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On October 28, 1933, Germany's historic airship, the Graf Zeppelin, passed over the city of Pittsburgh. The dirigible was returning to its European base after a highly publicized trip to the Chicago World's Fair. This was the only time that one of Germany's renowned zeppelins flew over the Golden Triangle, and a moment remembered by all who witnessed the overflight. Around The World Flight - 1929 The Graf Zeppelin (LZ-127) was a passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled, rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. Named after aviation pioneer Count (Graf) Ferdinand von Zeppelin, during its nine-year operating life, the transcontinental dirigible made 590 flights covering more than a million miles. In 1929, the Graf Zeppelin, already known for it's transcontinental flights, became famous as the first airship to circumnavigate the globe. The Graf's "Round-the-World" flight in August 1929 officially began on August 8 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. The ship headed east over the Atlantic Ocean. On August 26, it reached Los Angeles on the west coast of the United States.
The return trip across the length of the continental United States was a 2,996-mile flight that took the Graf Zeppelin over thirteen states and such cities as El Paso, Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit. The airship arrived back at Lakehurst on August 29, three weeks after departing. The total flying time for the global trip twelve days, twelve hours and thirteen minutes. Including layovers, the circumnavigation took twenty-one days, five hours and thirty-one minutes. The entire flight covered 20,651 miles. Century Of Progress Flight - 1933 While returning to Germany from Brazil in October 1933, the Graf Zeppelin stopped in Miami, Florida. It then flew to Akron, Ohio, where it visited the Goodyear-Zeppelin Company's massive airdock before proceeding to the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago.
After circling over the fair and landing for a brief 25-minute visit, the airship returned to Akron. After a two-day stay, the Graf Zeppelin began it's return trip to Germany, with a scheduled overnight stop in Sevilla, Spain. The Graf Zeppelin Over Pittsburgh After leaving Akron, Ohio, the Graf Zeppelin followed the route of the Ohio River to Pittsburgh. The airship passed low over the Point as office workers and pedestrians gazed skyward. The airship was monstrous, measuring 776 feet in length. It was nearly as long as the height of the USX Tower.
After passing over Pittsburgh, the Graf Zeppelin veered slightly south to follow the line of the Monongahela River on its way to the east coast. Being an early tool of National Socialist propaganda, viewers could clearly see the swastika emblazoned on the dirigible's tail. To commemorate the Century of Progress flight, the United States Post Office Department issued a special 50 cent airmail stamp. Many of these stamps were used to frank souvenir mails carried on the airship during its return flight to Germany. The visit was also to be the fifth and final one that the LZ-127 would make to the United States. The End Of The Graf Zeppelin The explosion of Germany's other notable dirigible, the Hindenburg, shattered public faith in hydrogen-filled airships. Unable to obtain non-flammable helium, a vital war supply, from America, the German government ordered the zeppelin fleet grounded in May 1937.
In April 1940, an order was issued to scrap the remaining zeppelins. The duraluminum metal that made up the airship frame was needed for aircraft production. <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> Newspaper Clippings
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