You keep calling the german currency "deutschmark " in this Video. But the deutsche Mark was only used from the 50s to the Euro. Before the currency Was called the Reichsmark
I actually recently worked for a modern-day blimp maker. The industry is basically all military-focused plus odd side projects like the Saudi's asking about a tethered blimp ride for their Red Sea Project.
We should crowd fund another one for local travel. Is it efficient? No. Reliable? Nope. Safe? Maybe? But just imagine going from Texas to slightly farther texas in 15 hours
You gotta remember these were in fashion when to get across the Atlantic you had to take a ship. Or sit in a very noisy,cramped slow propeller aircraft.
@@lix0347 Like a nice river cruise but in the sky. I mean I wouldn’t do it because it might literally crash and burn but I’m sure someone would enjoy it?
Blimbs are pretty safe these days, but easly shaken around by wether, so you really dont need to fear for your life, just any drink you might be holding.
yeah it's annoying in tone at times but MUCH better researched than Simon Whistler's stuff. I wouldn't compare him so much to Tom Scott as Brian Cox, personally
@@viderevero1338 I think it's more so concentration and carefulness. Remember, any minor mistake will be painted with exaggeration by the vultures of media and ignorance. Not only is it their job and legal trouble on the line, but they're also likeminded enthusiasts of the airship. They'd also hate to see their craft be viewed in a bad light.
“Passengers would fly and only occasionally crash in world class luxury” cracked me up. I also loved your commentary in the slowest air crash ever committed to film and the obese slow moving phoenix. As a historian, I appreciate your emphasis on the distortion of historical events and the massive role of coincidence. The Hindenburg really makes you wonder, how things would have gone differently if the accident didn’t happen or if it was not filmed and turned into a mass media spectacle. More people should talk about the important facts, such as its amazing world tour or that it probably smelled like sweat and hangovers.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the main reason that the Hindenburg exploded. By that point, the airship companies decided that they would use helium instead of hydrogen for lift until a point in the future when materials technology advanced enough to allow them to create a envelope that would completely eliminate the risk of the hydrogen igniting. The Hindenburg was one of these airships, and was not designed to reduce the risk of hydrogen ignition, as it was supposed to carry helium. However, the United States produces nearly all of the words helium, and the US government refused to give helium to a Nazi airship (while WW2 hadn’t started yet, the two countries weren’t on great terms). Instead of redesigning the ship to carry hydrogen safely, they filled up with the flammable gas and hoped for the best.
He did mention that the US was the only country where you could get helium and that Goodyear had cut ties with Zeppelin due to the Nazi factor (so, no helium for the Zeppelin Co). He didn’t mention the other thing, which I guess would have been interesting.
If you can find some of the old, original footage of the Hindenburg, it is absolutely terrifying to watch. A flaming ball of gas 3x the size of a large commercial jet bursting into flames and burning up in less than a minute. It's no suprise then that people weren't so keen to fly in one of them every again really.
Fun addendum: The German company Cargolifter AG, founded 1996, tried to use blimps for heavy cargo transport (was even traded at the stock exchange). It went bankrupt in 2002, leaving behind the construction hall. As the largest building in the world without inner support structure, it now serves as a spa resort named Tropical Islands.
@@everythingpony Don't think so, as it still seems to be considered the lardest building without internal support, though it is hard to find conclusive information on how exactly Tropical Islands modified it
The fact that your shirt said BLIPMS as a slight nod to the accidents that happened, shows how much careful planning and detail you pour into your videos. Cheers to that and to a long and successful career!
I live next to one of Goodyear's blimp hangars in CA. Two of them actually. Though I don't know if they are empty or actually have blimps in them. Once I had an uber driver ask me if I knew why those airplane hangars were so tall, and I said, "They house blimps." He asked me what a blimp was. I said, "Oh you know, like the Goodyear blimps you see over sporting events?" *blank stare* Not only had he never seen the Goodyear blimp, but the entire concept of blimps and zeppelins was foreign to him.
I first came into contact with a blimp/airship through the Simpsons, besides that and the story of the hindenburg I knew nothing else. You don't see blimps here in Europe as much as you do in the ol' US of A
I haven’t seen one in a really long time and even then they were only a common site at the beach. It was exciting because it was so rare. I can understand people not having seen one before.
I see all these comments like "yeah me neither" growing up with illiterate parents must be really tough and boring. imagine not knowing what blimps are until you are a fully grown ass man
The scene on the Simpsons where Barney crashes the duff blimp and Kent Brockman says "oh the humanity!" then just continues on his broadcast is comedy at its finest.
Correction: the Hindenburg did have a shower, it was located on B deck, underneath the dinning room, in fact, it was the first in-flight shower ever installed, however, there was a catch, the shower was quite tiny, so better not have claustrophobia, the spray was also weak and had a timer, in order to conserve water for the flight, this was also a passenger luxury, the crew could only hygiene after the Hindenburg was moored. Edit: You also confused Werner Franz with Werner Doehner, Werner Franz, age 14, was the Hindenburg's cabin boy, while Werner Doehner, age 8, was an passenger travelling with his family Matilda, Herman, Walter and Irene Doehner, tragically Herman perished in the wreck, and Irene died of her burns, she was 14. They were the last of the Hindenburg's survivors, the last crew member and the last passenger.
