Good timing there, Dr. van Vorst!
Hydrogen didn’t destroy the Hindenburg, according to a new analysis by a UCLA engineering professor. Hydrogen flames are colorless; the fire is clearly visible in newsreel footage and photographs.
His report suggests that the paint coating the airship’s fabric skin was to blame, freakishly flammable stuff that “might well serve as a respectable rocket propellant.” (Immediately after the Hindenburg exploded, the paint’s manufacturer stopped using that particular formula.)
“The public must be made aware that hydrogen may be used as a fuel with the same degree of safety as gasoline,” he said.
March 13th, 2003 at 7:54 am
Oh yeah, I had mentioned that (more obliquely) a while back. And what’s more, in the event of a leak or explosion, hydrogen tends to float upward–it’d be pretty tough to make napalm out of it.