Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

52 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. STERN VIEW OF “ZEPPELIN II.” (ORIGINALLY NO. III.) LEAVING THE HUGE FLOATING BALLOON SHED AT FRIEDRICHSHAFEN. (Photo, Topical.) Observe the stability planes at tho side, the vertical steering rudders between them, and the elevating planes near the keel. the petrol motor for driving airships, and did a great deal towards stimulating public in- terest in. the possibilities of the dirigible. Simultaneously with Santos Dumont’s ex- periments at Paris, Count F. von Zeppelin had been busy at Friedrichshafen, on Lake Constance, with the construc- Count tion of a monster dirigible, s which is known as Zeppelin I. Airships. The envelope was 426 feet long and 37 feet in diameter, its section being that of a twenty-four sided prism. The frame- work was built of aluminium alloy, and divided into seventeen sections by cross partitions of thin aluminium sheet, which served to insulate the seventeen small balloons used to give buoyancy. The space between the balloons and the outer covering of pegamoid was ven- tilated by a constant current of air passed through. The volume of the gas chambers totalled 11,300 cubic metres; the weight, in- cluding petrol for a ten hours’ flight, cooling water for the engines, and a ~ r । ° Zeppelin I. crew oi live men, ten tons. In the long keel attached to the under-side of the framework were placed two cars, situated about half-way between the centre and the ends, each carrying a 14'7 Daimler petrol motor. Zeppelin adopted two independent motors, so that, if one should fail, the other would be available for manoeuvring the ship and bringing it to earth, if need be. Each motor drove a pair of four-bladed propellers, about 4 feet in diameter, at the very high speed of 1,100 revolutions per minute, through bevel gearing. Reversing gear was included, so that the ship could be moved astern if occasion arose. An installation of electric bells, telegraphs, and speaking tubes assisted the operations of steering.