Karl L. Fickes; Blimp Specialist, Pilot Rode on Hindenburg

Karl L. Fickes, 94, a blimp specialist who held balloon, dirigible and airplane pilot licenses signed by Orville Wright. A native of Akron, Ohio, Fickes spent 44 years working for the Akron-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. as a specialist on its well-known advertising blimps. He made his first dirigible transatlantic crossing on the Graf Zeppelin in 1930 and participated in trial flights of the ill-fated Hindenburg, which exploded over Lakehurst, N.J., in 1937. A pioneering pilot, Fickes was one of the last to have his licenses signed by the inventor of the airplane. On June 15 in Akron, Ohio.