| H2-PV NOW 2006-02-18, 10:21 pm |
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Gunner wrote:
> On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 12:54:51 GMT, pyotr filipivich
> <phamp@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> Im rather surprised that lighter than air ..ie balloons hasnt been
> further developed. It is indeed rather efficient, though helium is
> expensive and hydrogen, while cheaper..has some serious issues...the
> Hindenberg Effect as it were.
The Hindenberg Effect? What's that? The fact that the USA wouldn't sell
non-flamable Helium to Nazi Germany? Or were you referring to painting
your flamable cellulose cloth aircraft skin with Rocket Fuel aluminum
particles paint?
The Nazis then weren't very smart, painting their hyperflamable
aircraft with rocket fuel and then loading it with very flamible Diesel
Fuel. All persons who were burned in the Hindenberg were burned by
heavy hydrocarbon petroleum products, while the ultralight Hydrogen gas
fire burned above the aircraft and continued rising until the fuel was
gone. It was the dripping heavy petroleum products that doused the burn
victims below.
I guess you haven't read the book. Can't expect dumbo rightards to keep
up with LAST CENTURY'S KNOWLEDGE. These facts have been known since the
20th cenury fer crying out loud...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/18...glance&n=283155
The Freedom Element: Living with Hydrogen (Paperback)
by Addison Bain
Editorial Reviews
Robert L. Crippen, Capt. U.S.N., Former NASA Astronaut and Director,
Kennedy Space Center
"Dr. Bain presents excellent logic as to why hydrogen is not as
dangerous as many people think ...a must read."
William D. Van Vorst, Professor Emeritus, Chemical Engineering, UCLA
"Great value for learning more about using hydrogen as fuel for
automotive engines, as it surely seems destined to be."
http://www.esdjournal.com/articles/blame.htm
The Hindenburg:
Was Hydrogen Really To Blame?
Based On An Article by Mariette DiChristina, Popular Science, Nov. 1997
Mariette DiChristina's article What Really Downed the Hindenburg
appeared in the November, 1997 issue of Popular Science. DiChristina
reported on years of research conducted by Addison Bain, a retired NASA
engineer, into the crash of the Hindenburg on May 6, 1937.
Bain, who managed hydrogen programs at NASA, had always been curious
about the cause of the disaster. It had been held for years that the
Hindenburg crashed because free hydrogen aboard the craft had been
ignited by a natural electrical discharge or by sabotage. One of the
things that made him doubtful of this theory was his knowledge of
hydrogen. He understood that hydrogen does not burn as a red hot fire
as shown in all the famous photographs of the tragedy. A hydrogen fire
radiates little heat and is barely visible to the unaided eye.
Bain soon became obsessed with the Hindenburg and spent most of his
spare time in research. His work took him from the National Air and
Space Museum in Washington, DC to archives in Maryland, the Fire
Sciences Lab in Montana, and finally into contact with Richard Van
Treuren, a member of the Lighter-Than-Air Society in Akron, Ohio.
Through his contact with Van Treuren, Bain discovered that pieces of
the Hindenburg's skin still existed. He traveled all over the country
buying whatever original materials, papers and books he could from
collectors. He was even able to obtain a small clipping of the swastika
painted on the Hindenburg's side from a collector in Chicago, Cheryl
Gantz, who heads up the Zeppelin Collectors Club.
Bain approached researchers at NASA who all agreed to donate their free
time to work on "Project H". Their first task was to examine the
materials to determine what was in the fabric that covered the
Hindenburg. By using an infrared spectrograph and a scanning electron
microscope, the scientists were able to discover the chemical
signatures of the organic compounds and elements present in the fabric.
The Hindenburg was covered with a cotton fabric that had been swabbed
with a doping compound to protect and strengthen it. Unfortunately, the
doping compound contained a cellulose acetate or nitrate (used in
gunpowder). This compound was followed by a coating of aluminum powder
(which is used in rocket fuel). Additionally, the structure was held
together using wood spacers and ramie cord; the furnishings were make
of silk and other fabrics; and the skeleton itself was duralumin coated
with lacquer. Added together, all of these made the craft itself highly
flammable. In DiChristina's article, Bain was quoted as saying that
perhaps "... the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with
rocket fuel."
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