NARRATIVE

NONFICTION

reads like fiction

but it’s all true

SCOPE.SCHOLASTIC.COM • OCTOBER 2016 54 SCHOLASTIC SCOPE • OCTOBER 2016

AS YOU READ What made airships like the Hindenburg so popular?

THEFLAMING

SKY The tragic story of the Hindenburg, the greatest flying machine ever built BY LAUREN TARSHIS

WATCH THE VIDEO AT SCOPE ONLINE!

I n just a few minutes, 14-year-old

Werner Franz would be in the

middle of one of the most terrifying

disasters in

history. But at

that moment—shortly

after 7 p.m. on May 6,

1937—Werner felt like

the luckiest kid

on Earth. Werner Franz

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Werner had a job on the

greatest passenger aircraft ever

built—the biggest, the fastest, the

most luxurious, and the safest.

The Hindenburg was a zeppelin,

and in the 1920s and 1930s, these

remarkable flying machines ruled

the skies. Tens of thousands of

people traveled on zeppelins.

Millions more flew on zeppelins in

their dreams.

And no zeppelin was as

spectacular as the Hindenburg.

In America, the Hindenburg was

more beloved than any president

or movie star—and

more famous than

baseball’s Babe Ruth.

In Germany, where

Werner grew up and

where the Hindenburg

had been built, the

giant airship was a rare

source of pride. The

1930s were difficult

and dangerous years

in Germany. The

country’s leader, Adolf

Hitler, was stirring

up anger and hate,

and many feared he would soon

start a war. Millions of Germans,

including Werner’s father, were

unemployed.

In 1936, Werner, then 13, left

school to look for work so he

could help support his family.

Getting hired as a cabin boy on

the Hindenburg was a remarkable

opportunity. So many times,

Werner had gazed out his bedroom

window, hoping for a glimpse of

the magnificent zeppelin sailing

through the clouds. Now he would

be the one peering down from the

legendary airship, each voyage

taking him far from Germany’s

troubles and into a world of

excitement and glamour.

Little did Werner know that his

adventure would end in tragedy.

The Joy of ZeppelinsIn 1937, passenger airplanes

lacked the fuel capacity to travel

long distances, so for most people,

crossing an ocean meant an

uncomfortable and seemingly

interminable journey by boat. A

typical Atlantic crossing took from

5 to 10 days on an ocean liner, and

the journey wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Passengers endured stormy seas,

cramped living quarters, and

endless days with little to do.

Seasick travelers vomited over rails,

and bored children fidgeted in hot

cabins that reeked of sweat.

Imagine, then, the joy of flying

across the ocean in a zeppelin

instead. The Hindenburg could

zoom across the Atlantic in just

two-and-a-half days.

The Hindenburg was gigantic—

about as tall as a 12-story building

and as long as two football fields.

Its enormous watermelon-shaped

body was filled with gas that lifted

it up into the sky like a balloon.

The ship’s four car-sized engines

would rev up, and vroom!, the

zeppelin would zip through the

sky at speeds of up to 85 miles per

hour—twice as fast as a typical

ocean liner of the day. And the ride

itself was famously smooth—no

one got airsick.

On board the Hindenburg,

passengers roamed two floors of

beautiful rooms tucked into the

belly of the zeppelin’s body. They

slept in elegant cabins, snuggled

up in silk sheets. They woke to the

mouthwatering scent of delicious

fresh-baked rolls wafting from the

kitchen and feasted on gourmet

meals in the bright, modern dining

room. There was a room for writing

letters and reading, and a salon for

playing cards and other games.

And the views!

Airplanes today typically travel

at least 30,000 feet above the

ground. Look out the window

and you see nothing but clouds.

Zeppelins flew much lower.

Airship passengers would stand at

large glass windows and marvel

at the dazzling sights beneath

them—spectacular European

castles, glittering cities, and

crowds of enthusiastic people

waving up from below. At sea, it

wasn’t uncommon to see dancing

dolphins and spouting whales.

Of course, there was a high

price for this experience: One

Hindenburg ticket cost $450—

equal to about $7,500 today. Most

passengers were business leaders,

celebrities . . . and lucky cabin

boys, like Werner.

Famous for SafetyThe May 1937 journey was

Werner’s fifth ocean crossing on

the Hindenburg. The zeppelin had

taken off from its special airfield

near Frankfurt, Germany. It had

zipped across Europe, then headed

out for the roughly 3,400-mile

journey over the Atlantic Ocean.

As a cabin boy, Werner served

meals and washed dishes for the

Hindenburg’s 61 crew members. In

his rare free moments, he was able

to enjoy the stunning views and

explore the ship.

