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
Count Zeppelin had the experience to build a large rigid airship but also realised that the cost of further development was beyond his own personnel resources. Zeppelin turned to his patron the King of Wȕrttemberg, who agreed to organise a state lottery which ultimately raised 200,000 Marks to finance the building of a second airship.
In addition, he again persuaded the Ruhr aluminium magnate Carl Berg to supply the alloy for the framework, and prevailed upon Gottlieb Daimler into providing light engines of suitable power that could be developed for flight.
The floating hanger was refurbished and materials began arriving at the lakeside in early 1905 allowing work to commence, with construction proceeding at a rapid pace.
The new airship, which was completed in December 1905, was of sturdier construction than its predecessor and, whilst in outward appearance and dimensions similar to LZ-1, she was equipped with larger and more effective control surfaces fore and aft. These elevating ‘Aeroplanes’ were to replace the cumbersome sliding weights of the LZ-1, whilst the engine power had been increased to a total of 170 hp.
The LZ-2 was readied for its first flight in November 1905, but as the ship was being towed out of its floating hanger the airship went out of trim causing the bow to dip into the water, which in turn damaged the elevator planes and structure. At the same time, the tow rope attached to the motor boat parted and the LZ-2 began to drift across the lake whilst all efforts to start the engines failed. The motor boat crew chased the ship, secured to tow rope again, returning it to its shed.
After repairs the second flight took place on 17 January 1906, at first all went well with the airship reaching a speed of 24 mph and answering the helm in a satisfactory manner, but once more the forward engine broke down due to a problem with the cooling water and shortly after this the rear engine also failed. All efforts of the crew failed to restart the engines. The LZ-2 drifted on the breeze to be brought down 25 miles way outside the village of Kisslegg.
The damage on landing was not too serious and it was hoped to save the ship. Yet although held by a ground crew of soldiers and villagers later that night, with a wind of increasing force the LZ-2 was smashed into the ground and became a total loss.
The construction of Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin’s aluminium framework LZ 1 began in June, 1898, in a floating wooden hangar on Bodensee (Lake Constance) at Manzell (Friedrichshafen).
The hydrogen was contained in 16 cells supporting an all up weight of just under 12 tons. The parallel-sided, conical-ended craft had two gondolas fixed under the hull, each containing a four-cylinder Daimler petrol motor with an output of 16 hp. Lateral control was effected by two small rudders at the stern, whilst attitude and vertical control relied on a 500 lb sliding weight suspended on a cable beneath the ship.
Completed in the winter of 1899, the Graf decided to wait however until the summer of 1900 before attempting an ascension. The airship was inflated with hydrogen in June, and was towed out of its floating hanger by the steamboat Buchorn and, once clear of obstructions, vaned into the wind where the tow rope was released. On a near perfect day the LZ-1 rose to about 1300 ft, from where it flew 18 minutes above the calm waters of the lake on 2 July 1900 at 20:03. With a crew of four, including the Count himself, the airship covered some 4 miles against a headwind of 16 mph. The LZ-1 successfully achieved a degree of control despite the relatively low power of the engines, but problems with the sliding weight necessitated a descent on to the lake from where the ship was towed back to the hanger.
A second flight, of 30 minutes, took place on 17 October 1900. Experiments in control were undertaken, but again these tests were cut short due to engine trouble and there was some degree of structual failure of girders in the framework requiring another descent on to the water.
After some repairs and strengthening of the fractured girders the LZ-1 made its third and final flight of some 20 minutes, achieving a speed of 17 mph during which it again exhibited its ability to answer to the helm. This time the flight was terminated because of water in the petrol, but the ship again returned safely to its shed.
The following year Zepplin disbanded the joint stock company while personally assming its liabilities. The Count had the LZ-1 dismantled and the shed beached and closed up. He dismissed all the workers apart from Kober, whom he retained to work on a more advancd desighn he had conceived.
Length: 419 ft Diameter: 38 ft 6 in Height: 48 ft 6 in Envelope capacity: 400,000 cu.ft Gross lift: 12.5 ton Useful lift: 2.75 ton Engines: 2 x Daimler 16 hp Max speed: 17 mph Range at cruise est.: 180 mi Ceiling: 2000 ft Crew: 4
All Aero 