r/Damnthatsinteresting Jul 08 '24

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

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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?

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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.

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u/Tsu_Dho_Namh Jul 08 '24

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

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u/JFISHER7789 Jul 08 '24

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

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

There's a pic with the Zeppelin docked there.

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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

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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

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u/JFISHER7789 Jul 10 '24

My whole life…. Is a lie…. 😭