Much of the space inside the

ship’s body was taken up by

16 massive “gas cells,” bags of

hydrogen that gave the zeppelin

its lifting power. Werner tried

not to think about the dangers

of hydrogen, one of the most

flammable gases on Earth. The

smallest spark could trigger a

devastating explosion. For this

reason, matches and lighters were

strictly forbidden on zeppelins.

Like all zeppelins of the time, the

Hindenburg had been designed to

fly with helium gas, which is

not combustible. But most

A JOURNEY OF LUXURYAbove: The Hindenburg’s elegant dining room Left: The fateful final journey of the Hindenburg

COMFY QUARTERS Cabins were small but modern, with cozy beds that could be folded into the wall when not in use.

UNITEDSTATES

GERMANY

EUROPE

NORTHAMERICA

ATLANTICOCEAN

Flight path ofthe Hindenburg

0 500 Miles

Frankfurt

Lakehurst,New Jersey

Source: Peter Belin

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of the world’s helium supply was in

America, and the U.S. government

wouldn’t sell any of this precious

resource to Germany. Though

America was still on friendly terms

with Germany in 1937, many

Americans mistrusted Hitler and

worried he would turn his zeppelins

into weapons of war.

Despite the dangers of hydrogen,

the Hindenburg’s reputation for

safety remained intact. German

zeppelins had flown more than

1 million miles without one

accident. Meanwhile, thousands

had died in gruesome shipwrecks,

like the Titanic in 1912.

Stormy SkiesThe flight across the Atlantic

that May had been uneventful,

but thunderstorms over the

coast of New Jersey delayed the

Hindenburg’s landing. Finally, on

Thursday evening, the skies cleared

and the great zeppelin prepared to

land in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Families and friends of

passengers lined the airfield,

eagerly awaiting the spectacle in

the sky, while about 90 men from

the U.S. Navy stood ready to grab

hold of the Hindenburg’s landing

ropes and pull the zeppelin to the

ground.

Slowly, the Hindenburg began

to drop from above. Children

shouted excitedly as photographers

and newsreel camera operators

positioned themselves to capture

the landing.

The first sign of trouble was

a small flame at the back of the

zeppelin, flicking like a serpent’s

tongue. Onlookers stared. Hearts

stopped. A few people started to

flee. And then—

Kaboom!

Millions of cubic feet of

hydrogen ignited.

Just 32 Seconds Werner heard a muffled

explosion. He turned to see a

nightmarish sight: a wall of fire

racing toward him. He started to

run, but the nose of the zeppelin

jerked up, hurtling him to the floor.

He slid back, back, back, straight

toward the wide-open jaws of the

fire. The heat was unbearable; he

felt certain he would burst into

flames at any moment.

But then, splash!

A shower of water from

somewhere above drenched

him from head to toe. The water

cooled his body and cleared his

mind. Werner rose to his feet and

staggered away from the fire. Then

he saw it: a small door in the side

of the ship. With a mighty kick, he

bashed open the hatch. He had no

idea how far above the ground he

was, but he had no choice. Staying

on the ship meant certain death.

Werner threw himself through

the opening, into the flaming sky.

It took just 32 seconds for the

Hindenburg to crash to the ground

in a burning heap. As it landed,

passengers burst through windows

and doors.

Of the 97 people on

board, 35 lost their lives.

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Poem

BIGGEST, FASTEST, SAFESTHistorians often compare the Hindenburg (left) and the Titanic (below). Both ships were the biggest and fastest of their kind—and considered the safest.

Where Were You on May 6, 1937? BY JOSEPH PACHECO

In the late afternoonpounding the pink “Spaldeen” ballbetween the screened windowsof the Telephone Building on 13th Streetin our slum version of handball,my friend Danny and I looked upand saw the Hindenburg,immense shining silvershaped like a cigarfloating directly above usso closeDanny threw the “Spaldeen” upas high as he could to try to hit itbut of course he missedand we both laughed . . . later I heardit crashed in Jerseyand the whole next dayeveryone listenedto the announcer on the radiosobbing and I remember thinkingradio announcers are always coolbut not this timeso this must be realand later that week at the moviesthey showed it in the Newsreel,the Hindenburg collapsinglike a huge balloon on fireand my mother and the womenin the audience crying,right then I wished that Dannyhad been able to hit it with the balland change its course—maybe that would have saved it.

A “Spaldeen” is a small bouncy rubber ball that

was used in street games.

JOSEPH PACHECO IS A RETIRED NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT. HE WROTE THIS POEM ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE OF SEEING THE HINDENBURG.

COPYRIGHT © 2005 BY JOSEPH PACHECO. ADAPTED WITH PERMISSION.

