DELAG, the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengessellscaft, was funded in part by the Hamburg-Amerika Shipping Company and from money raised by those cities involved in the undertaking. Each city, in addition, provided ‘aerial harbours’; erecting airship sheds at their own expense to house the fleet of airships. Although no scheduled passenger services ensured, excursion flights of several hours’ duration at 100 Marks per head proved popular to Germans and foreigners alike over the four years of operation.
The first airship destined for service was the LZ-7 Deutschland. Following this in the years preceding the war came the airships LZ-10 Schwaben, Sachsen, Viktoria Luise and the Hansa, which between them carried over 35,000 fare-paying passengers in 1588 flights, covering 170,000 miles without serious mishap.
DELAG, the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengessellscaft, was funded in part by the Hamburg-Amerika Shipping Company and from money raised by those cities involved in the undertaking. Each city, in addition, provided ‘aerial harbours’; erecting airship sheds at their own expense to house the fleet of airships. Although no scheduled passenger services ensured, excursion flights of several hours’ duration at 100 Marks per head proved popular to Germans and foreigners alike over the four years of operation.
The first airship destined for service was the LZ-7 Deutschland. Following this in the years preceding the war came the airships LZ-10 Schwaben, Sachsen, Viktoria Luise and the Hansa, which between them carried over 35,000 fare-paying passengers in 1588 flights, covering 170,000 miles without serious mishap.
Zeppelin LZ 10 Schwaben was built in 1911 and operated by DELAG (Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft) for passenger service. The first airship destined for service was the LZ-7 Deutschland. Following this in the years preceding the war came the airships LZ-10 Schwaben, Sachsen, Viktoria Luise and the Hansa, which between them carried over 35,000 fare-paying passengers in 1588 flights, covering 170,000 miles without serious mishap.
Excursion flights of several hours’ duration at 100 Marks per head proved popular to Germans and foreigners alike over the four years of operation.
The first airship destined for service was the LZ-7 Deutschland which, following a successful deliver flight, was wrecked. A replacement for the LZ-7 Deutschland, the 1910 LZ-8, or the Ersatz Deutschland, was put in hand.
LZ-8 Capacity: 681,600 cu.ft Length: 485 ft Width: 45 ft Height: 54 ft Gross lift: 19.5 ton Useful lift: 6 tons Engines: 3 x Daimler 4 cyl, 120 hp Max speed: 37 mph Range ay cruise: 950 miles Ceiling: 2000 ft Crew: 8 Passengers: 20
Despite those promising army orders Colsman, as director of the Zeppelin Airship Company, saw the need to commercialise the basis of airship production in order to fund further development. His proposal was to form a passenger airline service linking the main cities of Germany, and in November 1909 the company with a capitol of 3 million Marks was founded in Frankfurt and Main.
DELAG, the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengessellscaft, was funded in part by the Hamburg-Amerika Shipping Company and from money raised by those cities involved in the undertaking. Each city, in addition, provided ‘aerial harbours’; erecting airship sheds at their own expense to house the fleet of airships. Although no scheduled passenger services ensured, excursion flights of several hours’ duration at 100 Marks per head proved popular to Germans and foreigners alike over the next four years of operation.
The first airship destined for service was the LZ-7 Deutschland, with a capacity of 681,000 cu.ft and able to carry passengers in comfortable Pullman-style accommodation in a cabin amidships. LZ7, named Deutschland, first flew on 19 October 1910, and was placed in service by Delag.
Unfortunately, following a successful deliver flight the airship was wrecked after crashing in the Teutoburger Wald in unfavourable weather conditions and was replaced by LZ8.
Within hours of the news of the loss of the LZ-4 appearing in the papers a spontaneous outpouring of popular support in what he was trying to achieve was demonstrated by the German people. From all over the nation money and promises of donations came flooding in to Friedrichshafen, and within a short time more than 6 million Marks (£5 million) had been subscribed.
With the loss of the LZ-4 the army demanded an immediate replacement, for this purpose the old LZ-3 was taken in hand and enlarged and equipped with more powerful engines. At the same time work began on the new LZ-5, which was of similar size but again with more power than its predecessor, with a capacity of 530,000 cu.ft and combined propulsive output increased to 220 hp.
The Kaiser, watchful of the count’s growing popularity with the German people, proposed a board of trustees to manage the money Zeppelin had accumulated. The count countered this suggestion by forming the Zeppelin Foundation as a charitable body to continue research into dirigible flight, whilst separately in September 1908 establishing the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH.
Carl Berg’s son-in-law, Alfred Colsman, was installed as managing director, which allowed the count to continue his development work with the minimum of interference from the government and army sources.
LZ-5 was completed in May 1909 and undertook a proving flight of thirty-seven hours covering 603 miles during the course of which, whilst on the way to Berlin, it encountered adverse weather conditions causing it to make a forced landing at the village of Göppinggen near Ulm.
During this manoeuvre the LZ-5 hit a tree, severely damaging the bow section and deflating the forward gas cell. Despite this serious damage, temporary repairs were effected by removing the damaged ffirward section and after jury rigging the outer cover over the damaged area the crippled airship was flown 95 miles back to Friedrichshafen.
In due course the LZ-5 was fully repaired and subsequently delivered to the army as the Z-2, where it served successfully until the outbreak of the war, being further modified and lengthened while in service.
