affairs he realised the shortcomings of the existing methods of
scouting and reconnoitring. He appreciated more than any other
man of the day perhaps, that if the commander-in-chief of an army
were provided with facilities for gazing down upon the scene of
operations, and were able to take advantage of all the
information accruing to the man above who sees all, he would
hold a superior position, and be able to dispose his forces and
to arrange his plan of campaign to the most decisive advantage.
In other words, Zeppelin conceived and developed his airship for
one field of application and that alone-military operations.
Although it has achieved certain successes in other directions
these have been subsidiary to the primary intention, and have
merely served to emphasise its military value.

Von Zeppelin was handicapped in his line of thought and
investigation from the very first. He dreamed big things upon a
big scale. The colossal always makes a peculiar and irresistible
appeal to the Teutonic nature. So he contemplated the perfection
of a big dirigible, eclipsing in every respect anything ever
attempted or likely to be attempted by rival countries.
Unfortunately, the realisation of the "colossal" entails an
equally colossal financial reserve, and the creator of this form
of airship for years suffered from financial cramp in its worst
manifestation. Probably it was to the benefit of the world at
large that Fortune played him such sorry tricks. It retarded the
growth of German ambitions in one direction very effectively.

As is well known Zeppelin evolved what may be termed an
individual line of thought in connection with his airship
activities. He adopted what is known as the indeformable