d have been avoided, in view of the
progress that has been made in the science of lighter-than-air.
Experience has materially increased the performance and qualities of
safety in airships. Better motors, controls, gas bags and other parts of
the Zeppelin have been so improved as to preclude possibility of
accidents such as those which occasionally hindered the operations of
"DELAG" before the war. Each of the flights listed here averaged two
hours, 68 miles (109 kilometers), traversed with 22 passengers. All the
flights aggregated 107,180 miles (172,535 kilometers), more than _four
times the girth of the earth_ at the equator.

Commercial Operations of the Zeppelin

---------------------------+---------+-------+------------+-----------
| Number | | Total | Number of
Airships | of | Hours | Mileage in | Passengers
| Flights | | Kilometers | Carried
---------------------------+---------+-------+------------+-----------
"Deutschland" and the LZ-6 | 62 | 124 | 6546 | 1778
"Schwaben" | 218 | 480 | 27321 | 4354
"Victoria Louise" | 489 | 981 | 54312 | 9738
"Hansa" | 399 | 841 | 44437 | 8521
"Sachsen" | 419 | 741 | 39919 | 9837
+---------+-------+------------+-----------
Total | 1588 | 3167 | 172535 | 34228
---------------------------+---------+-------+------------+-----------

[PLATE 50: The "DELAG" Passenger Zeppelin "Bodensee."

Front and rear views of rear power gondola. Note radiator
temperature control and ladder.

The "DELAG" Passenger Zeppelin "Bodensee."

Interior view showing location of fuel tanks.]

Trained Germany's Airship Forces

In the early days of the war the "=Victoria Louise=" made more than a
thousand training flights for more than 39,852 miles (64,152 kilometers)
in 1292 hours, flying time, all after she had been added to the military
training forces. Finally, her framework became so worn that she was
dismantled. The "=Sachsen=" and "=Hansa=" (Plate 33) performed similar
service.

From the Managing Director to the mechanics, all of the "DELAG"
personnel entered the service during the war, where they were
instructors, and it was due to them that the numbers of Zeppelins
launched for war serv