OT: An eBay "Buyer Beware" Example

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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I just caught the end of a listing that closed on eBay today on a supposed WWI aviation artifact. I feel bad for whoever it is that paid $260.00 plus shipping for this item.

 

Here is the description of said item as printed in the listing:

 

"A genuine section of the WW1 German Zeppelin, L49 together with an original piece of fabric. Sold in aid of the services fund for war widows & children. Duralium section which is very light in weight.This has been on display in a local Aviation Museum until its resent clousure... 100% item and scarce.....The Fabric particularly hard to find. "

 

And here are the photos of the item that were posted in the listing:

 

 

 

Despite all the impressive provenance printed on the back of the fabric swatch, it just doesn't add up. So, can anyone here tell me why this is most certainly not an artifact from Zeppelin L49, (at least not the fabric portion), which came down almost intact near Bourbonne-les-Bains, on October 2, 1917?

 

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[+JonathanRL 974]

Educated Guess: All the details would not be printed on the fabric?

[Shiloh 12]

The date says October 20th and the town name is spelled wrong?

Edited November 9, 2011 by Shiloh

[NS13Jarhead 6]

The shiny metallic paint?

 

 

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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October 20 would be correct Shiloh. I see I made a typo in my post when I forgot to hit the '0' key whilst I was typing. My bad.

 

Jonathan, the Services' Fund could have typed all the info on the back of the fabric and stamped it at the time it was offered for the War Widows' and Children's fundraiser, so that's not the give-away either.

 

Jarhead, you have it Sir! That finsh on the fabric sample is from a post-WWI airship.

 

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[NS13Jarhead 6]

What's the prize? Did I win that piece of the L49 that you bought?

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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You win the satisfaction of knowing you are correct. And no JH, I did not buy it. This fool is not parted that easily with his money.

 

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[Flyby PC 23]

....Hmmmm, somewhere in the household we have an aluminium letter opener which is made from an airship. Only saw it when I was a kid, but there was some 'momento' value to it but I forget what exactly. All I can say is it sounds a lot more impressive than it looks, if memory serves correctly.

Edited November 9, 2011 by Flyby PC

[carrick58 23]

Kinda looks like the stuff they found at Roswell, New Mexico back in 1947.

[Olham 164]

Not bad, Carrick. In Roswell they had found high altitude balloon pieces.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

My Brother lived in Staines when this happened

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways_Flight_548

 

He has a small piece of the wreckage still..that he found in a nearby field...He was just a youngster, and it was not a part needed for the investigation (or so he says)

 

Rather Macabre of him I say

[Hasse Wind 46]

Well, at least this wasn't another piece of Richthofen's crashed Fokker. Quite a few of those have been sold over the years. Probably enough fabric for more than one Fokker!

[Olham 164]

Well, he had flown more than one Fokker...

[Bullethead 12]

Jarhead, you have it Sir! That finsh on the fabric sample is from a post-WWI airship.

 

Sure about that, Lou? AFAIK, all naval Zeps had a base coat of silver paint. This reflected as much sunlight as possible, to minimize the expansion of the hydrogen. The reason for this is that when the gas in the cells expanded, it had to be vented out or burst the cells, and on long trips they could only afford to vent off so much if they wanted to maintain altitude. In the war, only the bottoms of the Zeps were painted black.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Yuppers, I am sure BH. The aluminized silver finish as seen on that eBay sample did not show up until after the war. L49 was a tannish color on the top, (natural fabric doped finish), and the underside was painted black. There was also a grayish blue finish seen on some of the Great War zeps as well, but no aluminized silver.

 

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[Bullethead 12]

I'll take your word for it for now, but I'll still have to dig through my books to be sure

 

BTW, I got a joke email the other day about eBay fraud. This guy said he ordered a blow-up doll and then there was a picture of what he got. I can't post it here but suffice to say it was a babe wearing nothing but an Arab head scarf and a suicide vest

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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I'll take your word for it for now, but I'll still have to dig through my books to be sure

 

 

A man after my own heart you are Sir. You do the research, and I believe you will find that LZ 126, better known as the ZR-3 'Los Angeles', was the first zep to be finished with aluminum dope. Now, as to that blow-up doll...

 

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[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Bullethead, I must correct myself on the top color of the L49. It was in fact one of the gray zeps, not one of the tan ones. The March 1918 issue of the 'International Military Digest' describes it thus:

 

"The outer cover of the hull is made of linen fabric, which on the lower half is dyed a brilliant black by means of a coal tar dope, while the upper half is painted a cloud gray. This camouflage answers the purpose of misleading aviators who may be at a higher level than the airship, while any detection from the ground is very difficult at night since the black underside does not reflect the rays of the searchlights."

 

Still not aluminized though.

 

OK, now I HAVE to get to work. Later.

 

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