41:00 This part was really interesting for me, I can't imagine what it must have been like for Londoners in 1915, seeing a giant, looming shadow like that slowly creep across the ground, one cast by a ship much larger than the one you're riding in right now, while also not having any real frame of reference for what these newfangled airships really were, and also knowing that the people on that ship have actively come to try and kill you. It's easy these days to look back on the zeppelin bombing raids by the Germans in WW1 and laugh at them because let's be honest, they were pretty hilariously unsuccessful, but the sheer terror they caused was very much real and completely understandable. Loved the video, I've been fascinated by rigid airships for ages now, especially as a fairly avid WW1 history buff, so seeing you upload this video was an easy sell. Definitely the best one you've uploaded so far, biased as I may admittedly be lol.
It must have felt like what some people in the star wars galaxy must have felt when an Imperial Class Star Destroyer came above a city when they were first revealed to the public of the Empire
My favourite detail about the Hindenburg was that despite being a hydrogen balloon, it had a smoking room. They kept it under positive pressure, had double airlocks and only one electric lighter for everyone to avoid open flames.
This isn't really a case of the insane desighers sacrificing safety for confort, unlike the whole idea of airships. Most people were completely addicted to smoking back then, in part because it's negative consequences weren't as well known. Not having a smoking room would be much more dangerous I think, because the passengers would just try to smoke wherever
Seeing his excitement when on the blimp is wholesome thing I needed this morning. Always happy to see someone excited about something! Cannot wait for the next video.
Hey serious comment here, I am a College aviation major and actually chose to do a research paper on the history of airships much of the content is present in this video. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing the rich history
The little bit of animation you did at 6:28 is just extremely pleasing to me. That kind of editing just looks straight out of early filmmaking and just brought a smile to my face.
my great grandmother has a few pictures of when the graf zeppelin flew over reykjavík in 1930, it amazes me to think a zeppelin once shadowed the city.
This is by far the best docummentary you made so far, specially for the rare footages you digged up, loved this thing a lot mate, this meant a lot to me. Bless the good folks at Good Year also for keeping this dream alive, pretty sure Hidenburg himself would be happy to see this existing.
I can’t believe that people have voted on lawns over this masterpiece. Edit: i love the direction that your videos are going towards; they’ve came from silly reviews to semi-professionally crafted documentaries. I enjoyed it very much. Hope that there’s plenty more where that came from!
I was worried momentarily that this would be a short upload and was overjoyed when it dawned on me it was forty five minutes of pure joy and entertainment and education.
In the modern era, yes. But in the early days airplanes couldn't get high enough to hit them. That's why it took so long for the British to shoot one down in WWI. Imagine the horror of getting bombed to oblivion while having absolutely no way to fight it.
Old school AA might have not been performant enough to reach that high and/or to accurately hit them, and just like he said in the video, planes couldn't go as high as blimps so they couldn't really do anything
I get why they were useful and preferable to airplanes of the era, but the lack of safety precautions for the crew is what got me. Just giving them life jackets saved an entire crew versus the disaster of the previous crash of the Akron in which everyone died.
That around the world blimp trip is insane. It's actually incredible. This was such a good video OT. Thanks for letting me revisit blimps outside of ancient RTSs. Eckener is a real safety G.
Blimps are my favorite aircraft because I have fond memories of a Goodyear blimp that would often fly over my elementary school during lunchtime. Whenever it was over, all the kids would stop and look up to it, hoping to get it's attention.
There is one in Florida(I think it's still there). Back in the early 2000s, the company I was working for was being wooed by Goodyear. I remember that one of the things they added was free rides on their blimp. The Goodyear rep pushed it as something that the other companies couldn't offer. Yes, that was cool but it wasn't a good reason to pay more for their product. My manager even said, "That's great but when I get called into the VP's office to explain why we are paying $$$ millions of dollars more I can't tell him "but we get free blimp rides"". 😄
@@nickgavis0305 That was probably the same one. Because they said something about us having to go either to Ft Lauderdale or Palm Beach. It's been so long ago I can't remember. We went to the East Coast several times for company outings. Normally we went fishing on a charter boat. I never got to go on the blimp because the promised ride was delayed for various reasons. Almost 18mo went by and I got a better job elsewhere. If and when they finally got to go I think only two of the original eight of us were still there.
@@okok72277 lmfaooo understandable. believe it or not, i'm only 27; there just used to be a pretty decent amount of advertising blimps around my area up until around like 2005.
@@furuyawn I was thinking the same thing when I was watching Scarface Damn I havent seen one of those since....2008? More? They used to be at fairs and state shows.....There used to be the bridgestone ad blimp getting about melbourne *Was it bridgestone or dunlop?* My mind she aint what she used to be
Awesome vid, as usual. Not sure if this happened anywhere else, but here in Argentina we had a blimp owned by the largest milk company, soaring the skies almost every week back during the middle 90s. They even used to fly that thing (at really low altitude) during the night, scaring the shit out of a lot of people in the process.
Truly one of the only videos I could sit down and listen to regardless of how “educational” it seems to be, the passion in the video is palpable. His excitement to be in that blimp and thoroughly descriptive history is great :)
If I had Elon Musk or Bezos money I would be spending it on shit like sky hotels and making sure I had a luxury blimp in every city that I would stay in when I visited.
@@mclarenf1gtr99 I guess in some instances it's about the journey (when it comes to air travel in general)..but I still fail to see why you'd need to teleport onboard when you could just get on board normally..I always thought of teleports as strictly getting you to the desired destination instantaneously..humm
@@Andyhagablaga because you'll teleport, do you think it'd be a static thing in the sky and not a moving ship, something which doesn't need to land anywhere, it would just be in the sky constantly?
