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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;scottishmoney, post: 1670024, member: 12789&quot;]One that is most fascinating for me, now Dr. Hugo Eckener was not really a pretty boy - but he was an amazing person who led the Zeppelin company from just after WWI until 1936-7 when he was pushed out by the political powers that then controlled Germany.&nbsp; During his tenure, until he was pushed out of the main control of the company, he oversaw an aviation programme that built, and flew Zeppelins that set records for distances, speed, and safety.&nbsp; In the early 1920s he campaigned for a restoration of the Zeppelin aviation division and lobbied in the United States for the Zeppelin company.&nbsp; As part of German reparations for WWI he successfully lobbied the US Navy to get a Zeppelin built airship.&nbsp; The airship was built in Friedrichshafen as the ZR-III or LZ-126.&nbsp; The LZ-124 was flown from Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst NJ and was delivered to the US Navy which named it the USS Los Angeles.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://scottishmoney.net/germany/eckenerzr126silber1924.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The US Navy had an airship programme from 1924-1935.&nbsp; During the time the USS Los Angeles flew from 1924-33 she never suffered a calamity.&nbsp; All other US built airships, the USS Akron, the USS Macon and the USS Shenandoah were lost to crashes.&nbsp; The building of the LZ-126/USS Los Angeles had an effect in the US okaying the restoration of the Zeppelin programme in Germany.&nbsp; Unfortunately for Dr. Eckener he could not succeed in securing the helium which was safer for lift as opposed to the conventional hydrogen.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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