SCHWARZ, DAVID
Blimp
David Schwarz, a Croatian Jew (1852-1897), invented
the airship that is today unjustly bearing the name of the German count
Zeppelin. Indeed, Zeppelin bought the complete project from Schwartz's wife,
shortly after his premature death. It is true that the `Zeppelin' constructed
by Schwartz went down due to a small technical error in the propeller. He was
not able to finance a new experiment. While preparing the project of his flying
ship, which for the first time was predicted to be made of metal, he had to
resolve many technical and technological problems. This led to the discovery of
the special aluminium alloy now known under the name dural, also called the
Schwartz aluminium.
ZUBRINIC,
D