Zeppelin established an airship factory using his own money and, by 1898, with a team of 30 workers, assembled his first airship, the Luftschiff Zeppelin 1. About 420 ft long and 38 ft in diameter, the zeppelin weighed 12 tonnes and contained about 400,000 cubic feet of hydrogen. It successfully completed its maiden flight on July 2, 1900.

Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin (Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin) was born on July 8, 1838, in Baden, Germany. He joined the German Army at 20. His first balloon flight occurred in 1863, in Minnesota, while on deputation in the US. It made a deep impression on him. He retired from the army in 1890 over a professional difference of opinion, albeit with the rank of Generalleutnant. Early retirement proved a boon—he was now able to devote himself fully to the design and construction of airships.

Zeppelin established an airship factory using his own money and, by 1898, with a team of 30 workers, he assembled his first airship, the Luftschiff Zeppelin 1 (LZ-1). After the Montgolfier Brothers’ pioneering balloon ascent in 1783, balloon flights had become commonplace. Zeppelin’s contribution was to enclose several hydrogen-filled gas-bags in a steel skeleton, thus imparting strength and rigidity to the contraption, and to make it “dirigible” (that can be directed or steered). The zeppelin consisted of a row of 17 gas cells individually covered in rubberised cloth. The whole structure was confined in a cylindrical framework covered with smooth-surfaced cotton cloth. It was about 420 ft long and 38 ft in diameter. It weighed 12 tonnes and contained about 400,000 cubic feet of hydrogen. The airship was steered by forward and aft rudders and was driven by two 15-hp Daimler internal-combustion engines, each turning two propellers. Passengers, crew and engine were carried in two aluminium gondolas suspended forward and aft. The LZ-1, with five occupants, successfully completed its maiden flight on July 2, 1900. It attained an altitude of 1,300 ft and covered a distance of 3.75 miles in 17 minutes.

In 1908, Zeppelin ran out of money, but the Germans contributed generously to keep him going. On November 16, 1909, the world’s first airline was founded—the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts Aktien-Gesellschaft (DELAG). By 1914, DELAG had transported 37,250 people on over 1,600 zeppelin flights without an incident. It was a remarkable safety record considering that zeppelins used highly flammable hydrogen gas. Helium, being inert, was known to be much safer. But its use did not become widespread till many years later on account of its scarcity and prohibitive cost.

Zeppelin was a military man, not a businessman. Being a German aristocrat, he viewed the idea of carrying passengers to make money as unworthy of his airships, and of himself. He wanted, instead, to contribute to his country’s military strength. He was frustrated and disheartened by the lack of enthusiasm in the technology displayed by the German Army and Navy. Matters came to a head following the September 1913 crash of a naval zeppelin (LZ-14) off the coast of Heligoland, in which 14 men died (the first deaths in any zeppelin accident). Zeppelin gradually began to withdraw from active involvement with airships.