When airships ruled the skies
In the early years of the last century, the development of airships and aeroplanes went on side by side.
Lighter-than-air craft had a longer history. The first channel crossing by balloon was in 1785 and first dirigible balloon (with an engine and steering gear) flew in 1852. Then in 1896, the invention of the petrol engine was a catalyst for progress, with larger craft making longer flights in both the USA and France. However, the man who revolutionised airship design was German: Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. In 1900, he launched LZ1 (Luftschiff Zeppelin1), which was the first airship with a metal frame containing individual gas bags and covered with fabric. It was housed in a floating hangar on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in southern Germany, which could turn to match the direction of the wind. But after building LZ1, he ran out of money and development did not resume until 1905, while designers on both sides of the Atlantic copied his idea.
By 1908, Zeppelins were carrying mail. The first flights by LZ 4 and LZ 3 had no special postmarks, but
