Mit Graf Zepplin (1931) Rare Agfa Ozaphan, LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin,

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• published: 18 Jan 2014
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LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin (Deutsches Luftschiff Zeppelin #127; Registration: D-LZ 127) was a German-built and -operated, passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled, rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a Graf or Count in the German nobility. During its operating life, the airship made 590 flights covering more than a million miles (1.6 million km). It was designed to be operated by a crew of 36 officers and men. The Graf Zeppelin made another groundbreaking flight in July 1931 with a research trip to the Arctic (Polarfahrt 1931). This adventure had been a dream of Count Zeppelin 20 years earlier but could not be realized at the time due to the outbreak of World War I. The idea of using an airship to explore the Arctic was one reason used to justify both the building of Graf Zeppelin, and the restoration of Germany's right to build airships for commercial purposes. A year earlier Dr. Eckener had piloted the Graf on a three-day trip to Norway and Spitsbergen in July 1930 in order to determine its performance in this region. This was followed shortly thereafter by a three-day flight to Iceland. Both trips were completed without technical problems. The initial idea was to rendezvous with the ill-fated Nautilus, the submarine of polar researcher George Hubert Wilkins, who was attempting a trip under the ice. This plan was abandoned when the submarine encountered recurring technical problems leading to its eventual scuttling in a Bergen fjord. Plans were then altered to make a rendezvous with a surface vessel to be funded by exchanging souvenir mails to the ship. Around fifty thousand cards and letters were collected from around the world weighing a total of about 300 kg (661 lbs). The rendezvous vessel, the Russian icebreaker Malygin, on which the Italian airshipman and polar explorer Umberto Nobile was a guest, carried another 120 kg (265 lbs) of mails to exchange. The major costs of the expedition were met largely by sale of special postage stamps issued by both Germany (as overprints) and the Soviet Union to frank the mails carried on the flight. The rest of the funding came from Aeroarctic and the Ullstein-Verlag in exchange for exclusive reporting rights.[citation needed] The polar flight took one week from July 24--31, 1931. The Graf Zeppelin traveled about 10,600 km (6,600 mi) with the longest leg without refueling being 8,600 km (5,345 miles). The average speed was 88 km/h (55 mph). Route: Friedrichshafen--Berlin -- 600 km (370 mi) in 8 hours (75 km/h; 47 mph) Berlin--Leningrad -- 1,400 km (870 mi) in 16 hours (87 km/h; 54 mph) Leningrad--Kanin -- 1,300 km (810 mi) in 12 hours (108 km/h; 67 mph) Kanin--Franz-Joseph-Land -- 1,200 km (750 mi) in 18 hours (67 km/h; 42 mph) Franz-Joseph-Land--Nordland--Taimyr--Novaya Zemlya -- 2,400 km (1,500 mi) in 32 hours (75 km/h; 47 mph) Novaya Zemlya--Leningrad -- 2,300 km (1,400 mi) in 25 hours (92 km/h; 57 mph) Leningrad--Berlin -- 1,400 km (870 mi) in 13 hours (108 km/h; 67 mph) Berlin--Friedrichshafen -- 600 km (370 mi) in 8 hours (75 km/h; 47 mph) Goals: Test the Graf Zeppelin under Arctic conditions scientific and geographic research of large areas of the Arctic measurement of magnetic field changes meteorological measurements (including weather balloon launches) geo-photographic recording of large areas with a panoramic camera (that would take years if by ship or by land) All participants were satisfied after the trip: the airship demonstrated its usefulness in the Arctic. 16mm film to digital transfer by Gerald Santana