The first vessel of this
class was a huge failure, while subsequent craft have not proved
much more successful.
In fact, one of the largest German airships ever designed, L4,
is, or rather was, a Schutte-Lanz, with a capacity of 918,000
cubic feet, but over 6,000 pounds lighter than a Zeppelin of
almost similar dimensions. I say "was" since L4 is no more. The
pride of its creators evinced a stronger preference for Davy
Jones' Locker than its designed realm. Yet several craft of this
type have been built and have been mistaken for Zeppelins owing
to the similarity of the broad principles of design and their
huge dimensions. In one vital respect they are decidedly
inferior to their contemporary--they are not so speedy.
The most successful of the German lighter-than-air machines are
those known respectively as the semi rigid and non-rigid types,
the best examples of which are the Gross and Parseval craft.
Virtually they are Teutonic editions of the successful French
craft of identical design by which they were anticipated. The
Lebaudy is possibly the most famous of the French efforts in this
direction.
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