"ranwhenparked" (ranwhenparked)
07/23/2020 at 21:53 • Filed to: Planelopnik
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"ranwhenparked" (ranwhenparked)
07/23/2020 at 21:53 • Filed to: Planelopnik | 3
| 6 |
On Monday, July 22nd, 1929, a Heinkel HE 12 seaplane was launched from a catapult between the two funnels of the brand new North German Lloyd ocean liner Bremen .
An important symbol of that nation’s gradual postwar economic recovery, the ship itself set the speed record for fastest crossing of the Atlantic on her maiden voyage, with a time of 4 days 17 hours, 42 minutes, however the Deutsche Post mail heading to the United States got there about a day sooner. People paid extra for the express service, both for practical needs, and the novelty of it, with mail postmarked on board just to be carried on the plane, which was purpose-designed and purpose built just for this application, with Lufthansa operating the service in partnership with NDL (since merged into HAPAG Lloyd, of course).
The plane could be recovered by the ship’s own onboard crane and lowered back into position.
It was a good idea, and Heinkel presumably thought it would catch on, but it never became much more than a novelty and did not see wide adoption.
The ship itself later became a part of the infamous Bremen Incident, when anti-Nazi demonstrators stormed aboard the ship in New York in 1935 and tore down the swastika flag from the stern and threw it into the Hudson River. At the urging of the German consulate, they were arrested and charged with rioting, but quickly released without charges, with the judge declaring that the swastika banner was merely the flag of the ruling regime and political party, and that therefore no symbol of the German nation had been harmed. At the time, both the swastika flag and the black-white-red tricolor of the old German Empire had equal status as dual national flags of Germany. In the aftermath, Hitler promulgated the new Flag Law, stripping any official status from the old Imperial flag and making the Nazi flag the country’s sole national flag, to end any further confusion.
The Heinkel was later replaced with the larger and faster Junkers Ju 46, which served until the service stopped at the outbreak of WWII.
*Sort of, as the plane could only take off from onboard, landing on water. And, also, North German Lloyd had previously carried a float plane on an earlier liner, which had to be lowered into the water for takeoff, and was not for commercial purposes, just to provide entertainment rides for passengers.
Just Jeepin'
> ranwhenparked
07/23/2020 at 22:22 |
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Tag this with Planelopnik bitte. And thanks, I’d never heard anything about this.
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ranwhenparked
> Just Jeepin'
07/23/2020 at 22:37 |
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Good point, done
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Just Jeepin'
> ranwhenparked
07/23/2020 at 22:39 |
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I figure ttyymmnn probably checks that tag for posts he missed.
How did you come across this story?
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ranwhenparked
> Just Jeepin'
07/23/2020 at 22:41 |
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I’ve always been aware of it, just didn’t realize the date synched up, it was first reported in the New York Times of July 23rd, 1929.
Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com
> ranwhenparked
07/23/2020 at 23:09 |
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The innovation in a world before pre-dating widespread helicopter usage!
Only Vespas...
> ranwhenparked
07/24/2020 at 01:03 |
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Entertainment rides?! Damn. That’s way better than a water slide.