Hello Flightsim community.
My X-class Zeppelins are ready and uploaded!
I hope, you'll enjoy these aircrafts which are a bit 'off the mainstream'
German Airships - Zeppelins.....a small introduction.
Before the First World War, airships had been used as commercial airline carriers and for reconnaissance vehicles by the Army, no one had considered using them as bombers.
Designed by Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin, the airships were built from a rigid cigar shaped metal structure of circular frames connected by longitudinal beams. This made them strong enough to be fitted with engines and to carry a useful payload. There were steering fins at the rear and gondolas suspended below for the crew and engines. More crew compartments were inside the main frame as well as spaces for cargo and bags that contained the hydrogen gas for lift.
At the outset of the First World War the German High Command had high expectations of the Zeppelins but, after a number of craft were shot down during daylight raids on well defended targets, it soon became obvious that they were at a serious disadvantage due to their poor ability to sustain even minor damage. Hydrogen gas is extremely flammable and can be ignited by static electricity as well as by hot bullets.
It was left to the German Naval Air Service to develop the craft's military role in using them successfully for reconnaissance to help locate enemy vessels at sea or let them participate in raids British cities.
A total amount of 80 Zeppelins were produced of which more than three quarters were destroyed due to combat or accidents. In terms of the actual damage that they caused, the Zeppelins were a failure.
The Super Zeppelins, called "X" or L70 type, the Height-Climbers:
The largest Zeppelins during WWI represented the "X"-class or L70 Types. These were the LZ-112, LZ-113 and the LZ-114, with the LZ-114 / Dixmude as the biggest of them all.
After the war the Allies demanded that all German Airships be handed over as part of the war reparations. The Treaty of Versailles specifically stated that the German Air forces must be disbanded and that no airships were to be kept.
Count von Zeppelin died during 1917 and was succeeded by Dr. Hugo Eckener, a man who favoured a peaceful role for the Airships.
Some remarks to the uploaded airships: LZ-114/L72 :The X-class Zeppelins, the German "Super Zeppelins or Height-Climbers" were the largest airships built during the first world war.
Zeppelin Luftschiffbau, the building company, generally numbered its airships with the initials LZ, standing for "Luftschiff Zeppelin", to distinguish these types of fully tubular aluminum-framed airships from the competitor Schütte-Lanz [SL], whose airships were generally wooden composite constructions. The Zeppelins for the Imperial German Army first got the tactical callsigns starting with Z. During World War I they switched to using the LZ numbers. The Zeppelins destined for the Imperial German Navy were labelled from the beginning with the tactical callsigns starting with L.
The LZ-114 was the third and final Zeppelin of the X class built for the Imperial German Navy with the tactical callsign L72. It was finished in late 1918, but due to the end of WWI, it's maiden flight was not until 9th February 1920. Shortly thereafter, it was ordered to be transferred to France in the context of war reparations.
Dixmude: In the context of war reparations the former german airship LZ-114 was handed over to France on 9 July 1920 and renamed Dixmude. The airship was grounded for the next three years, as several necessary modifications had to be done. The original gasbags were changed to more modern ones and an extra nacelle for ten passengers had been installed some meters behind the cockpit gondola. All of these works caused the aforementioned delay. After the it was airworthy again, this famous airship made the time longest flight in the history of aviation. The flight had lasted 118 hours and 41 minutes and covered 7,100 km (4,400 mi). After several other successful flights, the Dixmude exploded off the coast of Sicily during a thunderstorm on 21 December 1923, killing all 52 (42 crew and ten passengers) on board.
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FEATURES
The Virtual cockpit is unfortunately only static and without animations, due to erroneous behaviors whilst the animation setup-process in FSDS. So, please use the 2D cockpit instead!
The all-round view is similar in both cockpits.
Animations:
In 2D cockpit view, you can click and drag the following levers:
-center elevator (left side console)
-center rudder (right side console)
-throttle (all three of the Engine_telegraphs)
-Stop Engines (all three of the Engine_telegraphs) >> see screenshot
To start the engines, please use the general FlightSim key CTRL+E
And please bear in mind, that to fly a Zeppelin needs a slightly different sensibility for flying in general.
Best regards,
Flyandy Andreas Becker
