This fall, if our San Francisco Bay Area readers spot a zeppelin overhead, don’t worry — you haven’t been caught in a time warp. It will just mean that a startup called Airship Ventures has succeeded in bringing the zeppelin (an icon of 1930s aviation) back to the United States. The company just raised $8 million in a first round of funding.
Specifically, Airship Ventures plans to offer zeppelin rides out of Moffett Field. If the company follows through on its plans, it will bring the first zeppelin to Moffett Field since 1947. In a few months, Airship will operate a single Zeppelin NT based in Moffett’s Hangar 2, which was built by the Navy to house zeppelins in 1942.
The funding will allow Airship to actually complete the purchase of its first vehicle. Apparently, at 246 feet in length, the Zeppelin NT will be 50 feet longer than the largest blimp, and will hold up to 12 passengers. Similar airships are already operating safely in Japan and Germany, the company says.
Airship will offer its rides for “flightseeing” tours (yes, that’s what they call them), as well as media and science operations. Apparently, flights will be available for between $250 and $500, around the same price as a ride in a hot balloon.
The funding comes from six individuals, including noted tech commentator Esther Dyson. On her blog, Dyson praised the company a year ago as “an absolutely fantastic idea, both in the positive sense and as in ‘pure fantasy’.”
Airship is led by the wife-and-husband team of Alexandra and Brian Hall. Alexandra Hall was previously the head of the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, Calif.
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Reprinted with permission from VentureBeat. Story copyright 2008 VentureBeat Inc. All rights reserved.
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Comments
Led Zeppelin dude!
Who made that great graphic?
Where are the conceptual design diagrams and renderings?
There are two already flying in the world in Germany and Japan. Why do you need concept drawings? There are plenty of photos of the Zeppelin our there.
OK, Airlines are canceling flights, reducing schedules, Dropping Cities, Laying off Employees and Rising Ticket Fairs all because of High Fuel prices and the enormmance amounts needed to FLY! There is an Answer.
Eddie Rickenbacker, W.W.I. Flying Ace and President of TWA knew it.
Testified in front of Congress in Support of the idea.
Charles Lindsburg knew it and spoke glowingly about it.
Dr. Hugo Ekner knew it and spent the last half of his life promoting it.
Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin knew it and spent most of his life dreaming of it, developing it promoting it.
What is the Answer to Affordable, Safe Air Travel?
The Zeppelin or Dirigible Airship.
The Zeppelin Company never forgot its Airships and has continued to design and develop them till a day came when the World realized it was the correct answer to Air flight.
Eddie Rickenbacker as president of TWA, testified in front of congress in 1947 to the superiority of Zeppelins for Air Transportation, Both passenger and Fright. Un-beatable for Safety and efficacy for transporting a ton of cargo per mile.
With the New High cost of Fuel make Winged Flight un-affordable, should we not re-examine this?
The Dirigible Airship, the Air Transport of the Future.
Curtis.
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