Zeppelin: The Story of a Great Achievement
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COUNT ZEPPELIN 1838-1917]
For the great vision and unfaltering devotion to an idea that gave the rigid airship to the world, this compilation is my humble tribute to the memory of Count Zeppelin.
Chicago, August, 1922
Copyright 1922 by Harry Vissering All rights reserved including that of translation into foreign languages.
“ The forces of nature cannot be eliminated but they may be balanced one against the other. ”
Count Zeppelin, Friedrichshafen, May 1914.
The savage can fasten only a dozen pounds on his back and swim the river. When he makes an axe, fells a tree, and builds a raft, he can carry many times a dozen pounds. As soon as he learns to rip logs into boards and build a boat, he multiplies his power a hundredfold; and when to this he adds modern sciences he can produce the monster steel leviathans that defy wind, storm and distance, and bear to the uttermost parts of the earth burdens a millionfold greater than the savage could carry across the narrow river.”
— Horace Mann
“Of all inventions, the alphabet and the printing press alone excepted, those inventions which abridge distance have done most for civilization.”
— Macaulay.
The economic value of the fast transportation of passengers, mail and express matter has been well proven. The existing high speed railway trains and ocean liners are the result of the ever increasing demand for rapid communication both on land and water.
Harry Vissering
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Zeppelin
The Story of a Great Achievement
FOREWORD
Zeppelin and His Airships
An Officer in the American Union Army
Zeppelin’s First Rigid Design
Financing the First Zeppelin Company
The First Zeppelin Flight
The First Company Dissolved Through Lack of Funds
Assisted by the King of Wurttemberg
Handicapped by Motor Trouble
Successful Trials with the Third Zeppelin
The Government Becomes Interested
Zeppelins for Commerce and War
The Zeppelin Endowment
The Beginning of the Zeppelin Organization
Early Development and Flights
Hailed as National Hero
The New Construction Plant
Military Value Proved by Commercial Operation
Activities Early in the War
Operations with the Fleet
The Growth of the Zeppelins
North Sea Patrol Flights
Zeppelins Become Lighter and Stronger
The Zeppelin Observation Car
Anti-Aircraft Defenses Compel Zeppelins to Fly Higher
Faster Zeppelins for Scouting
Zeppelin Vision of World Transport
His Will Carried Out After His Death
The Record Flight of L-59
4225 Miles in Less than Four Days
Larger Zeppelins More Powerful
The Most Remarkable Scientific Development in the History of Aeronautics
Seventy Percent Speed Increase
Refinement in Design
Eighty-Eight Zeppelins During the War
One Hundred and Fifteen Zeppelins Built and Operated
Scientific Comparison
The Zeppelin Organization at the Time of Its Greatest Activity 1918-1919
Many Subsidiary Companies
The Construction Plants
The Airship Factories
The Hydrogen Plant
Powerful Radio Station
The Great Zeppelin Hangars
The Potsdam Plant
The Colossal Staaken Plant
The Duralumin Works
The Woodworking Factory
The Maybach Motor Works
Performance of Engines—1892-1918
The Employment and Training System
The Zeppelin-Maybach Gearless Car
New Methods of Gas Bag Fabrication
The Maag-Zeppelin Gear Works
The Hangar Construction Company
Zeppelin Production of Airplanes
The Zeppelin-Dornier Metal Monoplanes
Twenty-one Dornier Designs
Zeppelin Builds Giant Airplanes
The Airplane Works at Staaken
Social Welfare Institutions of the Zeppelin Organizations
Operations of Commercial Zeppelins
The First Air Transport Company
Part of the Aviation Reserve
Created the First Airship Harbor
Like Land and Water Services
The “Schwaben” Filled all Requirements
Accommodations for Many Passengers
Development of Adequate Hangars
Many Long Commercial Flights
Developed Airship Navigation
Zeppelins Operated Safely
Commercial Operations of the Zeppelin
Trained Germany’s Airship Forces
Commercial Operations Resumed
The “Bodensee” an Improved Type
Carried Thirty Passengers
One Hundred and Three Flights in Ninety-Eight Days
The “Nordstern” a Sister Ship
The Zeppelin Organization and Facilities Today
Research and Development Work Continues
Zeppelin Able to Produce All Types
Guaranteed Performance Based on Actual Experience
Complete Airship Navigation Data Now Available
Zeppelin Organization Equipped for New Conditions
Two and a Half Days Trans-Atlantic Service Possible
New York-Chicago Route Difficult but Practicable
Many Engineering Problems Solved
Zeppelin Now Aims to Increase Efficiency
Commercial Operations Data Compiled
The Public will Accept Airship Transportation Here as Abroad
Zeppelin Ready to Participate in Development Throughout the World