[Vo]:Zepplins and weather

[Jed Rothwell]

Michel Jullian wrote:

I doubt bad weather can be a real problem, or the old times zeps 
would necessarily have had problems while crossing the Atlantic, as 
weather forecasts were probably much shorter term than crossing times.

Old time Zeppelins had tremendous problems with weather. Two U.S. 
Navy zeps were destroyed by weather (the Shenandoah and the Acron), 
and heavy rain played a role in the destruction of the R101, although 
it was mainly bad design. I think I recall one passenger zep was 
brought down by bad weather in Canada. The zeps could not cross the 
north Atlantic routes in winter, so they flew from Germany to South 
America instead.

I believe that U.S. Navy blimps during WWII had a better safety and 
endurance record. They were quite valuable in anti-submarine warfare. 
The U.S. Navy used blimps until 1961.

- Jed