Comment by ChuckMcM | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ChuckMcM | Hacker News Reader

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This is pretty good, it has a both the theory of how it started, an experiment to validate the theory, and math to show that the event timeline matches the theory. I'm generally convinced this is the correct answer (at last).

What that means, is that if the Germans had use slightly conductive spacers rather than wooden dowels, they would have been able to keep the voltage difference between the frame and the envelope below the dielectric breakdown point of the gap. At the cost of the sparks happening at the ends of the mooring ropes as they touched the ground.

Another useful experiment if you still had a zeppelin would be to see if you could usefully use the voltage differential to do some useful work (like flashing lights on the sides of the ship or something)

There still are zeppelins! If you lived on the SF Peninsula or South Bay 10-15 years ago, you might have seen the Airship Ventures zeppelin flying low and slow over the area.

Alas, Airship Ventures went out of business about ten years ago, due in part to the loss of a corporate sponsor and no luck getting a new one. I remember seeing 23 and Me on the zeppelin when it flew overhead.

Ten years ago, a good friend treated me to a ride on one of their last local flights (this time the zepp was decorated with the Farmers Insurance logo). They still fly in Germany, though, so if you are ever in the Friedrichshafen area and can afford the somewhat pricey flight, do it! I promise you won't regret it; it was truly an experience of a lifetime.

I posted a couple of comments here in the last year or two, so rather than repeat all the details and photo gallery, you can find them here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662645

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18897492

p.s. These new Zeppelin NT airships do use helium!

What surprises me is why this "giant capacitor" phenomena did not occur elsewhere? Surely it docked previously in wet/damp conditions? Would the effect have been visible?

Or was it that there has never been any leak across the whole structure when docked in wet?

The leak was a necessary component of the disaster.

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