page_title: LZ 4
section_title: Design and development
hierarchical_section_title: LZ 4 / Design and development
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Zeppelin airship, model 4, with inset bust portrait of Graf Zeppelin Abstract/medium: 1 photographic print.
context_page_description: The Zeppelin LZ 4 was a German experimental airship constructed under the direction of Ferdinand von Zeppelin. First flown on 20 June 1908, it made a series of successful flights including a 12-hour flight over Switzerland. It was destroyed when it caught fire after landing to carry out engine repairs during a projected 24-hour endurance trial. This disaster proved fortunate for Zeppelin: donations by the German public raised 6.5 million marks, so guaranteeing the future of his development of airships.
context_section_description: Construction of LZ 4 was started in November 1907. The design closely followed that of LZ 3, but with increased diameter and length and having 17 gasbags.  A central crew cabin was added in the middle of the keel, from which a ladder ran up through the envelope to an observation platform on top of the hull, intended for making star-sightings for navigational purposes.  Initially, small rectangular rudders were fitted at either end of the hull: these proved inadequate to control the airship and were removed and replaced by single rudders mounted between the tips of the biplane horizontal stabilisers at the stern. Later each of these was replaced by a pair of rudders, and large fixed fins bearing a large oval rudder fitted at the stern.
caption: Zeppelin airship, model 4
exif: {"Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Artist": "Library of Congress", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}