LZ127 THE GRAF ZEPPELIN
                                   The Graf Zeppelin ruled the uncluttered skies like no other monarch could. The sight of the silver ship gliding over head brought crowds of people streaming from their houses and into the streets.
                         No other aircraft in history , with the possible exception of the Spirit of St. Louis, has been the focus of so much admiration by so many people. The Graf Zeppelin was Dr. Eckner's crowning achievement in the concept of the zeppelin. Even though the Hindenburg and the Graf Zeppelin II would be technologically superior to the Graf Zeppelin, no other air ship would be so loved by nearly all the world. The size of the Graf was dictated only by the inner dimensions of the construction hanger. When completed, the airship was 100 feet in diameter, and 110 feet high including the gondola bumpers, bringing her within TWO FEET of the rafters of her shed. Many new innovations were incorporated into the Graf Zeppelin during her construction in Factory Shed number II in Friedrichshafen. The most revolutionary of the innovations was the inclusion of a new fuel system for the engines. Previously, all airships had used engines that burned either gasoline or diesel fuel. The main problem with using a liquid fuel was that as you burned off the gas or diesel, you lost weight, and as you lost weight, you had to vent off hydrogen to keep from floating up. This had been a problem that had plagued zeppelins since the beginning, but was solved in the building of the Graf. The Graf had special gas cells installed below the gas cells that housed the lifting hydrogen gas. These new cells comprised approximately 1/3 of each bay within the ship and each cell was filled with a new fuel called "Blau gas". Invented by Dr. Hermann Blau, this gaseous fuel would account for 750,000 cubic feet of the volume of the Graf, which had a total volume of 3,707,550 cubic feet. The wonderful thing about the blau gas was that it weighed about as much as air and so did not hamper the ship with the weight that liquid fuel would, also,as the fuel burned in the engines of the ship, no weight was lost by its consumption and therefore no hydrogen would be vented. Even with all her new design innovations and the excitement of the German people, the Graf Zeppelin was slowed by of lack of money. It had taken a plea to the German people by Dr. Eckener to raise most of the money to have her built and more arm twisting in the government to get enough to finish the ship, now he needed money to keep her flying. That money was found in the hands of an American business man and airship supporter named William Randolph Hearst. Hearst would make a business deal with Dr. Eckener that would appeal to both the Zeppelin Company and Hearst's newspaper companies. Hearst would put up the money for a global flight of the Graf Zeppelin that would be the gain her the publicity she would need to form a solid reputation for dependability and he would get exclusive U.S. rights to the story. Dr. Eckener, having been a journalist and writer before working for the Count VonZeppelin, knew how to make the most of this publicity and did so at every opportunity. The global flight would begin in Friedrichshafen and proceed to Lakehurst, New Jersey. Lakehurst would then mark as the official starting point of the journey as stipulated in the contract drawn up by Hearst. From Lakehurst back to Friedrichshafen, to Tokyo and then to San Francisco, Los Angeles and back to Lakehurst. Although the Graf was not the first aircraft to circle the globe, it was by far the fastest. What took months for a British military, heavy bomber to do, with many breakdowns and hardships, the Graf did in 12 days and 11 minutes in comfort and style with a full passenger load over much previously uncharted land. The trip was a complete success and the world, particularly the U.S., caught Zeppelin Mania. Once safely moored at Lakehurst, Dr. Eckener was treated to a ticker-tape parade in his honor in New York City and the news papers would dub him the "Magellan of the Air".

Specifications: LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin Statistics: Length 776 feet / 236.53 meters,  Diameter 100 feet / 30.48 meters, Gas Volume 3,700,000 cu. feet / 111,000 cu. meters. Engines Five 550 hp Maybach engines, Maximum Speed 80 mph / 128 km/h,  Lifting Gas Type Hydrogen.

There are many sites and books devoted to the Graf Zeppelin and if you do a search on her name on the internet you will find a wealth of information on LZ127! My favorite book is "Dr. Eckener's Dream Machine" by Douglas Botting and it is excellent reading for budding Airship Commanders!

INSTALLATION:
Installation is a matter of  using the  included Installer  to install the files into your fs2004 or FsGW3 installation.  The installer will automatically find your fs2004 installation. If you have a separate FsGW3 installation please brouse to that folder during the install procedure. Also install the small provided custom file to customize your luggage and airship school diploma! It is necessary to have Active Camera installed in order to adequately use this product. If you don't have AC installed you will only be able to use a very small part of the package. Upon completing the installation use the airship operation information below to learn how to become an Airship Commander and Emulate Dr. Eckener's wonderful adventures!

AIRSHIP OPERATION:

Because Fs2004 does not really support lighter than air operation we must use what we have in order to simulate that experience.  Launching an airship is not a casual thing. It is more like the sailing a ship than flying a plane! It requires many steps and practice in order to mimic the acsension and successful landing of one of these giants of the sky!   

