D-138 crosses over the mountains in 1938.
D-138[1] (also registered as LZ-138[2]) was a German zeppelin. It was equipped with attachment points for two biplanes, which could enter flight after dropping from the massive airship.[3] It was used for passenger service and was operated by Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei.
Adventures aboard D-138
Boarding the zeppelin in Berlin.
In 1938, D-138 was scheduled to make a journey from Berlin, Germany, to Athens, Greece. After Indiana Jones and his father managed to recover the Grail Diary, they attempted to escape Berlin on board the massive dirigible. While the airship was still on the ground, the boarding process was halted as Ernst Vogel came in search of the wanted men. Jones spied Vogel approaching the ship, and steered a steward away from the passenger cabin. Alone with the steward, Jones knocked him unconscious and took his uniform.
As Vogel walked around the cabin, inspecting the passengers, Jones re-entered and began requesting tickets from the passengers. When Vogel pulled down the newspaper that Henry Jones, Sr. was using to hide behind, Indiana slid up next to Vogel and asked for his ticket. After Vogel turned to face the ticket taker, he was surprised to see Jones. Jones quickly punched Vogel and tossed him out of the open window, into a pile of luggage. Facing the crowd, he explained that the SS Officer didn't have a ticket. Alarmed, all the passengers immediately began waving their tickets to ensure that they did not meet a similar fate. Outside, in the pile of luggage, Vogel stood up and cursed in German as the zeppelin took off.
The zeppelin took off, and Indiana sabotaged the ship's radio system. Back in his adventuring clothes, sat with his father in the main cabin, having a drink and trying to reconcile their differences. As they discussed the tests awaiting the discoverer of the Holy Grail, the younger Jones realized that the ship was turning around, heading back to Germany. Needing to escape, the two set off to steal one of D-138's biplanes.[3].
An agent of the Gestapo found another passenger, a World War One Ace aboard, and they tried unsuccessfully to use the other biplane, but both perished.
Indiana Jones kept the flight coupons for himself and his father (under their aliases of J. Schotte and H. Widerstand) in his journal.[1]
Behind the scenes
In the real world, the German line of zeppelins ended with LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II. No German dirigible was ever equipped to carry airplanes, though two American dirigibles, the USS Akron and the USS Macon, were. Additionally, zeppelins at Germany only departed from Frankfurt and Friedrichshafen, not Berlin. Also, commercial passenger zeppelin travel ceased after the infamous Hindenburg disaster which took place in 1937, while the film is set one year later.
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure, the zeppelin ticket taker can be passed by either producing tickets or through a fistfight. However, the ticket taker is a champion welterweight boxer and will block nearly all of the player's punches. The zeppelin's catwalks form a major maze requiring the player to navigate past guards on multiple levels before reaching the biplane. The zeppelin sequence can be bypassed if the player manages to start a biplane parked in the airfield.
Appearances
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (novel)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (comic)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure