Ninety Years Since the First Round-the-World Airship Flight

Sponsored by American media mogul William Randolph Hearst, the already-famous rigid airship departed from Lakehurst, New Jersey on 8th August 1929 with German pilot Dr Hugo Eckener at the helm.

It was the first round-the-world trip to carry passengers: a total of 20 guests (one woman) - including journalists, cameramen and explorers – joined the crew of 40 to make the record-breaking journey.

The airship flew from Lakehurst, New Jersey, stopping to refuel in Friedrichshafen, Germany (where the airship was built), then over Siberia to Tokyo, over to Los Angeles and across the deserts of Arizona and Texas back to Lakehurst. To bring the airship back ‘home’ to Germany, it made a final stretch form Lakehurst to Friedrichshafen in September 1929.

Graf Zeppelin’s maximum speed was 128kmph (80mph) and the flying time totalled 12 days and 11 minutes, not including refuel stops and received a huge amount of attention across the globe. It was also the first time that the Pacific Ocean had been crossed by any kind of aircraft. The entire circumnavigation took 21 days, 5 hours, 31 minutes.