TURN UP THE VOLUME ON YOUR COMPUTER TO CATCH ALL THE SUBTLE SOUNDS FOUND ON AN AIRSHIP!!

                Each airship session always starts with one of the included flights until you can master commanding the ship. After booting up change to "WINDOW MODE" and open the Active Camera Menu. Check ONLY "Internal View" and open the Load ACV menu. Load the LZ127.acv.  This will enable you to go to various parts of the ship to play the different roles as crew members and passengers.  Return to "FULL SCREEN MODE" for the rest of the session. Ctrl and 1 is the Commander's Station, Ctrl and 2 is the rudderman's station. Ctrl and 3 is the radio operator's station. Ctrl and 4 is the dinning room. Ctrl and 5 is your cabin. Ctrl and 6 is an engine pod. Ctrl and 7 is the topside rigger's station. Ctrl and 8 is the gramophone location.

Add crew and passengers by clicking on the rudder wheel as shown on pic 4.A.  If the airship is in one of the hangars it will be necessary to have the ground crew walk the ship back out of the hangar. As shown below add the ground crew by clicking on the photo 1.F shown below. Click on the photo 1.G to make the crew walk the ship back until it is well clear of the hangar. Click again to stop the process.  Click on the photo 1.F again to remove the ground crew. You are now ready to start the procedure to lift off.  The first step is to turn the lever at 2.1 to the right as shown.  Next push the right lever till the light turns green and you hear an audible buzz sound.  Now go the hydrogen valve wheel to the right and click on the + till the valve wheel has turned as far as it will go. The airship will now become almost weightless and start to drift backward with the slight breeze. Advance your joystick throttle a little and you can stop the drift.   Click on the whistle to alert everyone that the ship is ready to ascend! You might want to play the airship theme music or DUA to add a little drama to the occasion   :o)

             Slowly advance the throttle and the ship will rise vertically dropping excess water ballast which can be seen in spot or tower view. When the ship is at least 200 meters high retard the throttle a little and the ship will stop rising. Now call for the engines to start using the engine telegraphs as shown in 3.6, 3.7 and 3.8. Now fully reduce the static hydrogen lift using the - at 2.9. The ship will now move foward using some dynamic lift. Advance the throttles completely amd she will soon attain full speed.  Use the rudder to steer and if the ship does lean over please correct using the aileron control.  Cruise around some and get the feel of handling the controls.

              To land the airship first call for stopping the aft engine. Next retard the throttles so that the airship is gliding toward the intended landing spot facing the hangar or shed opening if you are going to be putting the ship away. As you get closer stop the aft engines.   Gradually add some static lift using the hydrogen valve and keep retarding the throttle till the ship is moving very slowly and is almost over the desired landing spot.   Now call for the drag line drop at 4.B and then drop the lines using 4.C. Stop the fore engines and using full static lift use the throttle to gently lower the ship to the ground.  After she touches down kill the static lift and fully retard the throttle. If you are going to walk the ship into the hangar add the ground crew at 1.F and very slowly advance the throttle till the ground crew slowly walks the ship into the shed. When she is in position retard the throttle  and turn the ballast control off at 2.1.   The crew can be removed at 1.F

NAVIGATION:

The Graf Zeppelin is equipped with   navigation aids to assist you piloting her to those far off lands . Look at the list of cities  and their coordinates on the wall behind the Commander's desk. If you enter the coordinates into the slide rule laying on the desk the distance to that location will be displayed on the commanders navigation gauge B in the picture and the direction to fly will be displayed in the Commanders gauge A. Just turn the airship and follow the arrow to anywhere in the world. Once you have established your course and altitude you can turn on the automatic pilot at the elevator man's station and it will hold altitude and heading. Course corrections can be made using the rudder wheel.

FLIGHTS :  There are many  included flights that are set up with the proper 8 knot wind that allows us to emulate some of the Graf's great adventures! Please use them and you can recreate her round the world flight of 1929!   Using the autopilot we can become a passenger and just ride along enjoying the view and the companionship found in the main dining salon while listening to our favorite jazz tunes!

CONCLUSION:
We hope you enjoy using these models as much as we did in creating them!! These models were built with FSDS2, the superior building program from Louis Sinclair! Thanks to the Microsoft Flight Sim Team who did an outstanding job on Fs2004! Thanks also to Rob Clarke who allows us to use his wonderful gauges in our work!

A very special thanks  to all the wonderful guys in the Golden Wings Gang  who  suffered through all the beta testing and kept us going through the rough spots!   We hope you enjoy this recreation of one of the most famous flying machines of all time and in some eyes the grandest ever to lift off into the heavens above!    Good Airmanship to you, Lynn and Bill Lyons