The LZ-3 sailed along the Rhine valley and onto Switzerland covering 200 miles. The performance galvanised the authorities in to action: firstly by an award of 500,000 Marks from the Government Airship Commission to aid research, and secondly the placing of an order for two Zeppelins for the Army.
The stringent conditions laid down for the purchase contract included a twenty-four hour endurance flight to cover a distance of no less than 500 miles with a crew of 20, and to include a landing on return. Zeppelin realised the LZ-3 did not possess the endurance necessary to comply with these conditions and proposed the construction of a larger ship, the LZ-4.
The LZ-4 had an increased capacity of 528,000 cu.ft and it was powered by two engines delivering a total of 210 hp. Provision was made for a keel cabin and more efficient multiple bow and stern elevators were fitted, which, in conjunction with larger rudders, improved the lateral and vertical stability.
In July 1908 the LZ-4 made a twelve-hour flight along the Rhine and on into Switzerland, the whole trip proving to be completely trouble free. The following month the twenty-four hour army trial rook place. Initially all went well, with the airship sailing placidly along the valley of the Rhine. However, just short of Mainz the forward engine failed, causing the LZ-4 to make an emergency landing on the River Rhine.
Here the airship was secured to the bank and repairs were carried out on a sheltered reach of the river, from where after a few hours the flight was able to continue. By now darkness was coming on, and Count Zeppelin undertook the first night flight by a rigid airship, cruising confidently over the villages and towns of southern Germany.
Towards dawn, further engine trouble occurred necessitating a diversion to Stuttgart for repairs to be effected at the Daimler works. The airship landed at the village of Echterdingen where a landing party of soldiers was assembled to take the handling lines and make the ship secure. During the afternoon while waiting for the engines from Daimler to arrive, the wind freshened to such an extent that the ground crew were unable to hold the ship. The airship was wrenched from them and smashed to the ground where it instantly caught fire and in the space of minutes it had become a mass of twisted molten metal.
The 70-year-old Count Zeppelin vowed to carry on. Within hours of the news of the loss of the LZ-4 appearing in the papers a spontaneous outpouring of popular support in what he was trying to achieve was demonstrated by the German people. From all over the nation money and promises of donations came flooding in to Friedrichshafen, and within a short time more than 6 million Marks (£5 million) had been subscribed.
LZ-4 Engines; 2 x Daimler, 105 hp Capacity: 428,000 cu.ft Length: 446 ft Width: 41 ft Height: 50 ft Gross lift: 15.5 tons Useful lift: 3.75 tons Max speed: 34 mph Range at cruise: 180 miles Ceiling: 2000 ft Crew: 25
Hindenburg carried 72 passengers, with a sealed smoking room, and a specially-made lightweight cast-aluminium grand piano for entertainment. As Germany did not have non-flammable helium gas available, hydrogen was used.
In 1936 a service across the Atlantic was opened with the new Zeppelin, the Hindenburg. Between March 1936 and May 1937 63 flights were made before the Hindenburg disaster, which occurred while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey.
The Hindenburg crashed at Lakehurst, New Jersey on 7 May 1937, on the first flight of the year. As she was being moored to the mast, the airship burst into flames. Thirty-six people were killed.
D-LZ-129 Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg of Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei.
Graf Zeppelin, the only airship ever to fly around the world, was nearly 240 m (787 ft) long. Some 850,000 cattle donated skins to contain its 105,000 cubic metres (3,708,000 cubic feet) of hydrogen, and 36 crew were on hand to serve 20 passengers with fine Rhine wines from crystal glasses in a burgundy-carpeted dining room as the ship cruised down to Rio on its transatlantic run.
On September 18, 1928, LZ127 Graf Zeppelin made her first flight.
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin over Washington DC, 1928
The Graf Zeppelin, built between 1926 and 1928, made 590 flights and retired in 1937.
LZ-3 leaving the floating shed at Manzell, Bodensee, 1906
Following the disaster of the LZ-2 Zeppelin vowed he would build no further airships, however, within weeks, and persuaded by popular sympathy, he managed to raise further funds from his own resourced, and a second state lottery was promised by the King. Sufficient money was raised to allow the construction of a new airship to go ahead.
The third airship, LZ-3, was based on LZ-2, of similar dimensions and utilising the same engines, but possessed of more functional bow and stern multiple elevators and having a keel cabin installed amidships. The new airship was built within three months, making her maiden flight on 9 October 1906, lasting two hours, covering 60 miles, and returning to base without incident.
Further flight followed: on being of eight hours, another of twelve hours where the LZ-3 sailed along the Rhine valley and onto Switzerland covering 200 miles. The performance galvanised the authorities in to action: firstly by an award of 500,000 Marks from the Government Airship Commission to aid research, and secondly the placing of an order for two Zeppelins for the Army.
The stringent conditions laid down for the purchase contract included a twenty-four hour endurance flight to cover a distance of no less than 500 miles with a crew of 20, and to include a landing on return.
Zeppelin realised the LZ-3 did not possess the endurance necessary to comply with these conditions and proposed the construction of a larger ship, the LZ-4.
With the loss of the LZ-4 the army demanded an immediate replacement, for this purpose the old LZ-3 was taken in hand and enlarged and equipped with more powerful engines. At the same time work began on the new LZ-5
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