Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was born on July 8, 1838. He was the first to make rigid airships.

When he was 20 he was part of the army of Germany. He had to go to the United States for his work in the army. While he was there he went on his first balloon flight that was lighter than air.

Count Zeppelin in  the army

He wanted to make a steerable airship that was lighter than air. He spent nearly a decade working out the ideas to make the airship. He built the first one in 1900. They were called Zeppelins after his name. In 1910 there was the first flight for passengers. Zeppelins were used in World War 1 to bomb London. After the war they flew between Europe and America. The flight took about 3 days.

Graf Zeppelin

Ferdinand von Zeppelin died on March 8, 1917.

The Hindenberg was an airship that caught fire in New Jersey in 1937. 35 out of the 97 people on board died. The era of the airship ended that day.

Hindenberg

 by Joachim

References

http://inventors.about.com/od/xzstartinventors/ss/Zeppelin.htm

http://www.airships.net/count-ferdinand-von-zeppelin