The Zeppelin Turns 100

If you're at all a science fiction nerd like myself, then you probably take an unhealthy interest in all sorts of flying machines. Spaceships, gyrocopters, jetpacks; if it's flown in a Hollywood movie, chances are you and I have wanted to fly it.

Recently the zeppelin, perhaps history's most impractical mass transit vehicle, celebrates its 100th birthday.  The dirigible was first commissioned for air service by Count Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin in October of 1909.  When the German military grew reluctant to adopt Zeppelin's dirigible, the Count decided to take his flying machine public. 

The USA Today article describes passengers' experience as luxurious.  Adjusted for inflation, a ticket on the first zeppelin would cost about $1,860.  While such a vehicle certainly appealed to the wealthy tourist, it wouldn't be until the outbreak of World War I when the zeppelin would see real use by the German military.

Fun fact: did you know that there is a mooring mast at the top of the Empire State Building intended for tethering zeppelins?  This was only used once, in 1931, and was then deemed too dangerous.  There are photographs documenting the event, and it was even recreated in the opening of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (seen below).  The zeppelin may have been a wholly impractical flying machine, but there's still something elegant in its simplicity.