LZ 3

LZ 3 was a German experimental rigid airship built in Friedrichshafen under the direction of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and first flown on 9 October 1906, when it carried eleven people for 2 hours 17 minutes. It closely followed LZ 2, with the same hull layout, size and engines, but added biplane elevators and fixed horizontal stabilisers to cure the pitch instability of its predecessor. Its flights led the German government to grant Zeppelin 500,000 marks, on condition that an airship complete a 24-hour acceptance flight. LZ 3 could not manage that, which is why work began on LZ 4. After LZ 4 was destroyed, LZ 3 was repaired and enlarged, flew with the Crown Prince and Prince Heinrich aboard, and was accepted by the government in November 1908. Renamed Z I, it served the army at Metz until it was broken up as obsolete in March 1913.