LZ 10 Schwaben

LZ 10 Schwaben was a German rigid airship built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in 1911 and operated by the airline DELAG for passenger service. About 140 metres long, with a lifting gas volume of 17,800 cubic metres, it was powered by three 108 kW Maybach engines, the first Zeppelin to use the engines that later drove most examples, and its passenger cabin held 20 people. It first flew on 26 June 1911 and entered service on 16 July 1911. Known as the lucky airship, it is regarded as the first commercially successful passenger-carrying aircraft; over the following year it made 218 flights and carried 1,553 passengers, among them Crown Prince Wilhelm and his wife. On 28 June 1912 a gale tore it from its moorings at an airfield near Dusseldorf, and static electricity ignited its hydrogen, destroying the ship.