The <i>Akron</i> and <i>Macon</i> may not have been copied from height climbers, but they were certainly <i>influenced</i> by them in the sense that the US didn&#x27;t know how to build anything else.<p>Regarding <i>Graf Zeppelin</i>, I have no idea how much Eckener&#x27;s judgement came into play.  But surely it must have braved a storm or two over that many miles.