Fastest airship

What to remember

Steve Fossett at the controls and Hans‑Paul Ströhle on board: on 27 October 2004, the Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik LZ N07‑100 airship, registered DLZFN, reached 115.1 km/h (71.5 mph), or Mach 0.09. The FAI certified the speed.

The aircraft came from ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik, a German manufacturer best known for its role in designing and building rigid airships, so prominent that such craft came to be called Zeppelins. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin founded Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in 1908 to carry on his early research into rigid airships, and it became the leading builder of large lighter-than-air vehicles for both military and civilian use.

In 1909 the company founded DELAG, the first airline in the world to use an aircraft in revenue service, flying its own airships on the back of strong public interest.