While in the US this is an invite-only privilege, anyone can jump onboard a Zeppelin NT in Europe for the painful, but not unreachable price of 250 to 900 Euro, depending on the particular flight. Sightseeing flights are on a regular schedule over multiple German cities. I was lucky enough to be invited onboard one during the 2021 European Grand Tour, for a brief flight over Wrocław, in Poland. What a fantastic experience! It's hard to imagine how the Hindenburg was pretty much an order of magnitude larger than the NT, when even the NT is so awe inspiringly huge.
Weird criticism, I know, but I like that the footage of you on the field with the Goodyear zeppelin is sprinkled throught the video. Apart from being cool, I think the segments are a nice break of pace and work better than like, a whole final segment of it would.
You can also fly on a airship in Friedrichshafen Germany. It’s the same place where count zeppelin built the first ones too. So yeah, it’s not correct that Goodyear are the only company that offers airship travels
Old comment but I'm going to answer still: Goodyear is actually not even building any blimps anymore. The airships they fly are Zeppelins built in license.
@@WalterTheWalrus Okay I'm gonna give an update on this, it turns out I have to stay in Paris for 5 months because the only internship I could find this year is there. It's been three weeks and I want to die.
I always joke to my friends about how it would be such a power move to just have a zeppelin, like I'll know I've made it once I can impose my dominance in a big funny balloon
My professor was chief captain for one of the Goodyear "blimps" for about 15 years! I live about 15 minutes from their main Akron hanger and see it in the air all the time. Neat machines!
My Grandpa told me about the Hindenburg when I was a kid, he watched it crash on Film a few days after it happened. He said it was the most shocking thing he had ever seen until he fought in Korea
As someone who absolutely loves steampunk and the idea of, say, living in an airship exploring the skies, or maybe delivering precious cargo and avoiding sky pirates, I love blimps/zeppelins despite how impractical they are. They're just SO cool!
To add a footnote onto the history of the Airship, the USS Akron was featured in the equally forgettable Indiana Jones novel "Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone" were Indiana Jones is given a lift across the Atlantic to Britian. During the flight, he foiled an attempt by the Italian military to sabotage it with explosives.
I think this is one of the most well researched, comprehensive, and entertaining historical video essays I've seen in recent memory. Well done ordinary guy
Talking on coincidence, they were redoing the Goodyear Blimp hangar in Pompano Beach, Fl a while back. The giant “goodyear” letters had to be removed to paint the hangar. A hurricane came through and the news helicopter covered it as if the storm took the letters down, they were just sitting in the parking lot in no particular order. I only knew because I did the new fire alarm and was amazed how big the letters were on the ground.
I was actually right near the Goodyear plant in akron, and those hangars are absolutely massive. They literally gave weather inside them. It’s awesome.
I live near the last (at least I think it is the last) Zeppelin hangar in the world in the Santa Cruz airbase in Rio de Janeiro, the structure is massive indeed, it was built by the germans in the 30s, I have seen the goodyear blimp parked there a few times, I can only imagine how massive the hinderburg would have looked.
A little error concerning the destruction of Zeppelins 12:43 , incendiary bullets had to be shooted combined with explosive bullets in between, which would ripp big holes in the hull, therefore oxygen could actually accumulate in sufficient amount so that the hydrogen could be inflamed.
the first shootdown of a zeppelin by a plane was with white phosphor filled bullets with a hole on the side that would leave a trail of white phosphor that would ignite in the air. only later did they develop exploding bullets that would ignite the zeppelins more reliably.
This has been amazing. I love learning about different technological marvels of humanity. One thing that completely got me was that quick clip of the 3 dudes walking along the hindenburg's metal frame at what was likely 80 feet in the air, without harnesses or any safety measures. That said, great video! I enjoyed the more serious side of this. It definitely felt well researched by someone who was very passionate about the subject.
Blimps in the US during WWII were pretty much just used for maritime patrol, specifically to look for subs. Tillamook Airport in Oregon has one hangar from the time when the Naval Air Station housed a dozen blimps for that purpose; it is currently an Air Museum (as well as a place for other local historical societies to store large items like vintage tractors and locomotives, and private cold storage). Post WWII the hangars housed blimps that apparently were used to transport stuff like logs, but one of the hangars burnt down in the 90s and nowadays they only have one very small, half inflated blimp in Hangar B. The Air Museum isn't much (specially compared to the probably more accessible Evergreen in McMinnville) but I still would recommend a stop by if you're on the Oregon coast as the hangar itself is quite the sight.
Great use of music, I especially like that you switched to Wagner after the nazis took over. Also great that you choose götterdämmerung for the Hindenburg, it fits in so many ways.
I would honestly love to have been able to see those things flying around in the 30s or even crossing the Atlantic on one, idk they’re so majestic in a way
Thank you very much for this video. I've always found myself fascinated by blimps and zeppelins, due to their majesty, beauty and probably to the "crimson skies: high road to revenge" game too. I'm glad that you mentioned the story of the Afrikaschiff too. Keep up the good work :)
i was just thinking to myself about a week ago "I wonder why we don't use blimps anymore." it was something I was going to look into, so your timing on this is serindipitous. You did a great job. Very thorough. Well done.
Wow, a whale that’s also a blimp! What an original and thought-provoking idea. I really hope some company that sells monster catching RPG‘s doesn’t take that idea.
The "hayseed" Wright Brothers only flew in North Carolina, all the work and small scale testing was done in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. North Carolina can claim first to have controlled powered flight on their soil, but Ohio was the source. Source; Dayton local too much Wright, Dunbar, Patterson, Kettering information stuck in my head
Its so weird how many Ohio residents were huge figures in aviation. A ton of famous astronauts are from Ohio as well. Maybe it's so bad there, people are compelled to tear themselves from the tyrannical clutches of gravity?
