What skyscraper was designed to dock airships at its top? A - Empire State Building
B - Burj Khalifa
C - Eiffel Tower
D - Chrysler Building
Answer: A - Empire State Building In 1929, former New York governor Alfred Smith and the Empire State Building construction team announced plans to add another 200 feet to the 1,050-foot building so they could accept airships like the Graf Zeppelin. The plan was simple: Fly passengers via airship right into the heart of Midtown Manhattan, and use the tip of the Empire State Building as a mooring mast. When the airship docked, passengers would deplane via gangplank, and reach the Midtown streets within seven minutes. So what happened to this lofty airship idea? For starters, the once-fashionable airship went out of style in the 1930s. Plus, the Graf Zeppelin commander called the idea ludicrous, citing factors like weather and manpower as a handful of the project’s many obstacles. While the project was brushed aside as impractical, one blimp did make the Empire State Building journey in September 1931: The pilot of a privately-owned airship docked atop the building for just three minutes, facing 40 mile-per-hour winds and throngs of Midtown rubberneckers down below.
Source:
The Atlantic