Zeppelin

Floating sheds on Lake Constance and plans for Atlantic passenger services frame Harry Vissering's account of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's rigid airships. Dated 1922 and written as a tribute, it follows Zeppelin's military experience, early designs and efforts to win support for construction. Photographs and captions show individual ships, workshops and the people responsible for developing them.

Technical comparisons sit alongside a portrait of the industry behind these aircraft. Readers find tables of speed and carrying capacity, descriptions of factory departments, and companies making motors, gas bags, propellers and other equipment. Vissering draws on information supplied by the Zeppelin company and argues strongly for commercial airship travel. His account offers a view of both the engineering problems and the hopes attached to fast passenger, mail and freight services, making it useful to readers interested in aviation and industrial history.