Portable Eclipse

Effluvia

I went for a nice bike ride today, and was shadowed for a little bit of the way by a zeppelin (or airship as they would rather it be called.) It’s strange to have a fast moving shadow go over you. I got to watch the airship do some rings around the airport area, and was a little surprised how fast it was moving. It was very cool to watch, and made me really want to go on one of their trips. After all, how many people do you really think have been on an airship? I bet the number is less than 2,000 people alive today. That would put you in pretty select company. Plus, the view of San Francisco must be amazing from up there. Super cool, but probably not $500 for one hour cool. At least until I have a job… Pics after the break.

blimp-008

And here’s one I got of the zeppelin as it flew right over me, blotting out the sun. Not bad pics considering I took them on my iPhone.

blimp-011

Your trivia for lasting all the way to the end of this post is that the difference between a blimp and a zeppelin is that the blimp is literally just a balloon, whereas the zeppelin has a metal structure or frame around it, and is suitable for longer travel.

Last 5 posts by Ezra

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Bruce  •  Mar 21, 2009 @2:34 am

    I rode in a blimp once. My wife and I won the joyride in a raffle at her employer’s ball.

    Not for the easily travel sick. Things are constantly moving including when boarding and it took a bit of agility just to get into the thing. I was also a little freaked out that there was no control yoke in front of the pilot. He had a wheel at side to control pitch and used the rudder for yaw. There is, of course, no ability to roll. At least not deliberately – the thing rolls about all the time and as the centre of mass is a couple of metres above your head it is a bit like being in a large swing as it wallows about a bit.

  2. Tyler Nixon  •  Mar 21, 2009 @6:59 am

    Nice post. I did some work in the re-emerging airship industry from 2000-01 (9/11 pretty much brought collapse of most venutres).

    These vehicles still do and will only have more utility in the future. The military has gotten into the act (since 9/11) which, for better or worse, is always a boon to an industry and its technology development. Were it not for the U.S. Navy there would have been none but German airships in the U.S. in the 20′s and 30′s.

    Just to clarify, zeppelin became shorthand for ‘rigid airships’, specifically the giant ones of yore. The name derives from the originator and principal manufacturer/developer of rigid airships : the Zeppelin Airship Company in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Zeppelin has continuously remained in existence since being founded nearly 100 years and has been back in business making new airships since 1999.

    They are actually the manufacturer of the airship you saw, which has a rigid framework (though nothing as elaborate or intricate as the giant rigid airships the company once produced.)

    So you were correct right off the bat in thinking you were seeing a Zeppelin, if not a ‘zeppelin’ of the more common parlance.

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