US NAVY'S DIRIGIBLE ZR-1 FLIES LOW OVER NATIONAL CAPITAL
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On September 22, 1923, ZR-1* visited the Nation's Capital "flying over the Capitol, White House, Mount Vernon and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington."
Thousands of Washingtonians "lined the streets and crowded the tops of buildings to see her."
The Evening Star reports the great airship flew so low "that the whirling blades of the propellers of her six motors could be seen."
*ZR-1, USS Shenandoah, "The Empress of the Clouds," was the 1st of 4 USN rigid airships built 1922-1923 at Lakehurst, NJ. ZR-1 made the 1st crossing of North America by an airship on her 57th flight.
SOURCE
"ZR-1, Flying High Above Clouds, Defies Rain to Reach Capital," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., September 22, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
