LZ 3
The Zeppelin LZ 3 was Count Zeppelin's third airship and the first airship of the German Army .
history
Due to the loss of the airship LZ 2 in a storm, engineer Ludwig Dürr began to conduct flow tests on an airship model in the wind tunnel . It turned out that fins at the stern of the ship would stabilize the zeppelin in the wind and so this knowledge was applied to the construction of LZ 3.
For the construction of LZ 3 all still usable parts of the destroyed airship LZ 2 were installed. LZ 3 was able to take off for the first time on October 9, 1906. In December 1907, LZ 3 was badly damaged when the hall floating in front of Manzell in Lake Constance sank as a result of a storm. A new airship hangar was built and the zeppelin was also repaired and took its test drives again in the Lake Constance area. These trips could now be carried out completely safely and successfully and even Kaiser Wilhelm II traveled to see the airship. Major Hans Groß , commander of the Luftschiffer Battalion No. 2, also confirmed the good handling characteristics of the new Zeppelin to Count Zeppelin.
LZ 3 had made 45 trips and covered 4,398 km. The Reichstag now approved two million marks for the purchase of the airship. LZ 3 was extended, equipped with more powerful engines and handed over to the army in 1908 with the army identification Z 1. The airship was also able to make successful test drives with the army, including an eight-hour journey with 25 people on board. Z 1 became the army's school airship and moved to the Metz location , where the Reich Airship Hall was built for the ship.
End of LZ 3
In 1913 the airship was technically obsolete and was scrapped.
Technical specifications
Parameter | Data before the conversion | Data after the renovation |
---|---|---|
Lifting gas volume | 11,300 m³ of hydrogen | 12,200 m³ of hydrogen |
length | 128 m | 135 m |
diameter | 11.25 m | 11.65 m |
payload | 2.8 t | 2.9 t |
drive | 2 × Daimler-Benz engines; 85 PS (63 kW) each | 2 × Daimler-Benz engines; 100 HP (74 kW) each |
speed | 11.0 m / s (approx. 40 km / h) |
literature
- Peter Meyer: Airships - The History of the German Zeppelins , Wehr & Wissen, Koblenz / Bonn 1980.