Across the Atlantic

The Hindenburg flew regular passenger services across the north Atlantic Ocean. The east-west trip from Frankfurt,

Germany, to Lakehurst, New Jersey, took 65 hours. Flying in the opposite direc­tion, from North America to Europe, took only 50 hours because of favorable tailwinds. During 1936, the Hindenburg made ten trips across the North Atlantic. The giant airship flew so well that engi­neers decided they could add ten extra passenger cabins, one with four beds, for the 1937 flights.

Passenger airship flights were usual­ly suspended for winter, because the craft flew at low altitude and at low speed and could be affected by bad weather. The Hindenburg’s first trip in

О The vast, complex frame of the Hindenburg fills a giant building during the airship’s construction in 1934.

1937 was scheduled for May, and on May 6, after crossing the Atlantic Ocean, it loomed into sight above Lakehurst, New Jersey. It was an impressive spec­tacle, and a crowd had gathered to watch the airship come in.