Checking the Warp Core

From Chief Inspector Matthew Kilkerr:
"[During an inspection of] the main fitting between the aft landing gear and the internal structure ... to help double check ... we used Magnaflux Zyglo and black light."

And it ended up looking like something straight out of Star Trek™!

Zeppelin on a String

It wasn't quite a sighting, but I actually did a double take when I glanced in the window of this print shop in my neighborhood in San Francisco and spotted Eureka hanging in the front display in diorama form. Not a bad likeness!

Empty Hangar Syndrome

With the Zeppelin in LA for Memorial Day weekend, we're missing her (and the away team) back here at Moffett Field. Looks like she's making quite a splash, though... here's a warm radio welcome from LA!

Romance on the High Skies

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)

Pilot in the making

One of the pleasures of hanging out in the passenger facilities at Friedrichshafen was getting to find out why people were traveling. I soon discovered that the people enjoying an ice cream, beer or the sunshine were not always passengers or their relatives. On one visit I sat at a table that included a charismatic two year old and his father. The boy was a big Zeppelin fan, and almost every weekend he came to eat ice cream and watch the ship landing and taking off. It struck me that this little boy was lucky for he lived in one of the only places in the world where a child could be regularly inspired by these beautiful aircraft and he could tell his teacher that he wished to be a Zeppelin pilot without being laughed at. I hope he never loses his enthusiasm, and that it won't be too long before he gets to fly.

Field Trip!

Some of the Airship Ventures team are off to Germany this weekend for an intensive week in Friedrichshafen at Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik. We'll be posting at least once a day, and we're aiming to include some video and plenty of pictures. If there's anything Zeppelin related you want to make sure we take a picture of, contact us through our website and we'll do our best!

Cheers!

"I think there was once a blimp city brewery" said Scott, the Zeppelin pilot and airship operations consultant we’ve been spending time with. Suitably inspired, I went a-googlin’. Indeed, Blimp City Brewery once existed in Akron Ohio, but alas it is no more. You can find reviews on ratebeer.com and it seems to have produced some good beverages, but unless you find a supply somewhere, your chances of tasting it are somewhat slim.

Still in business however is the Tustin Brewing Company, and they make Blimp Hangar Porter.

But if beer is not your tipple, then perhaps you should explore Red Zeppelin wines. While we don't like their logo (we hope after we get flying the wine country and people see how safe our Zeppelin is that they might rethink), we do like the logo for one of their red wines and we really laughed at this cool picture of 'Bread Zeppelin'. We hope that they'll forgive us for putting it here and directing a little traffic to their site...

Luftschiff Log Entry One.

I assume that you're here because you are curious.........
possibly even slightly passionate......... about airships.
So are we.
We want one.
Enough to work out how to get one.

And we want to let people see the world from a few hundred feet above the ground. Quietly and in quality surroundings. Without being shaken around like in a helicopter, and with accurate control where you go (unlike a balloon). (Oh, and in relation to the latter mode of transportation, without having to get up at the crack of dawn as we're really not morning people.)

So we've embarked upon a journey where every day we encounter another unique circumstance, another quirky idea or thought, a new inspiration or person and of course, another piece of red tape.

We like red tape because we'll eventually BE the scissors. And we'll cut through it, drink the champagne, and say 'luftschiff hoch!'

But until that time we thought it would be fun to chronicle all these unique things that will make our journey memorable. We hope you'll enjoy it with us, and be ready to buy your ticket when we launch.