Just last night I was doing a kitchen close shift till 1am, and I was listening to your videos through the speakers. You said you wanted to do a video on blimps and I thought "huh, that'd be neat". I wake up today and HERE IT IS, I MANIFESTED THIS
Once again loving the editing and visuals. Love seeing how your style grows over time! This one definitely seemed like you had a lot of fun doing it. Excited to see what the comic book is like, many congratulations.
The Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld has a fascinating way of looking at blimps--WW1 is fought with one side using airships modified to have animal characteristics, and the other using mechanical weapons.
You're such a great channel dude! I remember finding your channel when you only had like 2k subs and thinking this guy deserves way more! Keep working hard your videos are fantastic!
Follow me on twitter: twitter.com/ordinarytings or check out my patreon: www.patreon.com/ordinarythings for more comic book related news!
First
Are you going to create more videos on your 2nd channel?
You keep calling the german currency "deutschmark " in this Video. But the deutsche Mark was only used from the 50s to the Euro. Before the currency Was called the Reichsmark
I think you should change the name of your channel to just things, no limits
I actually recently worked for a modern-day blimp maker. The industry is basically all military-focused plus odd side projects like the Saudi's asking about a tethered blimp ride for their Red Sea Project.
We should crowd fund another one for local travel. Is it efficient? No. Reliable? Nope. Safe? Maybe? But just imagine going from Texas to slightly farther texas in 15 hours
You gotta remember these were in fashion when to get across the Atlantic you had to take a ship. Or sit in a very noisy,cramped slow propeller aircraft.
We should have one flyover to every major city in the United States. I think everyone would like to see it fly over their city.
@@lix0347 Like a nice river cruise but in the sky. I mean I wouldn’t do it because it might literally crash and burn but I’m sure someone would enjoy it?
Blimbs are pretty safe these days, but easly shaken around by wether, so you really dont need to fear for your life, just any drink you might be holding.
@@solarmoth4628 as long as it isn’t windy it should be okay to fly.
Fun Fact: the Hindenburg was carrying mail; and the letters that did survive were still delivered in their either soaked or slightly burnt state.
Now, that's customer service.
cool
Also fun fact, it was intended to be used as Nazi propaganda
And now we have Hermes 🙄
The usps doesn't stop for anything.
This feels like a delicious middleground between Tom Scott and Internet Historian while still having your own brand of humor. A grade content, my guy!
@@tofubutcher7456 I could watch hundreds of hours of them
he did do the voice in the steve-the-pirate thing
Literal Historian
It's basically just Charlie Brooker tbh, but that's not even remotely a bad thing
yeah it's annoying in tone at times but MUCH better researched than Simon Whistler's stuff. I wouldn't compare him so much to Tom Scott as Brian Cox, personally
You can see his sheer excitement when he got on the blimp. The typical dry sarcasm faded away and was replaced by earnest enthusiasm. Great vid.
His genuine enthusiasm contrasted sharply with the bored disinterest of the crew.
@@TrepidDestiny Probably because this is their job. Such is the curse of constant experience, it dries out the event of it.
you can tell he has an outside fascination with airships and has been waiting to make this video
@@viderevero1338 I think it's more so concentration and carefulness. Remember, any minor mistake will be painted with exaggeration by the vultures of media and ignorance. Not only is it their job and legal trouble on the line, but they're also likeminded enthusiasts of the airship. They'd also hate to see their craft be viewed in a bad light.
“Passengers would fly and only occasionally crash in world class luxury” cracked me up. I also loved your commentary in the slowest air crash ever committed to film and the obese slow moving phoenix.
As a historian, I appreciate your emphasis on the distortion of historical events and the massive role of coincidence. The Hindenburg really makes you wonder, how things would have gone differently if the accident didn’t happen or if it was not filmed and turned into a mass media spectacle. More people should talk about the important facts, such as its amazing world tour or that it probably smelled like sweat and hangovers.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the main reason that the Hindenburg exploded. By that point, the airship companies decided that they would use helium instead of hydrogen for lift until a point in the future when materials technology advanced enough to allow them to create a envelope that would completely eliminate the risk of the hydrogen igniting. The Hindenburg was one of these airships, and was not designed to reduce the risk of hydrogen ignition, as it was supposed to carry helium. However, the United States produces nearly all of the words helium, and the US government refused to give helium to a Nazi airship (while WW2 hadn’t started yet, the two countries weren’t on great terms). Instead of redesigning the ship to carry hydrogen safely, they filled up with the flammable gas and hoped for the best.
He did mention that the US was the only country where you could get helium and that Goodyear had cut ties with Zeppelin due to the Nazi factor (so, no helium for the Zeppelin Co). He didn’t mention the other thing, which I guess would have been interesting.
😳😳
What a shitty way to get murdered lmao
Hopefully someone got fired for that unfortunate safety call
@@skyjam99 oh the whole airship got *fired* because of that
If you can find some of the old, original footage of the Hindenburg, it is absolutely terrifying to watch. A flaming ball of gas 3x the size of a large commercial jet bursting into flames and burning up in less than a minute. It's no suprise then that people weren't so keen to fly in one of them every again really.
Yeah no kidding...
The radio commentary still sounds as poignant as it was more than a hundred years ago. *Oh, the Humanity*.
@@YeOldeFootballChannel oh, the huge manatee!
monkeypox is a hoax maybe the biggest hoax every
TH-cam statistics, huh?
