The Zeppelin flies again

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CNET: Photos: The zeppelin flies again

Headed for San Francisco tourist-industry duty: $500 for 1-hour flight.

Way back in the 1980s, I took one of those touristy helicopter rides over the San Francisco waterfront; very cool, in its way, but also very noisy. About 8 or 9 years ago, my wife and I flew in a glider over Napa Valley; that was breathtaking, but very cramped.

The next time I'm up for that sort of aerial adventure in the Bay Area and its environs, there'll be a new option for me to consider: a zeppelin. Within days, a company called Airship Ventures will have its namesake aircraft set up at its new home at Moffett Field in Mountain View and will start running "flightseeing" excursions; by sometime in November, it also plans to get Oakland International and Sonoma County Airport involved, although just with the one zeppelin.

San Jose Mercury News: Zeppelin on it's way to Moffett [Airfield, near NASA, Google]

Los Gatos-based Airship Ventures plans to start flying passengers in its 246-foot Zeppelin based at Moffett Field, starting in late October.

The helium-filled airship, built by Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH, was transported via container ship from Hamburg, Germany, to Beaumont, Texas. The airship is flying over New Mexico and Arizona and will make its way up the California coast. It is expected to arrive Saturday, a spokesperson said today.

[PeteG]

Brilliant.

Airships aren't dead yet! Take a look at the Lockheed-Martin P791.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=W3n5cUaG5fg

[PraedSt]

Hey, nice. I have a soft spot for airships. I'm rooting for JP Aerospace

[NEOWatcher]

I'd like to know how they can compare a semi-rigid airship to a squid... And how do you get a 1.2 passenger capacity out of a giant squid?

I can't find the answer on airship ventures site.

[Noclevername]

For bulk items that are not time-sensitive, it makes sense. Logging industries already are starting to rediscover the airship as a means of travel, now that floating rafts of logs down major rivers is no longer viable in most places due to the danger to boat traffic. And because airship docks are not as geography-sensitive as water docks, I think we'll see more of them in the future.