Ok, I'm a babbling fruitcake of all things scientific. But this is interesting and finally answered one of my questions about the disaster. Why did the Hindenburg burn with red and yellow flames and not blue ones?
For those of you who don't know the tragic story, a quick run down.
The Hindenburg was an airship, (think Goodyear blimp). In the 1930s, travelling by airship, (sorry guys, I just can't call them blimps), or by airplane was the way to go. Anyway, during the 1930s Germany and USA weren't on friendly terms with USA, (as with the case with many other nations). USA refused to supply Germany with helium, an inflammable gas which is lighter than air to use in their airships so Germany used hydrogen, an flammable gas.
In 1937, disaster struck on the 21st journey of the Hindenburg. It suddenly burst into flames and approximately one third of the passengers died. It has often been attributed to the fault of a spark causing the hydrogen to ignite. This has since been at the forefront of those looking at hydrogen fuel cells as a clean power source.
But it seems that the hydrogen wasn't to blame!
Hindenburg - Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
For those of you who don't know the tragic story, a quick run down.
The Hindenburg was an airship, (think Goodyear blimp). In the 1930s, travelling by airship, (sorry guys, I just can't call them blimps), or by airplane was the way to go. Anyway, during the 1930s Germany and USA weren't on friendly terms with USA, (as with the case with many other nations). USA refused to supply Germany with helium, an inflammable gas which is lighter than air to use in their airships so Germany used hydrogen, an flammable gas.
In 1937, disaster struck on the 21st journey of the Hindenburg. It suddenly burst into flames and approximately one third of the passengers died. It has often been attributed to the fault of a spark causing the hydrogen to ignite. This has since been at the forefront of those looking at hydrogen fuel cells as a clean power source.
But it seems that the hydrogen wasn't to blame!
Hindenburg - Dr Karl Kruszelnicki