Zeppelin LZ 120 Bodensee
| LZ 120 Bodensee | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role | Passenger airship |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Zeppelin Luftschiffbau |
| Designer | Paul Jaray |
| First flight | 20 August 1919 |
| Primary user | DELAG |
LZ 120 Bodensee was a passenger-carrying airship built by Zeppelin Luftschiffbau in 1919 to operate a passenger service between Berlin and Friedrichshafen. It was later handed over to the Italian Navy as war reparations in place of airships that had been sabotaged by their crews and renamed Esperia. A sister-ship, LZ 121 Nordstern, was built in 1920: it was handed over to France and renamed Méditerranée.
The Bodensee, designed by Paul Jaray, had an innovative hull shape of relatively low fineness ratio, (ratio of length to diameter). This was arrived at after wind-tunnel tests conducted at the University of Göttingen had shown that this would significantly reduce drag. The framework consisted of eleven 17-sided main transverse frames with a secondary ring frame in each bay, connected by longitudinal girders with a stiffening keel. The forward-mounted control car was combined with the passenger accommodation and was constructed as an integral part of the hull structure rather than being suspended beneath it. Passenger accommodation consisted of five compartments seating four people and a VIP cabin for one. An additional six passengers could be carried on wicker chairs in the gangway between the compartments. A galley and toilets were also fitted. It was powered by four 190 kW (260 hp) Maybach Mb.IVa engines, two in a centrally mounted aft gondola driving a single 5.2 m (17 ft 1 in) diameter two-bladed pusher propeller, the other two in a pair of amidships engine cars mounted either side of the hull. These drove 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) two-bladed propellers via a reversing gearbox to enable reverse thrust for manoeuvering when landing.
A sister-ship LZ 121 Nordstern, similar to the lengthened Bodensee but with modified passenger accommodation, was completed in 1920.
Bodensee was first flown on 20 August 1919 piloted by Captain Bernhard Lau. The first passenger-carrying flight was made on 24 August, with Hugo Eckener in command. It made over 100 flights, carrying 2,322 passengers over a total distance of 50,000 km (31,000 mi) These flights included a 17-hour voyage between Berlin and .
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