The road to success was not a smooth one for Count von Zeppelin. This episode tells the story of his repeated attempts to put the Zeppelin enterprise on a firm foundation, to safeguard the future for his rigid airship invention. Even now he would have agonising false starts, with his second airship torn to pieces in a storm.  With the stunning success of his third airship, the LZ-3, and her larger successor, the LZ-4, the stage seemed set for the Count to meet the German government's audacious challenge - to complete a 24-hour endurance flight with the LZ-4, something no aircraft had yet achieved. But triumph was to turn to tragedy; LZ-4 would be destroyed in a devastating, fiery accident.  It all seemed to be over for the Count, but a nationwide upswell of popular support turned crushing defeat into overwhelming victory. This is the story of how the Zeppelin rose from the ashes.