I saw the hangar on my first trip to SF in Nov. impressive!

The first ones operated from a floating hangar on the Bodensee (Lake Constance); the hangar could be turned to face into the wind (and avoid side winds), and Graf Zeppelin was not, at first, able to spend the money for a large enough parcel of land. Later zeppelins, like LZ-127, could also briefly land on water, as during the mail transfer to the Soviet ship Malygin during the Polar Flight.

SL was ahead of the game in the shape of the airframe, and stabilizing fin configuration IIRC, Zeppelin adopted some of these innovations. SL built several bombers but I think fell out of favor after 1915 with the German Army. I don’t think the German Navy flew SL ships.

They were called ‘goldbeater’s skins’, several thousand required to make a single gas cell, fashioned by hand from cows’ intestines. I believe these were used until rubberized fabric supplanted them in the 1930s. 250,000 perhaps were required per ship, is my guess.

would love to hear more about your grandfather. i interviewed a ww1 guy in 2007, age 105. he was the last living survivor in the entire usa. lived to be 110. call me sometime. my cell # is 704-254-0859. hope to hear from you.

can contact me: i have good information on airships: coachdhelms@yahoo.com