Before the war, in the years 1910 to 1914, the Deutsche
Luftfahrt Actien Gesellschaft successfully ran a commercial
Zeppelin service in which four airships were used, namely,
Schwaben, Victoria Luise, Hansa and Sachsan. During this period
over 17,000 passengers were carried a total distance of over
100,000 miles without incurring a single fatal accident.
Numerous English people made trips in these airships, including
Viscount Jellicoe, but the success of the company has apparently
been forgotten.
We have endeavoured to show that the non-rigid airship has
potentialities even for commercial purposes, but there is no
doubt whatever that the future of the airship in the commercial
world rests entirely with the rigid type, and the airships of
this type moreover must be of infinitely greater capacity than
those at present in existence, if a return is to be expected for
the capital invested in them. General Sykes stated, in the paper
which he read before the London Chamber of Commerce, "that for
commercial purposes the airship is eminently adapted for
long-distance journeys involving non-stop flights. It has this
inherent advantage over the aeroplane, that while there appears
to be a limit to the range of the aeroplane as at present
constructed, there is practically no limit whatever to that of
the airship, as this can be overcome by merely increasing the
size.
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