Gordon's San Diego Air & Space Museum Pics : Gordon with Hindenberg fabric 2

[Dave Kearton]

--

Cheers

Dave Kearton

[NoJags Neil]

Ahhh... very interesting... aluminium with iron oxide... thermite reaction,
anybody?

It was the fabric that caused the disaster, not the hydrogen.

"Dave Kearton" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> --
>
> Cheers
>
> Dave Kearton
>
>
>

[Luke[_2_]]

"NoJags Neil" > wrote in message
...
> Ahhh... very interesting... aluminium with iron oxide... thermite
> reaction, anybody?
>
> It was the fabric that caused the disaster, not the hydrogen.


Perhaps the hydrogen caused it, but the thermite reaction made it
historic.


Luke

[Orval Fairbairn]

In article >,
"Luke" > wrote:

> "NoJags Neil" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Ahhh... very interesting... aluminium with iron oxide... thermite
> > reaction, anybody?
> >
> > It was the fabric that caused the disaster, not the hydrogen.
>
>
> Perhaps the hydrogen caused it, but the thermite reaction made it
> historic.
>
>
> Luke

Nope -- it was the nitrate dope that everybody used on fabric in those
days. The aluminum powder in the dope (for UV protection) would have
played only a minor role.

[Luke[_2_]]

"Orval Fairbairn" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Luke" > wrote:
>
>> "NoJags Neil" > wrote in
>> message
>> ...
>> > Ahhh... very interesting... aluminium with iron oxide... thermite
>> > reaction, anybody?
>> >
>> > It was the fabric that caused the disaster, not the hydrogen.
>>
>>
>> Perhaps the hydrogen caused it, but the thermite reaction made it
>> historic.
>>
>>
>> Luke
>
> Nope -- it was the nitrate dope that everybody used on fabric in those
> days. The aluminum powder in the dope (for UV protection) would have
> played only a minor role.


The whole thing was a flying tinder box imho... But as to the cause of
the disaster, I have a hard time seeing how nitrate dope alone can be
ignited buy a static spark. I've not done my own "mythbusters" review of
the events, but it seems that to me, (as an engineer and an A&P) that the
hydrogen gas was what would be easiest part of the pile to ignite, followed,
albiet very closely, by the dope covered fabric. Hydrogen gas burns with an
invisible flame and we have all seen the motion pictures of that day... The
glaring lack of other dope and fabric covered aircraft burting into flames
should be anecdotal evidence to support the established scenario that the
hydrogen gas was the real culprit. The dope, iron and aluminum just made it
more spectacular.


Luke

[Dave Kearton]

Luke wrote:

>
>
> The whole thing was a flying tinder box imho... But as to the
> cause of the disaster, I have a hard time seeing how nitrate dope
> alone can be ignited buy a static spark. I've not done my own
> "mythbusters" review of the events, but it seems that to me, (as an
> engineer and an A&P) that the hydrogen gas was what would be easiest
> part of the pile to ignite, followed, albiet very closely, by the
> dope covered fabric. Hydrogen gas burns with an invisible flame and
> we have all seen the motion pictures of that day... The glaring lack
> of other dope and fabric covered aircraft burting into flames should
> be anecdotal evidence to support the established scenario that the
> hydrogen gas was the real culprit. The dope, iron and aluminum just
> made it more spectacular.
>
> Luke



Far be it for me to refer anyone to Wikipedia, it seems to be regarded here
as the Sesame Street reference library. However, the Hindenberg
article is quite interesting and goes into enough depth on the popular
Hindenberg crash theories, to be worth a 5 minute read.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_129_Hindenburg



Interestingly, after several German and American investigations, no
official cause has been definitively identified (discounting the Nazi's
conclusions for political reasons).




--

Cheers

Dave Kearton (this post was brought to you by the letters L & Z and
the numbers 1, 2 and 9)

[Ray O'Hara]

"Luke" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Orval Fairbairn" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article >,
> > "Luke" > wrote:
> >
> >> "NoJags Neil" > wrote in
> >> message
> >> ...
> >> > Ahhh... very interesting... aluminium with iron oxide... thermite
> >> > reaction, anybody?
> >> >
> >> > It was the fabric that caused the disaster, not the hydrogen.
> >>
> >>
> >> Perhaps the hydrogen caused it, but the thermite reaction made it
> >> historic.
> >>
> >>
> >> Luke
> >
> > Nope -- it was the nitrate dope that everybody used on fabric in those
> > days. The aluminum powder in the dope (for UV protection) would have
> > played only a minor role.
>
>
> The whole thing was a flying tinder box imho... But as to the cause
of
> the disaster, I have a hard time seeing how nitrate dope alone can be
> ignited buy a static spark. I've not done my own "mythbusters" review of
> the events, but it seems that to me, (as an engineer and an A&P) that the
> hydrogen gas was what would be easiest part of the pile to ignite,
followed,
> albiet very closely, by the dope covered fabric. Hydrogen gas burns with
an
> invisible flame and we have all seen the motion pictures of that day...
The
> glaring lack of other dope and fabric covered aircraft burting into flames
> should be anecdotal evidence to support the established scenario that the
> hydrogen gas was the real culprit. The dope, iron and aluminum just made
it
> more spectacular.
>
>
> Luke
>
>


considering what it was made of and filled with its amazing it lasted as
long as it did.