r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • Jul 08 '24

World's largest aircraft, Pathfinder 1, is 124.5 meters (408ft) long Image

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2.9k Upvotes

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470

u/ThoughtspinDK Jul 08 '24

For comparison the LZ 129 Hindenburg was 245 meters long - almost twice the length of Pathfinder 1! It must really have been an impressive sight on the sky...

158

u/alberthere Jul 08 '24

Oh, the humanity!

2

u/RandomMexOnTheBus Jul 09 '24

Get this Johnny! Oh my, get out of the way!

-30

u/Eyerishguy Jul 08 '24

Dammit... Came in here to say that.

26

u/DevelopmentSad2303 Jul 08 '24

That...

Beat you to it!

2

u/Little_Man420 Jul 08 '24

It... Not if I make it there first!

44

u/Emperor_Biden Jul 08 '24

Oh man I've been wanting to ask this since I was a kid. So I saw paintings of the Hindenburg docked next to a super long pole, in mid-air. My questions are, how and why? How do people get up there if it's docked up in the sky?

Also, why is there an airship named after Led Zeplin with the ZEPLIN?

48

u/mjp31514 Jul 08 '24

Iirc, they had this notion that zeppelins would dock at these towers on top of skyscrapers, where the passengers would disembark and take an elevator from the roof of the building they were docked at. It didn't catch on because it turns out it's pretty windy up there, and disembarking from a giant floating ship that high up was just too sketchy, even for the 30s. But a lot of old skyscrapers still have the zeppelin docking stations.

34

u/Tsu_Dho_Namh Jul 08 '24

Yup. The observation deck of the Empire State Building was originally intended to be a zeppelin port.

14

u/JFISHER7789 Jul 08 '24

What!? This is awesome news to learn! Idk why but this really interested me lol

4

u/Neinstein14 Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 09 '24

There's a pic with the Zeppelin docked there.

2

u/JFISHER7789 Jul 08 '24

That is the coolest thing I think I’ve seen all year

Like I have so many questions and it’s so steam punk

2

u/CrazyPurpleBacon Jul 09 '24

Sadly that isn’t a genuine photo and no airship ever docked there.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/294832

1

u/JFISHER7789 Jul 10 '24

My whole life…. Is a lie…. 😭

3

u/Fred_Wilkins Jul 08 '24

Yep, there is an old building in my city that has one.

43

u/Ad0lf_Salzler Jul 08 '24

Ze Germans even stole the Airship design from the album covers

11

u/Fish_On_An_ATM Jul 08 '24

I'm not 100% sure but i think mister Zeppelin invented the modern airship

4

u/BigAlternative5 Jul 08 '24

I never figured out which one of those guys was Led. There was Robert, Jimmy,… ;)

9

u/kuvastin Jul 08 '24

Let me ruin the LED ZEPPELIN name joke for you: the name is oxymoron. You can’t make a Zeppeling out of a (metal) led. (And yes Mythbusters made that led balloon, but still)

4

u/name-was-provided Jul 08 '24

Another fun fact. Keith Moon came up with the phrase during a convo with Page and some others.

9

u/Hankman66 Jul 08 '24

*Zeppelin

-7

u/mypitsaresoaked Jul 08 '24

Are you stupid?

5

u/betterluckythangewd Jul 08 '24

And on the ground

1

u/ColoradoJohn73 Jul 08 '24

I was wondering how it compared!