The “=Bodensee=” was 426.4 feet (130 meters) long, after she had been lengthened by 32.8 feet (10 meters). Her diameter was 61.3 feet (18.7 meters) and she carried 794,475 cubic feet (22,500 cubic meters) of hydrogen. Her useful load normally was 25,353 pounds (11,500 kilograms). Her four motors were of 260 horsepower each. They turned three direct-driven propellers, one in each of the port and starboard motor gondolas which hung from the sides of the ship. The third propeller was driven by two engines in the rear motor gondola. The propellers averaged from 1,300 to 1,400 revolutions a minute. The “=Bodensee=” was capable of making 80 miles an hour. Her cruising speed was 75 miles an hour. Carried Thirty Passengers At this pace she could carry thirty passengers comfortably. They were seated in a luxurious salon (Plate 41) built in the pilot car under the forward part of the Zeppelin. Nearby in the same car were a kitchen and lavatory. The “=Bodensee=” was maintained on the Friedrichshafen-Berlin route to experiment further in commercial air transport. While the “DELAG” did not attempt to make a profit, expenses were kept as low as possible and the prospects of monetary returns were generally favorable. One Hundred and Three Flights in Ninety-Eight Days From August 24th until December 1st, 1919, the “=Bodensee=” made 103 flights in 98 days; on several days making two flights, one a short sightseeing trip over Berlin in addition to her regular run. Seventy-eight flights were made between Lake Constance and Berlin and two between Berlin and Stockholm, eighty trips on schedule in ninety-eight days. There was no flying for ten days owing to general overhaul and repairs. On three occasions the regular flights were postponed because of heavy cross winds which made it difficult and dangerous to start the Zeppelin from the fixed shed of the airdrome at Staaken. This meant the loss of six trips. Two of the regular trips were omitted because of the flights to Sweden. [PLATE 52: 50,000 Cubic Meter Passenger Zeppelin. For medium distances and training purposes.] Nevertheless, in that period 2,380 passengers were carried, exclusive of crews, about 11,000 pounds (5,000 kilograms) of mail and 6,600 (300 kilograms) of express, freight and baggage. The “=Bodensee=” was in the air 533 hours, flying in all 32,300 miles (52,000 kilometers) an average of 62 miles an hour. Notwithstanding the many unforeseen difficulties due to uncertain political and economic conditions in Germany during the last quarter of 1919, the technical results of the “=Bodensee=” operations were excellent. The “Nordstern” a Sister Ship A sister ship of the “=Bodensee=” was built during the last quarter of 1919, and named the “=Nordstern=” but in December, that year, the Inter-Allied Air-Control Commission ordered the airship operations stopped. The “=Bodensee=” was delivered to Italy and the “=Nordstern=” to France in 1921.