The road to success was not a smooth one for Count von Zeppelin. This episode tells the story of his repeated attempts to put the Zeppelin enterprise on a firm foundation, to safeguard the future for his rigid airship invention. Even now he would have agonising false starts, with his second airship torn to pieces in a storm.
With the stunning success of his third airship, the LZ-3, and her larger successor, the LZ-4, the stage seemed set for the Count to meet the German government's audacious challenge - to complete a 24-hour endurance flight with the LZ-4, something no aircraft had yet achieved. But triumph was to turn to tragedy; LZ-4 would be destroyed in a devastating, fiery accident.
It all seemed to be over for the Count, but a nationwide upswell of popular support turned crushing defeat into overwhelming victory.
This is the story of how the Zeppelin rose from the ashes.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.