TOUJOURS LA VOYAGE

The sky was clear and starry.  Suddenly a siren howled in the distance, and then a neighboring factory joined in.  There, off in the distance – was that a star or the Zeppelin?  And then the ghostly ship drew over the field, vanished to the south, and re-appeared in the west.  With throttled motors, the ship hung in the air, then the nose sank, the ropes were dropped, and the ground crew took hold.  The Graf Zeppelin had landed in Pernambuco.  The band played the German anthem, and the acclaim knew no bounds. Everyone rushed toward the colossus, crowding close together to see this bicho, this wonderful animal at close range.

Kevin Ayers: Once Upon An Ocean (Link)

Paintings: Hilla Hueber

Text: Zeppelin, The Story of Lighter-than-air Craft by the late Captain Ernest Lehmann, Commander of the Hindenburg, 1937

Kevin Ayers: Toujours La Voyage (Link)

BURNING BALLOON DREAM 1916

At the beginning of September 1916, the LZ98 joined twelve other army and navy airships in a united action against London.  Over the metropolis I made the unpleasant discovery that the English had still further improved their defense system and now sent veritable hornet-swarms of single-seater combat planes against us.  Amid heavy losses of men and material, their fliers had learned to attack at night also, and their machine guns showered us with incendiary bullets.  As long as an airship flew in the dark, it was almost invisible to the enemy; but once in the clutches of a searchlight, it could be seen for miles.  In the protection of the night, the little combat planes stole unnoticed upon the enormous targets, which were at least one hundred times as large as they, and they were often within shooting distance before the German machine-gunners could open fire. A single hit in one of the gas chambers sufficed to destroy the airship and its crew.

Pretty Things: Balloon Burning (Link)

Pretty Things: Dream/Joey (Link)

From:  Zeppelin, The Story of Lighter-than-air Craft by the late Captain Ernest Lehmann, Commander of the Hindenburg, 1937.