10 SCHOLASTIC SCOPE • OCTOBER 2016

Could zeppelins ever be as popular as they were in the time of the Hindenburg? Support your answer with details from at least TWO of the three texts you just read: the narrative nonfiction, the poem, and the essay. Send your response to ZEPPELIN CONTEST. Five winners will each get Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. See page 2 for details.

WRITING CONTEST

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SCOPE.SCHOLASTIC.COM • OCTOBER 2016 11

A BURNING HUSKFor days after the Hindenburg crash, the aluminum skeleton of the great zeppelin smoked

and burned.

Many more would have perished

had it not been for the Navy

landing crew, who risked their lives

to rush into the flames and pull

people to safety.

In the coming weeks and

months, the Hindenburg disaster

remained front-page news. Many

Germans thought that a bomb

was to blame for the fiery crash.

A thorough investigation was

conducted, but even today, nobody

can be certain what caused the

disaster. Most experts believe,

however, that there must have

been a small leak in one of the gas

cells. Electricity in the air from the

earlier storms likely sparked the

explosion.

And that was all it took to destroy

the grandest airship ever built.

The End of Zeppelins The newsreel cameras caught

every second of the fiery disaster on

film. Within weeks, millions around

the world had seen the footage.

The public’s faith in zeppelins was

destroyed. And so, the Hindenburg

explosion ended not only the lives

of dozens of people, it also ended

the age of zeppelins. Airships

quickly floated into obsolescence.

As for Werner, he had been

right all along: He was the luckiest

kid in the world. The water that

had drenched him had come from

one of the Hindenburg’s shattered

water tanks, and that blast of water

surely saved his life.

The zeppelin was close enough

to the ground when he hurled

himself through the hatch that he

was unhurt—and able to run from

the fire. “It was a heavenly gift,” he

would later say.

Two weeks after the disaster,

Werner returned to his family in

Germany. He went on to serve as

a radio operator and an instructor

in the German air force during

World War II, which erupted not

long after the Hindenburg crash.

Eventually, Werner married and

raised a family. He lived to the

age of 92 and considered his

few months working aboard

the Hindenburg as some of the

happiest of his life. But he never

forgot how close he came to death

on that terrifying night in 1937.

“I was grateful for everything

I was allowed to experience after

that,” he said. •

What comes to mind when you think of the future of travel? Hover cars? Jet packs? Teleportation pods?

Zeppelins—the massive, pill-shaped aircrafts that were all the rage nearly a century ago—are probably not on your list. Nevertheless, some experts are saying that zeppelins should be part of our future.

Zeppelins, also known as airships or dirigibles, were very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Large and luxurious, zeppelins could carry passengers across oceans and continents faster and more comfortably than ever before. But after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, the zeppelin became a symbol of tragedy and death—and a pariah of the sky. With the rise of modern airplanes, it seemed as if the only place zeppelins would fly would be into the pages of history books.

Until now.Today, a number of companies around the world are trying

to restore the zeppelin to its former glory. Can they succeed?

Super SafeThere are many benefits to flying in a zeppelin. Modern

zeppelins use nonflammable helium gas, which is not only safe, but also far better for the environment than jet fuel. (Every day, airplanes around the world use roughly 740 million gallons of jet fuel.) Plus, zeppelins can land anywhere—even on water. If a zeppelin’s engine were to fail, the aircraft would not crash but simply float in the air until the pilot found a place to land.

So why haven’t airships already made a comeback?Although safe and environmentally friendly, helium

is rare and expensive. Then there is the issue of speed. Zeppelins are much slower than planes, traveling only slightly faster than trucks and trains.

Still, because airships can land without a runway, they can reach far-flung locations more easily than any plane, truck, or train ever could. Zeppelins could, for example, deliver goods to isolated places in icy northern Canada, where no airports or roads exist. They could drop off food and other relief supplies to remote refugee camps, or serve as floating hospitals after natural disasters.

Cruising the SkyBeyond their convenience, airships also offer unique

sightseeing opportunities. Like cruise ships of the sky, zeppelins not only get you from point A to point B, but also allow you to enjoy the journey in between. On a zeppelin, you wouldn’t need to stay belted in your seat the whole time. You could get up, walk around, even open a window—privileges that most airplane passengers can only dream about. And just imagine how exhilarating it would be to glide over the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park in a low-flying zeppelin.

Zeppelins may never replace airplanes, but do they deserve a place in our skies? •

Essay

Would You Ride on That?The return of the mighty zeppelin BY MACKENZIE CARRO

A prototype of the Aeroscraft takes off in

Tustin, California

This is almost as long as a football field!

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