Operational History
At its first trial the LZ 1 carried five people, reached an altitude of 410 m (1300 ft) and flew a distance of 3.7 miles (5.95 km) in 17 minutes, but by then the moveable weight had jammed and one of the engines had failed: the wind then forced an emergency landing. After repairs and alterations the ship flew two more times, on 17 and 24 October, showing its potential by beating the speed record then held by the French Army airship, La France of 6 metres per second (22 km/h), but this did not convince the possible investors. Because funding was exhausted, Graf von Zeppelin had to dismantle the airship, sell the scrap and tools and liquidate the company.
Read more about this topic: Zeppelin LZ1
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