r of the Zeppelin Company, took over development of Zeppelin's airships. Eckner first did away with the old engines and invested in much larger and more powerful engines produced by the Maybach Company. He constructed docking rails that used trolleys to hold ships against the wind as they were moved to and from their hangars for takeoffs and landings. Before, men were delegated to hold the ship in place with tether ropes until the ship landed and was moved to its hangar. Finally, Eckner had every crew member undergo rigorous training so that the handling of the ships when under duress would no longer be a mystery.
The first craft to receive all of these benefits was the LZ 10, christened the Schwaben. The Schwaben had three of the new 146 horsepower engines and could travel 47 miles per hour, reaching each corner of Germany with a fare of 100 marks per hour. The commercial airship was a giant success – up until World War I, the Zeppelin company made over 1500 commercial flights and had four crafts in its service (though the Schwaben
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