Photo: Daimler AG
It was 9:00 AM on 10 august 1888, 125 years ago. A new era of manned flight was about to begin right in the factory yard of the Daimler Motor Company (Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft).
Powered by a clattering four-stroke Daimler single-cylinder engine and piloted by Daimler employee, Gotthilf Wirsum, an airship started its maiden flight. It was the world's first engine-driven flight with an internal combustion engine powering the propeller.
Gottlieb Daimler's vision of using his engines on land, water and in the air had finally became a reality.
Some years later, engines made by Daimler and later on by Mercedes-Benz, equipped a good amount of Graf Zeppelin airships, establishing a saga of sky-conquering three-pointed star internal combustion engines that went on for decades.
Today, a true-to-original remake of the airship that was used for the world first feat is exhibited in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, forever recalling the 1888 gondola.
The original airship had a single-cylinder Daimler engine with a displacement if only 603 cc and a scooter-like power output of 2 hp (1.5 kW) at 720 rpm.
Gottlieb Daimler's vision of using his engines on land, water and in the air had finally became a reality.
Some years later, engines made by Daimler and later on by Mercedes-Benz, equipped a good amount of Graf Zeppelin airships, establishing a saga of sky-conquering three-pointed star internal combustion engines that went on for decades.
Today, a true-to-original remake of the airship that was used for the world first feat is exhibited in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, forever recalling the 1888 gondola.
The original airship had a single-cylinder Daimler engine with a displacement if only 603 cc and a scooter-like power output of 2 hp (1.5 kW) at 720 rpm.
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