Fun addendum: The German company Cargolifter AG, founded 1996, tried to use blimps for heavy cargo transport (was even traded at the stock exchange). It went bankrupt in 2002, leaving behind the construction hall. As the largest building in the world without inner support structure, it now serves as a spa resort named Tropical Islands.
So ? It has support now?
@@everythingpony Don't think so, as it still seems to be considered the lardest building without internal support, though it is hard to find conclusive information on how exactly Tropical Islands modified it
The fact that your shirt said BLIPMS as a slight nod to the accidents that happened, shows how much careful planning and detail you pour into your videos.
Cheers to that and to a long and successful career!
I live next to one of Goodyear's blimp hangars in CA. Two of them actually. Though I don't know if they are empty or actually have blimps in them.
Once I had an uber driver ask me if I knew why those airplane hangars were so tall, and I said, "They house blimps."
He asked me what a blimp was. I said, "Oh you know, like the Goodyear blimps you see over sporting events?"
*blank stare*
Not only had he never seen the Goodyear blimp, but the entire concept of blimps and zeppelins was foreign to him.
I first came into contact with a blimp/airship through the Simpsons, besides that and the story of the hindenburg I knew nothing else. You don't see blimps here in Europe as much as you do in the ol' US of A
@@Visibletoallusers12 thats odd cuz wasnt the Zeppelin a European invention? The Germans, right?
I haven’t seen one in a really long time and even then they were only a common site at the beach. It was exciting because it was so rare. I can understand people not having seen one before.
@@Visibletoallusers12 Not even the Led ones?
I see all these comments like "yeah me neither"
growing up with illiterate parents must be really tough and boring. imagine not knowing what blimps are until you are a fully grown ass man
The scene on the Simpsons where Barney crashes the duff blimp and Kent Brockman says "oh the humanity!" then just continues on his broadcast is comedy at its finest.
Like climate change reports nowadays
Correction: the Hindenburg did have a shower, it was located on B deck, underneath the dinning room, in fact, it was the first in-flight shower ever installed, however, there was a catch, the shower was quite tiny, so better not have claustrophobia, the spray was also weak and had a timer, in order to conserve water for the flight, this was also a passenger luxury, the crew could only hygiene after the Hindenburg was moored.
Edit: You also confused Werner Franz with Werner Doehner, Werner Franz, age 14, was the Hindenburg's cabin boy, while Werner Doehner, age 8, was an passenger travelling with his family Matilda, Herman, Walter and Irene Doehner, tragically Herman perished in the wreck, and Irene died of her burns, she was 14. They were the last of the Hindenburg's survivors, the last crew member and the last passenger.
Wow, how are you so knowledgeable on this subject? It's cool
@@orangeants he was there
@@whatsup7033 great tech skills for someone that's like, 90
@@orangeants I'm a historian, but I first began reading about the Hindenburg when I was eight, I still have those books my mother bought for me.
@@Fusilier7 that's brilliant that you have such an amazing memory for details
41:00 This part was really interesting for me, I can't imagine what it must have been like for Londoners in 1915, seeing a giant, looming shadow like that slowly creep across the ground, one cast by a ship much larger than the one you're riding in right now, while also not having any real frame of reference for what these newfangled airships really were, and also knowing that the people on that ship have actively come to try and kill you. It's easy these days to look back on the zeppelin bombing raids by the Germans in WW1 and laugh at them because let's be honest, they were pretty hilariously unsuccessful, but the sheer terror they caused was very much real and completely understandable.
Loved the video, I've been fascinated by rigid airships for ages now, especially as a fairly avid WW1 history buff, so seeing you upload this video was an easy sell. Definitely the best one you've uploaded so far, biased as I may admittedly be lol.
It must have felt like what some people in the star wars galaxy must have felt when an Imperial Class Star Destroyer came above a city when they were first revealed to the public of the Empire
Thank you, Tom Scott, always doing crazy things and explaining them.
😂
Notice how the guy reporting the Hindenburg’s burning is practically crying. I wish we could have blimps back.
I took that to mean you want more airship deaths and therefore more weepy reporters.
@@michaelgrosberg2665 lol
@@michaelgrosberg2665 lmao 💀
My favourite detail about the Hindenburg was that despite being a hydrogen balloon, it had a smoking room. They kept it under positive pressure, had double airlocks and only one electric lighter for everyone to avoid open flames.
Gotta have some tobacco to mask out the ripe smell of 60 unwashed passengers and crew.
Magnificent
Don't forget the very safe asbestos lining the room to keep it fireproof!
@@fatfrickjailburdso the room survived?
This isn't really a case of the insane desighers sacrificing safety for confort, unlike the whole idea of airships. Most people were completely addicted to smoking back then, in part because it's negative consequences weren't as well known. Not having a smoking room would be much more dangerous I think, because the passengers would just try to smoke wherever
0:51 I love how in old-time videos theirs always one guy just walking into the frame and looking into the camera person's soul.
People tend to do that now too, especially if it’s a news camera lol
"But when history repeats itself so flagrantly, I don't see why I can't either"
Probably the most 'in-your-face' quote when you get in an debate.
You can tell that this video is more of a passion project than a video idea. love it
His enthusiasm was infectious, especially in comparison to his normal sarcasm.
Seeing his excitement when on the blimp is wholesome thing I needed this morning. Always happy to see someone excited about something! Cannot wait for the next video.
Hey serious comment here, I am a College aviation major and actually chose to do a research paper on the history of airships much of the content is present in this video. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing the rich history
The little bit of animation you did at 6:28 is just extremely pleasing to me. That kind of editing just looks straight out of early filmmaking and just brought a smile to my face.
I noticed that too! Had to watch it three times. Very charming.
