U.S. NAVY "L2" BLIMP
Another new release (Nov 98) from Spec Cast and Jim Milanos. This U.S. Navy "L2" Blimp also has an interesting history (see Historical Note below) as most of Mr. Milanos' projects do. This die-cast replica metal bank features pad printed graphics and a production run of only 1260!
Measures approx. 10 inches long by 3 inches in height.
Item Number: AA36030
SOLD OUT - SORRY!
Historical Note:* The saga of the United States Navy's nearly fifty years' involvement with airships, including the twenty-four period after the Hindenburg tragedy. It is the story of ships that were longer than a football field but, when properly balanced, could be moved by a man's finger.
Beginning in World War 1 with Germany's modest military success with Zeppelins, the United States initiated her own fleet of airships and established the Lakehurst Air Station in New Jersey. The Lakehurst Air Station provided the setting for the golden era of airships, including USS Shenandoah, USS Los Angeles, USS Akron, and USS Macon. Among the largest machines ever created by man, these huge dirigibles amazed and intrigued the public as much as their crashes horrified it. Lakehurst's story is also closely associated with the rise of the commercial rigid airship, which peaked in 1936 with ten successful round trips from Europe to Lakehurst by the Hindenburg and which ended with her explosion in 1937.
After the end of the commercial rigid airship, the Sky Ships story continues with the navy 's use of blimps to help protect World War 11 Allied shipping, which was being decimated by German U-boats, and the postwar efforts to integrate airships with the navy fleet.
The L-2 arrived at Lakehurst from the contractor, February 1, 1941. The so-called "10,000" Plane Program" legislation, passed in June 1940, contained authorization for forty-eight nonrigid airships. The first contract was signed in October with Goodyear Aircraft Corporation for four K-type and two L-type airships. The delivery of L-2, according to one newspaper, "marks completion of the first step in the largest single lighter-than-air construction order in the history on the Navy."
* The Historical Note was taken from the Data Sheet provided by Mr. Milanos which comes included with each airplane.