Editing Zeppelin (section)

====Golden age====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00834, Friedrichshafen, Luftschiff Graf Zeppelin.jpg|thumbnail|upright=1.1|[[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin|''Graf Zeppelin'']] under construction]]
With the delivery of ''LZ 126'', the Zeppelin company had reasserted its lead in rigid airship construction, but it was not yet fully back in business. In 1926 restrictions on airship construction were relaxed, but acquiring the necessary funds for the next project proved a problem in the difficult economic situation of post–World War I Germany, and it took Eckener two years of lobbying and publicity to secure the realization of ''LZ 127''.

Another two years passed before 18 September 1928, when the new dirigible, christened [[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin|''Graf Zeppelin'']] in honour of the Count, flew for the first time.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= Largest Zeppelin|department=News|date=19 September 1928 |page= 14|issue=45002 |column=F }}</ref> With a total length of {{convert|236.6|m|ft}} and a volume of 105,000 m<sup>3</sup>, it was the largest dirigible to have been built at the time.
Eckener's initial purpose was to use ''Graf Zeppelin'' for experimental and demonstration purposes to prepare the way for regular airship traveling, carrying passengers and mail to cover the costs. In October 1928 its first long-range voyage brought it to [[Lakehurst, New Jersey|Lakehurst]], the voyage taking 112 hours and setting a new endurance record for airships.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= The Zeppelin Flight|department=News|date=16 October 1928 |page= 16|issue= 45025 |column=A}}</ref> Eckener and his crew, which included his son Hans, were once more welcomed enthusiastically, with confetti parades in New York and another invitation to the White House. ''Graf Zeppelin'' toured Germany and visited Italy, [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]], and 
[[Restoration (Spain)|Spain]]. A second trip to the United States was aborted in France due to engine failure in May 1929.
[[File:ZeppelinLZ127a.jpg|thumbnail|left|The ''Graf Zeppelin'']]
In August 1929, ''Graf Zeppelin'' departed for another daring enterprise: a [[circumnavigation]] of the globe. The growing popularity of the "giant of the air" made it easy for Eckener to find sponsors. One of these was the American press tycoon [[William Randolph Hearst]], who requested that the tour officially start in Lakehurst.<ref>Swinfield 2012, p.237</ref> As with the October 1928 flight to New York, Hearst had placed a reporter, [[Grace Marguerite Hay Drummond-Hay]], on board: she therefore became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by air. From there, ''Graf Zeppelin'' flew to Friedrichshafen, then Tokyo, Los Angeles, and back to Lakehurst, in 21&nbsp;days 5&nbsp;hours and 31&nbsp;minutes. Including the initial and final trips between Friedrichshafen and Lakehurst and back, the dirigible had travelled {{convert|49618|km|mi}}.

[[File:Graf Zeppelin stamp 65c 1930 issue.jpg|thumb|right|US Air Mail 1930 picturing the ''Graf Zeppelin'']]
In the following year, ''Graf Zeppelin'' undertook trips around Europe, and following a successful tour to [[Recife]], Brazil in May 1930, it was decided to open the first regular transatlantic airship line. This line operated between [[Frankfurt]] and Recife, and was later extended to [[Rio de Janeiro]], with a stop in Recife. Despite the beginning of the [[Great Depression]] and growing competition from fixed-wing aircraft, ''LZ 127'' transported an increasing volume of passengers and mail across the ocean every year until 1936. The ship made another spectacular voyage in July 1931 when it made a seven-day research trip to the [[Arctic]].<ref>Swinfield 2012, p. 239</ref>{{refn|Koestler was the only journalist on board. He describes the preparations and the voyage itself in detail in his autobiography.<ref>Koestler, Arthur. ''Arrow in the Blue'' 1952, pp. 275–300.</ref>|group=N}} This had already been a dream of Count von Zeppelin twenty years earlier, which could not be realized at the time due to the outbreak of war.

Eckener intended to follow the successful airship with another larger Zeppelin, designated LZ&nbsp;128. This was to be powered by eight engines, {{convert|761|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} in length, with a capacity of {{convert|7062100|ft3|m3|order=flip|abbr=on}}. However the loss of the British passenger airship [[R101]] on 5 October 1930 led the Zeppelin company to reconsider the safety of hydrogen-filled vessels, and the design was abandoned in favour of a new project, LZ&nbsp;129. This was intended to be filled with [[inert gas|inert]] [[helium]].<ref>Robinson 1973, p. 283</ref>