Your challegne, if you choose to accept it, is to make zeppelins a real tool of travel and weapon of war, much moreso than OTL.
Go!
Go!
This has been a common topic on this board, one I have often contributed to, and may again if there is more interest from several of our other zeppelinophiles. But basically, it all boils down to creating a TL in which the development of heavier than air flight is retarded in comparison to rigid airships. For example, if one could delay the invention of airplanes until rigid airships reached a basic late 1920's level (USS Los Angeles, Graf Zeppelin, R-100, etc), and, better yet, after helium became widely available, airships would have already successfully filled the major niches (fleet scout, bomber, long range transport, etc) which in our TL were areas of competition between the airship and airplane from the beginning. Also, countries and businesses would have invested much in the infrastructure (fabrication sheds, gas plants, hangars) and operational know-how to create viable airship-related industries. Airplanes, when they were finally invented would be seen only as dangerous playthings for the rich.
This has been a common topic on this board, one I have often contributed to, and may again if there is more interest from several of our other zeppelinophiles. But basically, it all boils down to creating a TL in which the development of heavier than air flight is retarded in comparison to rigid airships. For example, if one could delay the invention of airplanes until rigid airships reached a basic late 1920's level (USS Los Angeles, Graf Zeppelin, R-100, etc), and, better yet, after helium became widely available, airships would have already successfully filled the major niches (fleet scout, bomber, long range transport, etc) which in our TL were areas of competition between the airship and airplane from the beginning. Also, countries and businesses would have invested much in the infrastructure (fabrication sheds, gas plants, hangars) and operational know-how to create viable airship-related industries. Airplanes, when they were finally invented would be seen only as dangerous playthings for the rich.
One method of retarding HTA flight would be for the Wright Brothers to suffer a serious accident during one of their early glider tests. Either a death of one of the brothers or simply a major financial loss could delay the development of the airplane for a few years.
The Wright Brothers were not the only ones experimenting with HTA - there were hundreds of inventors around the world. They were simply the first.