Tag Archives: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin

26 May 1909

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This photograph shows LZ-5 backing out of its floating shed on Lake Constance, just before its first flight. (George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress)
This photograph shows LZ-5 backing out of its floating shed on Lake Constance, just before its first flight. (George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress)
Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin (1838–1917) (Bundesarchive)
Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin (Bundesarchive)

26 May 1909: The creation of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the rigid airship LZ-5 made its first flight at Lake Constance (Bodensee).

This was an experimental airship, 442 feet (136 meters) long, with a diameter of 42 feet (13 meters). Powered by two Daimler engines producing 105 horsepower each, it was capable of 30 miles per hour. The structure of the airship was a framework built of a light alloy covered with a fabric skin. Buoyancy was provided by hydrogen gas stored inside the envelope.

LZ-5 was purchased by the army and renamed ZII. It was destroyed in a storm 24 April 1910.

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes