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Originally Posted by glatt
Useless trivia:
The skin of the Hindenburg is what actually caught fire. When it was burning enough that it ruptured, it released the hydrogen, and the hydrogen ignited at that point, way up high in the sky above the burning blimp shell.
The common belief that a hydrogen blimp was inherently dangerous because of what happened on the Hindenburg was disproved in the early 1990s when scientists reexamined what was known about that accident. If I recall correctly, it was some sort of coating on the skin that made it flammable. Hydrogen is actually less flammable than gasoline. 932F versus 536F |
Addison Bain's theory about the Iron oxide, aluminum, and cellulose nitrate coating on the skin causing the fire doesn't jibe with the eywitness or newsreel accounts. For one thing it wasn't cellulose nitrate, it was really cellulose acetate butyrate which will burn but is not flammable. Although Bain cause a sensation when he proposed his theory, it has not stood up to peer review as conclusive.
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So in crash there is a potential explosion?
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I've seen the aftermath of a mere 300psi air tank that failed and flattened a cement block building.