Preußen Dong
I just love his use of that instrumental version of "Danger Zone" early on hahaha
my great grandmother has a few pictures of when the graf zeppelin flew over reykjavík in 1930, it amazes me to think a zeppelin once shadowed the city.
It's impressive how they also aided in the exploration of the north pole, like the italian blimp "italia"
This is by far the best docummentary you made so far, specially for the rare footages you digged up, loved this thing a lot mate, this meant a lot to me.
Bless the good folks at Good Year also for keeping this dream alive, pretty sure Hidenburg himself would be happy to see this existing.
I can’t believe that people have voted on lawns over this masterpiece.
Edit: i love the direction that your videos are going towards; they’ve came from silly reviews to semi-professionally crafted documentaries.
I enjoyed it very much. Hope that there’s plenty more where that came from!
I'm shocked you're not at a million subscribers. Great videos always ordinary guy.
Well that wouldn’t be ordinary so he can’t have that many
He is getting closer
Soon, comrade.
why would 1M people subscribe to some ordinary guy?
The Ordinary guy will no longer be Ordinary.
These video’s really hit the sweetspot of topics that I would never research myself, yet have always wanted to know more about
You and Internet Historian bring so much value and laugh to TH-cam. Thank you guys.
I feel like this video was made just so you could live a childhood dream of yours and I’m here for it
"Risktaking headcase" described most of the Prussian military at the time.
I was worried momentarily that this would be a short upload and was overjoyed when it dawned on me it was forty five minutes of pure joy and entertainment and education.
ackshually ith arounth 43 minuths
@@MikuHatsune12 oopths my berd
Using zeppelins for war is the equivalent of using explosive barrels as cover in videogames, it kind of boggles my mind.
In the modern era, yes. But in the early days airplanes couldn't get high enough to hit them. That's why it took so long for the British to shoot one down in WWI. Imagine the horror of getting bombed to oblivion while having absolutely no way to fight it.
@@user-ck7tg1dq9y I see. That makes a lot of sense.
Old school AA might have not been performant enough to reach that high and/or to accurately hit them, and just like he said in the video, planes couldn't go as high as blimps so they couldn't really do anything
I get why they were useful and preferable to airplanes of the era, but the lack of safety precautions for the crew is what got me. Just giving them life jackets saved an entire crew versus the disaster of the previous crash of the Akron in which everyone died.
@@user-ck7tg1dq9y So those levels in Crash Bandicoot where he shoots down blimps is inaccurate?
Ordinary things is some of the funniest, well written, well researched content on TH-cam.
That around the world blimp trip is insane. It's actually incredible. This was such a good video OT. Thanks for letting me revisit blimps outside of ancient RTSs. Eckener is a real safety G.
Blimps are my favorite aircraft because I have fond memories of a Goodyear blimp that would often fly over my elementary school during lunchtime. Whenever it was over, all the kids would stop and look up to it, hoping to get it's attention.
interestingly, there’s a goodyear blimp that flies around minneapolis pretty often - i saw it twice in the last month
There is one in Florida(I think it's still there). Back in the early 2000s, the company I was working for was being wooed by Goodyear. I remember that one of the things they added was free rides on their blimp. The Goodyear rep pushed it as something that the other companies couldn't offer. Yes, that was cool but it wasn't a good reason to pay more for their product. My manager even said, "That's great but when I get called into the VP's office to explain why we are paying $$$ millions of dollars more I can't tell him "but we get free blimp rides"". 😄
It flew over my house yesterday.
@@Jonathan.D I used to see a blimp all the time around palm beach when I was younger lol I wonder if that was it
@@nickgavis0305 That was probably the same one. Because they said something about us having to go either to Ft Lauderdale or Palm Beach. It's been so long ago I can't remember. We went to the East Coast several times for company outings. Normally we went fishing on a charter boat. I never got to go on the blimp because the promised ride was delayed for various reasons. Almost 18mo went by and I got a better job elsewhere. If and when they finally got to go I think only two of the original eight of us were still there.
@@Jonathan.D well that sucks. There a lot of better experienced than a blimp though, I’ve been on one once and it wasn’t anything special
just yesterday i was thinking about how i haven't seen a blimp in years even though they were a pretty common sight when i was a kid.
I'm 22 so I for years thought they were just something the Simpsons and lazytown made up
@@okok72277 lmfaooo understandable. believe it or not, i'm only 27; there just used to be a pretty decent amount of advertising blimps around my area up until around like 2005.
@@furuyawn I was thinking the same thing when I was watching Scarface
Damn I havent seen one of those since....2008?
More?
They used to be at fairs and state shows.....There used to be the bridgestone ad blimp getting about melbourne
*Was it bridgestone or dunlop?*
My mind she aint what she used to be
Awesome vid, as usual.
Not sure if this happened anywhere else, but here in Argentina we had a blimp owned by the largest milk company, soaring the skies almost every week back during the middle 90s.
They even used to fly that thing (at really low altitude) during the night, scaring the shit out of a lot of people in the process.
Truly one of the only videos I could sit down and listen to regardless of how “educational” it seems to be, the passion in the video is palpable. His excitement to be in that blimp and thoroughly descriptive history is great :)
It's a shame airships are disappearing. Hopefully they'll return one day once we discover a way to make them more efficient
screw that mate shoot me in a hyperloop
I like blimps, but I don't think they would ever become efficient, just too slow, too big. Too many in the air would get annoying.
They'll make a return when we colonize Jupiter, don't worry!
If I had Elon Musk or Bezos money I would be spending it on shit like sky hotels and making sure I had a luxury blimp in every city that I would stay in when I visited.
