Ferdinand von Zeppelin

Ferdinand von Zeppelin was a German inventor who created the first rigid dirigible or airship. He was born in 1838 in the small college town of Konstanz, Germany. http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/zeppelin.htm The dirigible he invented in the late 1890s is sometimes called the zeppelin, named after him. In 1900 the first airship, L-Z 1, flew 3.5 miles across Lake Konstanz in southern Germany. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/zeppelin/LTA8.htm Though this airship made its maiden flight without crashing, it had many mechanical problems, forcing Zeppelin to improve the design. After ten years and many more models, LZ-4 made an eight hour flight over Switzerland in 1908. This flight was the most successful so far, and attracted the attention of the German government.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/656597/Ferdinand-Graf-von-Zeppelin

With monetary help from the government, Zeppelin's airships became the world's first airline. By World War I, zeppelins had carried over ten thousand passengers on sightseeing, and short transport flights. When Zeppelin died in 1917, travel by airship was a thriving industry. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/156284/DelagThis all ended with the Hindenburg crash in 1937. After more than thirty years, the age of commercial flight by airship came to an end.http://www.navair.navy.mil/lakehurst/nleb/hindenburg-crash.asp

Ferdinand von Zeppelin Biography

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin attended the Ludwigsburg Military Academy, then became an officer in the Württemberg Army at the age of twenty. Soon after, he traveled to the United States as a military observer during the Civil War. Though he received a special pass from President Lincoln to travel with the Union Army, Zeppelin left the war zone to explore the American frontier. While in Minnesota, Zeppelin saw his first hot air balloon.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/656597/Ferdinand-Graf-von-Zeppelin

After witnessing that flight was possible, Zeppelin began to draw up designs for steerable airships. His duties to the army restricted him, and he was not able to start physically building his ships until his retirement in 1890. By 1898, he had built his first ship, LZ-1 (Luftschiff Zeppelin). http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1900 It took many models to perfect the design. Engine failure, and control in high winds were two of the many obstacles Zeppelin had to overcome. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/zeppelin/LTA8.htm

Building and flying airships was expensive in the early 1900s. Zeppelin went bankrupt many times while developing his dirigble designs. He built his second ship, LZ-2, in 1905 with money from mortgaging his wife's estate. It had to make an emergency landing in the middle of its first flight, and was destroyed on the ground during a storm that night. His next two designs, LZ-3 and LZ-4, made a huge improvement in speed, power, and stability. When LZ-4 flew for 8 hours over Switzerland, Zeppelin started to receive help from the German government. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/656597/Ferdinand-Graf-von-Zeppelin

Though Zeppelin had planned to utilize the airships for military operations, his partners believed that they would do well commercially. Though the dirigible was used during World War I, Zeppelin distanced himself from army activities after a military zeppelin crashed in 1913. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/656597/Ferdinand-Graf-von-Zeppelin He died in 1917 of natural causes, without seeing his invention grow into a large commercial industry.

The HIndenburg crash in 1937 put an end to airship travel. The explosion occured due to the fact that the balloon was filled with hydrogen, instead of an inert gas like helium. In the crash thirty-five people perished, effectively ending the age of airship transport.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266218/Hindenburg