GERMAN FILM SEEKS TO RETURN ZEPPELINS TO EUROPEN SKIES.

Byline: Terrence Petty Associated Press 

The era of the great German zeppelins ended over a New Jersey airfield in 1937 when the Hindenburg - with swastikas on its tailfins and wealthy passengers in its luxury quarters - burst into flames during a trans-Atlantic flight.

That disaster, plus the advent of commercial jets, led to the demise of the magnificent airships.

But the zeppelin is about to be reborn. In April, a subsidiary of the concern that built the original zeppelins expects to complete the first new model since the Nazi era.

The prototype, the LZ N07, is one-third the length of the massive Hindenburg and lacks its luxurious accommodations. It will take passengers on short jaunts over Europe, not across the Atlantic.

Five preliminary orders have been placed for the new high-tech zeppelins - by tourism companies and by scientific institutes that plan to use them for atmospheric research.

The Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik company hopes that governments also will shell out $7.5 million to buy zeppelins for sea patrols, military surveillance and environmental testing.

Blimps, which unlike zeppelins have no internal frame, have been flying for years. But they have more limited maneuverability than zeppelins and need large ground crews to help them land.

The new zeppelin has three swiveling 200-horsepower propeller engines. This feature, says Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik, will enable it to hover, take off and land like a helicopter and move through high winds that blimps cannot withstand. Top speed will be 86 mph.

An American with 11 years' experience flying blimps, Scott Danneker, has been hired as test pilot.

``I remember reading a zeppelin book back when I was in seventh grade. I've been hooked on them ever since,'' says the 42-year-old from Elizabeth City, N.C., who will take the zeppelin prototype on its maiden flight, probably next summer.

Components of the LZ N07 are being housed in various buildings in Friedrichshafen as engineers finish work on the prototype.

In one cavernous hall is the airship's frame, made of aluminum alloy and of carbon fiber. At 247 feet, it is longer than a Boeing 747. In another building is the gondola, which can carry two crew members and 12 passengers.

The zeppelin's skin is a multilayer laminate consisting of a material called Tedlar and a polyester fabric. The skin, called an envelope, will be inflated with nonflammable helium, as are blimps. Hydrogen, which caused the Hindenburg explosion, is no longer used.

The 804-foot Hindenburg, the largest aircraft ever to fly, carried about 1,600 passengers between Germany and the United States in 10 flights in 1936.

Its last flight began on May 3, 1937, when it left Frankfurt for a landing field at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. As it approached the mooring mast at Lakehurst, it exploded, killing 35 of the 97 passengers on board and one person on the ground.

``This is one of the worst catastrophes in the world!'' radio announcer Herbert Morrison cried in a famous broadcast. ``Oh, the humanity and all the passengers!''

The disaster ended commercial travel on rigid airships.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) The Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik company, a subsidiary of the makers of the Hindenburg, is working on a modern aircraft.

(2) The Hindenburg explosion May 7, 1937, at Lakehurst Air Station in New Jersey heralded the ending of the era of large airships.

Associated Press