There is no way.
the airship industry is really gonna get a boost when teleporters are invented and people can just blip onboard
Why would people teleport on board when they can just teleport straight to the destination
@@MikuHatsune12 sky sightseeing!
@@MikuHatsune12 It is about the journey, not the destination. That is the whole point of blimps and cruise ships.
@@mclarenf1gtr99 I guess in some instances it's about the journey (when it comes to air travel in general)..but I still fail to see why you'd need to teleport onboard when you could just get on board normally..I always thought of teleports as strictly getting you to the desired destination instantaneously..humm
@@Andyhagablaga because you'll teleport, do you think it'd be a static thing in the sky and not a moving ship, something which doesn't need to land anywhere, it would just be in the sky constantly?
A-tier content, as always. This was a fun one you covered :)
SILENCE CHECKMARK
'leg storage' this is why i love this guy, he has such a good way of making anything funny
Well you know what they say: Blimpin' Ain't Easy
While in the US this is an invite-only privilege, anyone can jump onboard a Zeppelin NT in Europe for the painful, but not unreachable price of 250 to 900 Euro, depending on the particular flight. Sightseeing flights are on a regular schedule over multiple German cities. I was lucky enough to be invited onboard one during the 2021 European Grand Tour, for a brief flight over Wrocław, in Poland. What a fantastic experience! It's hard to imagine how the Hindenburg was pretty much an order of magnitude larger than the NT, when even the NT is so awe inspiringly huge.
Weird criticism, I know, but I like that the footage of you on the field with the Goodyear zeppelin is sprinkled throught the video.
Apart from being cool, I think the segments are a nice break of pace and work better than like, a whole final segment of it would.
Agreed
how is that criticism?
where's the criticism??
My bad, I forgot "criticism" has a more negative connotation in english. I meant it more as "observation"
”Goodyear?”
Hindenburg: ”No, the worst.”
When he said, "Straight blimpin' baby!" i completely lost my shit, i dont know why.
You can also fly on a airship in Friedrichshafen Germany. It’s the same place where count zeppelin built the first ones too. So yeah, it’s not correct that Goodyear are the only company that offers airship travels
Old comment but I'm going to answer still: Goodyear is actually not even building any blimps anymore. The airships they fly are Zeppelins built in license.
my favorite part of the video is when ordinary things says “its blimpin time” and blimps on internet historian
"It's blumpin' time'" is one of the lines of the aviation industry, no doubt about that.
"Escaping the surly bonds of earth and the Paris piss smell for all of 2 minutes"
Finally someone who describes Paris accurately !
Take that, FRENCH
@@WalterTheWalrus Hey, I'm not from Paris, I hate that city as much as y'all do !
@@WalterTheWalrus Okay I'm gonna give an update on this, it turns out I have to stay in Paris for 5 months because the only internship I could find this year is there. It's been three weeks and I want to die.
@@givrally Well you're the one who decided to go to France. Don't blame me for your poor life choices.
I always joke to my friends about how it would be such a power move to just have a zeppelin, like I'll know I've made it once I can impose my dominance in a big funny balloon
Now you can observe the pheasants from above
And I can ride it like a Hindenburg
Holy shit, the Acron (Akron?) crashing, then having a recuse blimp fucking crash as well is hilarious.
My professor was chief captain for one of the Goodyear "blimps" for about 15 years! I live about 15 minutes from their main Akron hanger and see it in the air all the time. Neat machines!
the orchestrated Danger Zone bit made me laugh a ton :D great transition piece
Shoutout to Ordinary Dad who did a bang-up job with the camera work!
My Grandpa told me about the Hindenburg when I was a kid, he watched it crash on Film a few days after it happened. He said it was the most shocking thing he had ever seen until he fought in Korea
Wonderful that you and your dad had that shared time together. A great outing!
As someone who absolutely loves steampunk and the idea of, say, living in an airship exploring the skies, or maybe delivering precious cargo and avoiding sky pirates, I love blimps/zeppelins despite how impractical they are. They're just SO cool!
To add a footnote onto the history of the Airship, the USS Akron was featured in the equally forgettable Indiana Jones novel "Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone" were Indiana Jones is given a lift across the Atlantic to Britian. During the flight, he foiled an attempt by the Italian military to sabotage it with explosives.
You *sure* this wasn’t just a fever dream you had?
Edit: Holy shit this is real.
@@Exeggutor_Enjoyer Yeah, you think I was pulling your leg? Those books were my childhood man.
As much as I enjoy mocking the English their unending hostility toward the French is respectable.
Ahh the English, they're not the worst but not the best. But somehow the best and worst
They're a sound crew
@@OCMOOO out of interest, who is the worst and who is the best? 😊
@@Endeva09 Have to give it the Americans they invented the Internet but also the Internet
@@OCMOOO the Americans didn’t invent the internet, actually a British and European invention by CERN, Timothy Berners Lee, etc
I think this is one of the most well researched, comprehensive, and entertaining historical video essays I've seen in recent memory. Well done ordinary guy
You’re slowly becoming one of my favorite TH-camrs. Great episode.
Bro, this is literally the best documentary type video I have ever watch on TH-cam.
Talking on coincidence, they were redoing the Goodyear Blimp hangar in Pompano Beach, Fl a while back. The giant “goodyear” letters had to be removed to paint the hangar. A hurricane came through and the news helicopter covered it as if the storm took the letters down, they were just sitting in the parking lot in no particular order. I only knew because I did the new fire alarm and was amazed how big the letters were on the ground.
I was actually right near the Goodyear plant in akron, and those hangars are absolutely massive. They literally gave weather inside them. It’s awesome.
