I think also the hydrogen and helium would both fill the same space, instead of pushing each other out of the way, making it twice as heavy as just using one.

[@erikm5221]

Having been inside the hangar built to house the Hindenburg in Lakehurst NJ really puts into perspective just how huge the airship was

[@greggi47]

Yes, Joe, you ARE adorable. In addition to bringing us fascinating topics that you explain accurately in accessible terms (often with a hint of humor that doesn't detract from the factual content) you have a fine, friendly smile. And yo are enthusiastic without gushing.

[@MrSuperbeast92]

Hindenburg: *crashes* Hindenburg's frame: Aw shit. Here we go again.

[@scratchy996]

Hindenburg's frame 2 : Reforged

[@WarrenGarabrandt]

Interestingly enough, that duralumin frame was shipped back to Germany and used in the construction of military aircraft for the Luftwaffe...so much of that metal actually got to crash a third time at least. Some of those planes that crashed were salvaged, and rebuilt again, I'm sure, but I can't find any actual articles that talk about it.

[@cgmehta8264]

I love the interesting facts that I learn from this channel.

[@joemiller9838]

That pun at 3:32 was so good, it took the wink for me to even get it

[@silverismoney]

Neat. I live near where the HAV Airlander used to be at RAF Cardington, got some photos only a few feet away from it. They also built the R101 there where the two enormous hangers are.