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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SCOPE.SCHOLASTIC.COM • OCTOBER 2016 76 SCHOLASTIC SCOPE • OCTOBER 2016
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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