I live near the last (at least I think it is the last) Zeppelin hangar in the world in the Santa Cruz airbase in Rio de Janeiro, the structure is massive indeed, it was built by the germans in the 30s, I have seen the goodyear blimp parked there a few times, I can only imagine how massive the hinderburg would have looked.
A little error concerning the destruction of Zeppelins 12:43 , incendiary bullets had to be shooted combined with explosive bullets in between, which would ripp big holes in the hull, therefore oxygen could actually accumulate in sufficient amount so that the hydrogen could be inflamed.
Shooted isn't a thing my man, it's shot
the first shootdown of a zeppelin by a plane was with white phosphor filled bullets with a hole on the side that would leave a trail of white phosphor that would ignite in the air. only later did they develop exploding bullets that would ignite the zeppelins more reliably.
This has been amazing. I love learning about different technological marvels of humanity. One thing that completely got me was that quick clip of the 3 dudes walking along the hindenburg's metal frame at what was likely 80 feet in the air, without harnesses or any safety measures.
That said, great video! I enjoyed the more serious side of this. It definitely felt well researched by someone who was very passionate about the subject.
Good Tom Scott impressions love your videos no matter what bro
Blimps are so dang neat. I love casual speed travel, need more blimps and way more trains. Way way more trains.
Congrats On 800k, Well Deserved. About The Only Documentaries I Can Watch These Days!
SILENCE CHECKMARK
@@BleachDemon707 I don’t think so
Maaan it sucks how long these take to come out but its always a treat when they do. Love your content man. Take your time. The quality shows!
Blimps in the US during WWII were pretty much just used for maritime patrol, specifically to look for subs.
Tillamook Airport in Oregon has one hangar from the time when the Naval Air Station housed a dozen blimps for that purpose; it is currently an Air Museum (as well as a place for other local historical societies to store large items like vintage tractors and locomotives, and private cold storage). Post WWII the hangars housed blimps that apparently were used to transport stuff like logs, but one of the hangars burnt down in the 90s and nowadays they only have one very small, half inflated blimp in Hangar B. The Air Museum isn't much (specially compared to the probably more accessible Evergreen in McMinnville) but I still would recommend a stop by if you're on the Oregon coast as the hangar itself is quite the sight.
"We have a safety record of 100%... since 2001."
Sounds reassuring :D
Great use of music, I especially like that you switched to Wagner after the nazis took over. Also great that you choose götterdämmerung for the Hindenburg, it fits in so many ways.
I would honestly love to have been able to see those things flying around in the 30s or even crossing the Atlantic on one, idk they’re so majestic in a way
Everyone knows that the best airship of all time is James May's campervan blimp.
Thank you very much for this video. I've always found myself fascinated by blimps and zeppelins, due to their majesty, beauty and probably to the "crimson skies: high road to revenge" game too.
I'm glad that you mentioned the story of the Afrikaschiff too.
Keep up the good work :)
i was just thinking to myself about a week ago "I wonder why we don't use blimps anymore." it was something I was going to look into, so your timing on this is serindipitous. You did a great job. Very thorough. Well done.
Wow, a whale that’s also a blimp! What an original and thought-provoking idea. I really hope some company that sells monster catching RPG‘s doesn’t take that idea.
If their was ever a blimp designed as a whale lord I wouldn’t mind going on it and I’m scared as hell of heights
LZ-1 was a major missed opportunity for Led Zeppelin's debut album title
The British airship project was doomed from the start, I mean they chose *Bedford* as the starting point - that's the first bad omen right there!
I wish airships were more common...
The "hayseed" Wright Brothers only flew in North Carolina, all the work and small scale testing was done in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. North Carolina can claim first to have controlled powered flight on their soil, but Ohio was the source. Source; Dayton local too much Wright, Dunbar, Patterson, Kettering information stuck in my head
Its so weird how many Ohio residents were huge figures in aviation. A ton of famous astronauts are from Ohio as well. Maybe it's so bad there, people are compelled to tear themselves from the tyrannical clutches of gravity?
Just last night I was doing a kitchen close shift till 1am, and I was listening to your videos through the speakers. You said you wanted to do a video on blimps and I thought "huh, that'd be neat". I wake up today and HERE IT IS, I MANIFESTED THIS
Once again loving the editing and visuals. Love seeing how your style grows over time! This one definitely seemed like you had a lot of fun doing it. Excited to see what the comic book is like, many congratulations.
The Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld has a fascinating way of looking at blimps--WW1 is fought with one side using airships modified to have animal characteristics, and the other using mechanical weapons.
blimps and trains will always be cool
The closing segment of this one was really thoughtful and wholesome. Great vid my dude.
I just saw my first ever blimp a week ago and I was so excited! They are so neat.
The brass band version of Danger Zone goes hard!
I love how detailed these videos are! It’s so fun to see so many different talents and passions come together! Keep doing you!
I did not immediately stop the video after you said straight blimping. Stellar work as always. Keep them coming.
You sang the blimp song and I am eternally grateful.
I'm not so sad about blimps, as long as we all have zeppelins (which are essentially the blimps' cooler cousin) I'll be fine.
Oh
Oh no
I love this little guy, he’s just the best.
Yeah, he’s such a cool little guy, wish I could hold him in my hands
He's such a cool little guy I wish British people were real
What a funny little character
You're such a great channel dude! I remember finding your channel when you only had like 2k subs and thinking this guy deserves way more! Keep working hard your videos are fantastic!
I like that the first hot air balloons and first planes were first invented by sibling teams.
Idk why I just do