Although I get a charge out of Dr. Konstantinos Giapis spark of inspiration, you NorthMountain only have a piece of the remaining puzzle.
Yes the Hindenburg was painted with a aluminum powder based paint, the surface was primed with a standard red primer, the red is from iron oxide powder.
Class, what's it called when you mix powdered aluminum and powdered iron oxide?
Anyone? Bueller?
OK ...
First off, Aluminum Powder plus lacquer is called “rocket fuel”.
Secondly, aluminum powder in intimate mixture with iron oxide powder is a form of thermite.
I’m quite sure that the dopant qualified as rocket fuel. You’ll have to do a little more work to show that the Al powder and the Fe2O3 powder were in sufficiently intimate mixture to have a thermite reaction.
I’m mildly curious as to whether you personally have ever made and used thermite. I have.
Oh, yes: I know that the Al powder plus lacquer (or rubber, or any number of other things) rocket fuel needs an oxidizer. In a solid fuel rocket, the fuel is mixed with potassium perchlorate, or something similar, to provide an oxidizer in a n otherwise sealed system. When painted in a thin layer on the surface of an airship, the surrounding air will do just fine as an oxidizer. You just need a flame to get it going; burning hydrogen will suffice.