Zeppelin LZ 121 Nordstern: Difference between revisions

''Nordstern'' was the second of two small passenger airships built by Luftschiffsbau Zeppelin in 1919 and 1920. ''Nordstern'' was designed to carry about 25 passengers on a Friedrichshafen - Berlin - Stockholm route but this route was never opened. The older sister ship LZ 120 ''Bodensee'' did run a regular passenger sevice between Friedrichshafen and Berlin during Autumn 1919. In compliance with the terms of the peace treaty after WWI both airships were grounded early in 1920. ''Nordstern'' was handed over to France in 1921 where she remained in (sparse) service with the french military until 1926 under the name ''Mediterrannee''. ''Bodensee'' was handed over to Italy and remained in service there until 1928 under the name ''Esperia''.

In the most recent versions (FlightGear release 2016.3.1 and so on) there is a hidden crew "autopilot" system providing a virtual helmsman and elevator man. It can be activated by setting the properties

The engines are Maybach Mb IVa high altitude engines that can easily be oversped on lower altitudes due to their construction - their rated output of 245 hp @ 1400 RPM is reached well before the throttle is fully open up to an altitude of 1800 m. At emergency power engine speed may go up to 1460 RPM.

Rigid airships like ''Nordstern'' take-off light in a static maneuver and normally land weighed-off to slightly heavy in a static maneuver. The primary use for the gas valves is to reduce static lightness when needed.