Here's a clip shot from aboard the Zeppelin on a flight in the Netherlands between Valkenburg, Katwijk, Scheveningen, and Den Haag that features some great footage of:
-A teeny-tiny horse and rider on the beach (~ 2:17 in)
-A regular-sized, and very sweet marriage proposal (knee hits deck at 2:37)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Together in Europe
The Airship Ventures crew have been in both England and Friedrichshafen for their training and have now all met up in Rotterdam to work together for the next couple of weeks. Then they will return to the US to prepare for the airship arrival and transit.Technical Manager/Inspector, Matt, sent us this snapshot of the first get together (off duty of course). Missing from this gathering because they're at Moffett helping with preparations, are Don and Matt. (both ground crew, yes, we have three people called Matt!)
Left to Right (GC= ground crewman).
Jas (GC), Matt (GC), Wilton (GC), Kevin (GC), Scott (Chief Pilot), Jeremy (A&P mech), Kate (Pilot), Evaldez (GC), Matt (Technical Manager), Will (A&P mech)
We were really astounded at the quality of people that came forward when we started to built our flight operations team. Every one of our crew has an accomplished background in various fields and they are all great characters. I can't tell you how excited we all are at the prospect of getting this fabulous group of people together with the rest of the company who are all at Moffett. I guess I should post a picture of the Moffett Gang next for completeness.
Friday, August 29, 2008
The Stage is Set
The ship arrives at Valkenburg, The Netherlands after a historic 4-day/4 country passenger tour, and the guests aboard will soon be treated to a performance of the musical/performance art show "Hugu Eckener - My Zeppelin" by Martin Weber.
Building 20 - Coming Soon!
We drove by building 20 on the way out last night and noticed our new sign. Renovations start early September. We can't wait to move in!
Back in Europe
The tracker confirms it and we hear reports that the Zeppelin left Cardington around 7.15am BST, and arrived in Brussels around 14.30pm BST. It was carrying passengers on the flight and was met by customs on arrival!This tool is going to be fun for watching the progress of the airship when it crosses the Atlantic. More news soon.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
New Clothes..
#4 was showing off her new branding to the press in the UK today. Here are a few pictures that were taken on Sunday while the decals were being finished.The brands are Rabobank, Aerwin Technologies (who are arranging the tours), the Port of Rotterdam, with their
Wereld Haven Dagen (World Harbor Festival) that the airship will be attending on the 5-7 September in Rotterdam, and Taigle International. Its well worth a visit to the latter website as they have a cute Zeppelin animation on their homepage!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Zeppelin Finder
As previously posted, we're working on a live tracking feature for the Zeppelin. It recorded the trip up from London to Cardington nicely. But the best part was switching over to the satellite imagery after zooming all the way in. Never again will we forget where we parked!
My ship sailed from China (err, Florida)
But not with a cargo of tea. (obscure girl scout song reference there)
Combi Lift 1 is an amazing vessel, new this year. She'll be transporting the Zeppelin across the Atlantic. We're obviously following her last few stops with an eagle eye so that we can better estimate the likely time of departure from Europe.
Her current cargo is over 200 yellow school buses that were picked up from Florida and are on their way to Angola!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Toilet Face
There hadn't been time to properly finish the outside of the toilet cubicle before the airship left Friedrichshafen, so it is being done while the airship is in Cardington. Airship Ventures chief Engineer, Matt, sent us this happy toilet face. You can see the toilet installed here.
Antiques Roadshow?
When you need an extra workbench, you need to use whatever is to hand (and has been abandoned in an old airship hangar).
New Branding
Josef from airborne grafix busy with removing Stella Artois and putting the new brands on the airship.
Maintenance Checks
While on tour, the airship maintenance team use mobile service platforms that are hoisted up underneath the engines to enable them to conduct inspections etc. 
Here are two views, one with engineer Frank on the platform for some scale! Pictures by Peter A and Matt K.
Pick One
The historic Mercedes and the newest Mast Truck, the MAN, together in Cardington. Picture by Peter A.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Exterminate, exterminate!
I took a picture of this because I thought it looked cool. Now I think it looks like a Dalek.
Some air type friends for No. 4
The Ship is sharing the hangar with a Skyship and a Skykitten (I think). The kitten is the small one and No. 4 is closest to the door. Here they are getting to know each other.
