Rail Zeppelin (Schienenzeppelin)

The European Train Enthusiasts had their EuroWest 2008 show at Hiller Aviation this weekend. This is a club that caters to Märklin, Roco, Trix, Fleischmann, and other european model train brands. Inside there were several modular layouts in HO and Meter Gauge, and outside the Bay Area Garden Railway Society had a G/1 Gauge modular layout.

Of course, what should catch my eye, but a table that had on display several versions of the Rail Zeppelin. Starting from the bottom of the picture, they are in Z (1:220), O (1:45 in Europe or 1:48 in the US), 1 (1:32) and HO (1:87) scale.

The Rail Zeppelin ("Schienenzeppelin" in German) was designed in the late 1920s, and ran for a few years in the early 1930s. It was a specially developed high-speed train borrowing from aviation design, and propelled by a rear mounted propeller. It was able to reach speeds of up to 230 km/h -- a record for gasoline powered rail vehicles which stands to this day. Only one was ever built.

Wild Brew Yonder -- Coming Friday June 20

Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California hosts a wonderful airshow called the "Vertical Challenge" each year. Wild Brew Yonder is the amazing pre-show event held the Friday night before. It combines the best our local micro-breweries have to offer with a not-to-be-missed night time helicopter airshow. As our resident helicopter pilot Dwayne would say, "anyone can fly a helicopter upside down... ONCE!". Well, the Red Bull team did it last year, and are coming back for more. Many of the Airship Ventures team will be there. If you attend the show, and recognize one of us, stop by and say "hi!"

The 1000ft High Club

I got a phonecall late last week from Hiller Aviation Museum where I’m a board member. There was an opportunity to go for a ride in Hiller’s beautifully restored 1945 DC3 on Saturday afternoon, an hour or so cruising around the Bay. Did we want to go? Next dumb question?!

We set off in the middle of the afternoon after warming up the engines and flew out of Hayward Airport into a blue sky with broken clouds. We headed across the Bay and went over the first range of hills into the valley where freeway 280 snakes past some wonderful scenery and reservoirs. The long line of Stanford Linear Accelerator provided a cool landmark, as did the radio dishes.
The coastline was clear of fog, providing wonderful views in the late afternoon sun. After exploring the miles of open space on the penninsula, dotted with houses the size of hotels, we came back in over Palo Alto and headed towards San Francisco, catching the sun on the skyscrapers and on the Golden Gate bridge.
A flight over the bridge (yay!) and Alcatraz, past Berkeley and down the East Bay, watching all the traffic backed up at the Toll Plaza, headed for an evening in San Francisco, soon bought the sightseeing to a close.
But it had been the closest views we have had yet to what the experience on the Zeppelin will be like. The altitude was about the same. We moved from small airplane window to window to find the best views - the Zeppelin has windows all around and there were times when people missed things due to the speed of flight. At about 30mph, we won't have that challenge with the airship. We can't wait!

Thank you to Steve and Barb Hiller for being such gracious hosts.