[PLATE 43: The "DELAG" Passenger Zeppelin "Nordstern."

Elevator Rudder and Altitude Controls.

Chief Engineer's Station Engine Telegraphs.

Steering Wheel and Compass.]

CHAPTER III

Operations of Commercial Zeppelins

Attracted by Count Zeppelin's earlier flights, hundreds of persons made
reservations for the regularly conducted commercial trips, when in 1910
he organized the Deutsche Luftschiffahrt, A. G. (German Air Ship
Transportation Co.), briefly called the "DELAG". There was apparently a
popular demand for commercial airship transport. Zeppelin founded the
"DELAG" to meet this demand, and also to provide operating personnel and
train pilots and crews for the other services, which he knew, would be
necessary in case of emergency.

The "DELAG" was capitalized for 3,000,000 marks (approximately $714,000)
and while it was a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau-Zeppelin, there also
participated in this commercial operating organization a number of
capitalists, whose faith in commercial air transport was fully justified
by the success of the "DELAG" despite much difficulty the first year or
so due to lack of meteorological data and inexperience.

The First Air Transport Company

[PLATE 44: The "DELAG" Passenger Zeppelin "Bodensee."

On an excursion over lake district near Potsdam.

The "DELAG" Passenger Zeppelin "Bodensee."

Passengers at Friedrichshafen embarking for Berlin.]

During the latter part of 1910, minor accidents occurred which sometimes
damaged the airships and disrupted the service, but in 1911 a
comparatively regular service was established and maintained. The
principal ship was the "=Schwaben=," (Plates 5 and 30) which was far
superior to her predecessors and which had the advantage of new and
larger sheds at the Zeppelin-"DELAG" airports. The schedule maintained
by the "=Schwaben=" justifies the assertion that the "DELAG" operated the
first commercial aerial transport company on earth. Her success
encouraged expansion, and in 1912, two additional ships, the "=Victoria
Louise=" (Plates 31-32) and the "=Hansa=" (Plate 33) were built and entered
the "DELAG" service, to be followed the next year by the "=Sachsen=",
(Plate 33).

Part of the Aviation Reserve

The German Army commandeered all these commercial Zeppelins at the start
of the war. They were used partly for military duty and partly as
training ships for the many necessary crews. The first year of