lin Builds Giant Airplanes

But there was another angle to the Zeppelin airplane activities. Count
Zeppelin held the rank of General in the German Army. He had long been
in a position which kept him informed of the needs of the fighting
forces. For several months after the declaration of war he observed the
heavy tasks to which his airships were put and then undertook the
development of larger airplanes, far larger than any existing in the
world at the time.

He consulted the noted aviator Hellmuth Hirth, and together they
conferred with Professor Baumann of the technical university at
Stuttgart. Baumann was already noted for his work as an aeronautical
engineer. Within a few months they produced a multi-engined giant
bomber. It proved successful. To produce these machines in quantity the
Zeppelin works at Staaken were erected at the same time as the airship
building plant. The airplane factory at Staaken soon employed more than
a thousand men in turning out the giant night bombers, numbers of which
were flown in the raids over London and Paris in 1917 and 1918.

The Airplane Works at Staaken

The plant at Staaken was complete, including two great airplane
assembling sheds, workshops, offices, etc. It is now closed. Other
German firms have built similar bombing planes under the Zeppelin
patents. Twenty-six of them were built at Staaken, however.

They had a 137.76 foot (42 meters) wing span, carried 4.5 tons useful
load, could climb to a height of 14,760 feet (4,500 meters) with their
motors which aggregated 1,250 horsepower. Their average speed was 90
miles per hour (Plate 23).

[PLATE 41: The "DELAG" Passenger Zeppelin "Nordstern."

Leaving Friedrichshafen for France. Note the progressive
increase in the size of the sheds.

The "DELAG" Passenger Zeppelin "Bodensee."

Passengers enjoying an excursion over Berlin.]

Other machines were built, smaller, but of all-metal construction. After
the war "The Staaken Giant" (Plate 24) was put into commission. It, too,
was all-metal, carried four motors and was distinctly a commercial
plane. During many successful trials it carried eighteen passengers at a
speed of 145 miles an hour. Later on, a two-engine commercial land plane
was nearing completion when the Inter-allied Aeronautical Commission
ordered all work stopped, and the activities at Staaken ceased.

Social Welfare Institutions of the Zeppelin Organizations

One of the main requisite