Zeppelins Still Floating After All These Years
By Grace Palsgrove, Editor
The AAA Touch

Zeppelins - which many refer to as blimps - seem only catchy with a tire advertisement on it at sporting events. But Zeppelins (named after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was persistent in their success) in their heyday were luxurious, slow-moving flying machines that the European elite used for entertainment. Not unlike our cruise ships today, they had dining rooms with gourmet meals served on fine china, cabins for the passengers with private baths, cocktail lounges and the like. But after the dreadful Hindenburg crash in 1937 and the introduction of much quicker commercial jet airplanes, they simply stopped flying in 1940.

Well, it seems, the Zeppelin is making comeback - a slow one. Herta Crull, a retired AAA Central Penn travel agent, who specialized in international travel, and Zeppelin aficionada, is thrilled to see the comeback and had a client take a Zeppelin ride while visiting Germany. Since 1991, actually, a company in Friedrichshafen, the Zeppelin’s home base, has offered short tourist rides on the Zeppelin NT (for new technology). These flights range from a half hour to an hour and a half and give an over-the-top view of Munich, Mainz, Cologne, Zurich and other small towns in between. The prices start at close to $300. For those who want to experience something different, rides in the Zeppelin are available from March through September. Now the new technology has added safety features like non-flammable helium to fill the airship. Passengers sit comfortably in the cabin and it has a capacity for 14. Unfortunately it is not handicapped accessible. Children under 2 are also not permitted onboard. And weather is a big factor. The airship cannot fly during heavy wind, fog and thunderstorms.

Although these airship flights are used primarily for amusement, Herta is fascinated with the Zeppelin’s past. They flew before planes, she explained, and around the world, over the Antarctic. "It’s interesting that this was the upscale mode of transportation," she said.

The German native is not only well versed in the subject, but she also has an extensive collection of postcards that chronicle the strides of dirigible transportation and the fascination with them. Pictures show them floating only a few feet from the tops of buildings, which make them great for sightseeing.

But airships - blimps, helium-filled balloons, and dirigibles, helium-filled balloons with an inner skeleton to make it sturdy and able to hold more weight - are being used for services including filming sporting events and other commercial video, surveillance and for meteorology research. They are quiet and environmentally friendly.

So what are the chances that they become a mode of transportation for the mainstream or even the elite?

Well the aircraft manufacturing company, Aeros Corp. of Montebello, Calif., is working on the Aeroscraft ML866. The craft will be the length of two football fields and will very much resemble a flying cruise ship. Aeros definitely is marketing this as a new, more comfortable way to fly, but it seems to be leaning toward corporate transportation, as a flying office building or even huge cargo transporter for this flying machine. The new airship is flown with a combination of helium lift and engine-powered propellers, which makes take off and landing quicker than controlling the gas only. The highest altitude is much lower than a commercial airplane, so there is no need to control cabin pressure. The takeoff and landing is vertical, so it can land almost anywhere, even in the most remote parts of the world. Completion and testing of the airship is slated for 2010.

Count Zeppelin was persevering through countless trials and errors to invent the first airship. We may have to be a little more patient before we see them regularly flying overhead.

This postcard, which is part of Herta Crull’s collection shows the magnitude of the Zeppelin.
They take a lot of space on the ground, but with vertical take off and landing capabilities
can use any airport or land in remote areas.