Helium-filled Zeppelins have always been a great way to travel; you can cruise at slow speeds and low altitudes in a quiet, comfortable atmosphere, and they're energy-efficient to boot. The much-ballyhooed Hindenburg disaster in 1937 gave them a bad name, but that tragedy was solely due to a fatal decision to use flammable hydrogen in place of helium, which was unobtainable at the time. In any case, the technology used in newly-designed dirigibles has come a long way. They're smaller than the behemoths of yore, more maneuverable, and of course much modernized.
The Zeppelin NT touring ship launched this past weekend in Munich is as long as a Boeing 747, but only carries 12 passengers in its cabin at a time so you never feel cramped. Unlike a plane it has big picture windows, along with all the amenities. The Zeppelin cruises along at 1,000 ft., providing the perfect vantage point for viewing Germany's lovely landscape from the air. Various vacation packages are available, and there are plans to establish a similar service in other cities as well.
[via UrbanDaddy]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-29-2008 @ 4:12PM
Paul said...
You can't compare this to traveling on a true rigid Zeppelin like the Hindenburg. The Hindenburg carried 50 passengers and nearly as many crew. Those Zeppelins were designed for distance travel with meals being prepared and served on board and passenger cabins with beds. These new airships are somewhere between a blimp and a true dirigible, and appear to have a slightly larger than average gondola outfitted with airline seats. This seems more like a step toward airship travel, but they have a ways to go before you can truly compare the experience to the grand dirigibles of the thirties.
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4-29-2008 @ 8:07PM
Mac said...
It is generally accepted that it was the varnish on the skin which was responsible for the disastrous conflagration, not the use of hydrogen.
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5-13-2008 @ 9:16AM
John Christopher said...
It would have been nice if my photographs of the Zeppelin had been credited to me. You can see more at zeppelintours.com
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