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New footage of the Hindenburg Disaster

Cryscat

Senior Member
Recently unearthed footage of the Hindenburg Zeppelin disaster shows how the fire ignited at the back of the airship. All the other footage of the disaster was shot from the front of the ship, where the newsreel cameramen were positioned. This footage was shot by amateur filmmaker Howard Schenck and it was digitized and restored for the PBS Documentary "Hindenburg: The New Evidence". Shot on a Kodak Wind Up 8mm.


Part of the PBS Documentary.
 
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fireflydancing

just a fly in the sky
Staff member
Super Moderator
Interesting.
Did you notice the three men in long coats? They hardly move at all while there is a huge fire in front of them. Weird to see.
 

Cryscat

Senior Member
Yeah, you would think they would move back more, if only for self perservation.

I think the most important part of this footage is seeing where the fire started. In the back of the ship. In the newsreels, its hard to tell.
 

Totoro

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
I saw that one a while ago. It was really interesting when they recreated everything and they replicated the conditions exactly down to the exact amount of time it took for the fire to start.
 

SeaAndSky

Senior Registered
Sad. Sad for the people that died, and also sad for the abrupt ending of the great airships. All possibly preventable, if the U.S. had allowed helium to be exported to Germany, but there was a good reason for that at the time I suppose. Still, the Hindenburg disaster ended an all too brief era of airship travel. I think I traveled this way at one time, along the Brazil to Germany route, or perhaps I just saw them coming and going--majestic and marvelous. I have no clear memories, just an affection and awe for these gentle and fragile giants. Slow compared to planes, but elegant. They were put into use in WWI on bombing raids on England--the first ever--but they were ill suited for such uses.

Airships are one of those things that drew me in as I explored the topic, drawn by feelings I had never had before I began trying to remember my own past lives. I used to be a technophile. I have become, more and more a technophobe, or perhaps a techno-skeptic. Not across the board, as I would not do without medical advances. As for the rest, I have to wonder: Are we really better off because of ____________? Somehow my longings keep taking me back before WWII or even WWI. A slower time, with "less noise and more green" as someone has said.
 
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