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Post by dave mcqueen on Oct 26, 2009 3:35:07 GMT -5
I took a ride on Eureka, the Bay Area based Zeppelin (not a blimp) Sunday. My first time on an airship. Unbelievably outstanding! Eureka is the only commercial passenger carrying airship in the Western Hemisphere, so I'm told. Arriving to pick us up at Oakland International Airport
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2009 9:23:26 GMT -5
Outstanding! I bet you had the time of your life! Brian
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Oct 26, 2009 9:33:31 GMT -5
Now that would be fun. I used to watch the Goodyear blimps take off from the Torrance base (southern California). Those steep ascents and descents were amazing.
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Post by sunny9850 on Oct 26, 2009 21:49:06 GMT -5
Well last time I checked Germany is still part of the western Hemisphere, despite not falling in lockstep with every wild goose chase of the recent years (Sorry sometimes I just can't help myself) And since these modern Zeppelins are actually made right back in Friedrichshafen Germany it is not so surprising that the company has based one of their new ships right there to provide 30 minute and 60 minute flights over beautiful Lake Constance where Germany, Austria and Switzerland come together. Actually that is exactly what the Graf did when he started flying passengers with LZ-4 or 5. What better way to convince people of the quality of his ships than to let them fly in them. With unequaled safety record.......until LZ-129. Here are a few shots of the arrival at the airport. Unlike Zeppelin Ships of the past this one can theoretically be handled by the crew flying and 2 ground personnel even in 10-15kt winds. This is a reconstructed section of LZ-129 in the Zeppelin Museum located downtown at the harbor front. As for the blimp departures....I think it was last years Nascar race at Fontana, when the Santa Ana's coincided with the race weekend and the Goodyear ships based at KSBD or formerly Norton AFB took of into the 40 kt winds coming off the mountains and then struggled all morning to make the long 10-12 mile haul over to the track. I was up in the Saratoga and chatted a bit with the nice british gal in command of one of the blimps and offered her a tow rope....which she jokingly said she might have to resort to in order to make the start of the race ;D ;D The other blimp had tried to go downwind and then west over Riverside / Lake Mathews and then come back from the protected side over Cable / Upland but this was one of the rare Santa Ana's that covered even that area pretty well. It was in short a snails pace race to the race track......on the positive side once over the track they probably had the most stable camera position ever.
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Post by dave mcqueen on Oct 26, 2009 22:24:32 GMT -5
The "captain" was a British woman. They told me that there are only 3 of these in existence. The one here in California, the one in Germany and one in Japan. The one in Japan apparently is used for research, not excursions. This company flies to Long Beach once every 3 months and takes people up for rides. They also fly from Monterey down the coast over Big Sur, and from Moffett, offering tours of Silicon Valley and the 2 hour ride up to San Francisco and back - the one I had wanted to take but was canceled because of high winds. I opted to take the 1 hour flight from Oakland when I did because of the time of year --- our Indian Summer is about over with and the storms will be here soon. The Zeppelin was built in Germany, of course, then disassembled and put on a ship to Texas. From there it was reassembled and flown west to California. Its service ceiling is 10,000 feet, just high enough to cross the Rocky Mountain states without scraping bottom. The airship seats 12 passengers and they require that a flight have at least 6 passengers booked or they won't go. They say its for weight considerations but I'm sure there is some economic motive there too. High winds also will cause them to cancel a flight and low visibility --- ie fog. They said that when they fly to Monterey fog is frequently a problem and they have to hold over the Santa Clara Valley until it lifts -- they don't land at Monterey Peninsula Airport, rather at a field north of Monterey - not sure- maybe the old Fort Ord airport or perhaps just a vacant field convenient to them. Our flight was the last of the day and when we got off - two at a time - crewmen would board with lead weights to replace the weight of the passengers so that the airship would remain balanced. Tom, maybe someday they will come to San Diego since the weather is so nice down there -- when the fog lifts... I posted some additional pictures on a web site at: home.comcast.net/~earlofmarrs/zep.html
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Post by jesse on Oct 27, 2009 15:32:19 GMT -5
Dave, I really envy you. Ever since I was a young boy growing up in Tulsa, I have wanted to ride a Zepplin. I was just at the right age to appreciate them when they served in the U. S. Navy. I saw all of them except Shenandoah. I saw USS Los Angeles over Tulsa and Akron and Macon over Oklahoma City back in their prime. I think it would pay me to come out to California and book a flight before I get too much older. During the 60s when I was working in Germany, I used to spend a lot of time down on the Bodensee where they were built at Freidrichshafen...
Jesse
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Post by chris_c on Oct 27, 2009 17:52:02 GMT -5
Are Members aware of the classic LZ-129 Graf Zeppelin for FS9 by Lynn and Bill Lyons and available over at The Old Hanger Downloads page? www.theoldhangar.net/By many accounts this represents the best LTA model for FlightSim out there. Chris
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Post by sunny9850 on Oct 27, 2009 20:52:06 GMT -5
For the life of me I can't think of her name right now, but I do have her card at home somewhere. I think when I talked to her she was the only female Captain with Commercial Certificates for Blimps/Airships. A really classy gal and fun to talk to. After the race was over I buzzed on over to KSBD and watched the Blimps arrivals and she gave me a tour of her office and we talked for quite a while. Unfortunately when I was "home" in Germany this summer in Friedrichshafen all the flights for the day were sold out already. So I'll just have to fly up to the bay area one of these weekends and hitch a ride there.
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Post by dave mcqueen on Oct 27, 2009 21:04:05 GMT -5
The British captain signed my certificate of having made the flight but it is impossible to read her name And as I mentioned you are at the mercy of the weather and load factor as to whether they will fly or not. They also have an email notification service they provide that they send you when there is space available on a flight at relatively short notice ( a week or so) - those tickets are a half to two thirds off the regular price -- which are not very cheap -- so that makes it more affordable. The Zeppelin goes to Long Beach every 3 months - thats what their schedule says anyway. I'm not trying to be a commercial for them but if you want to see their flight calendar or for more info go to their web site at: www.airshipventures.com/ The calendar says they will be in Long Beach November 19 - 24.
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Post by dave mcqueen on Oct 28, 2009 15:00:04 GMT -5
Western Hemisphere Whatever. Lets just say that the Zeppelin in San Francisco is the only commercial airship in North/South America and let it go at that..........
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Post by sunny9850 on Oct 28, 2009 16:47:02 GMT -5
Kathatrine Board is her name....just looked at her card she gave me. I hope you know I was only joking about the whole Hemisphere's thing I think I would actually prefer the flight in the Bay Area....since I can fly over Long Beach just about any day in my plane. I'll check out their Website and see what fits best schedule wise and make a weekend out of it in the bay area, this way my airplane partners wife might want to go along as well. Stefan
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Post by dave mcqueen on Oct 28, 2009 19:04:48 GMT -5
They call you the night before the flight to let you know if they will be making the flight or not, based on weather or unforeseen problems. That way you don't make an unnecessary trip to the airfield.
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Post by jesse on Oct 28, 2009 20:00:59 GMT -5
I don't know if the program has changed or not, but when they first announced the Zepplins would be flying in the U.S., the plan was for three. One to be on the West coast and another to be based in Miami. The third ship was to be placed somewhere in the central U.S. About the time they made the announcement, the bottom fell out of the economy and that could make a world of difference.
Jesse
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Post by dave mcqueen on Oct 28, 2009 21:48:53 GMT -5
Yeah, the one out here is privately owned by a husband and wife and it cost $15 million.
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