Zeppelin

We took the zeppelin ride out of Moffett Field, Mountain View, California, from 1 to 3 pm. We went with John & Mischel Postas, bridge friends. This side of the zeppelin was rented for ad space. “23andMe” sells a home DNA test kit.

Zeppelin rolled out of Hangar 2 for our flight

Unlike a blimp, which can be folded and shipped on a truck, to move a zeppelin a large distance it has to fly, and needs mast trucks at both ends. Zeppelins have rigid metal skeletons, with balloons inside to hold the helium. Blimps, on the other hand, are simply shaped balloons with fins and an engine. A dirigible is any lighter-than-air craft that has an engine and a rudder and that can be made to go against the wind. So zeppelins and blimps are both dirigibles.

There are three of these modern zeppelins, one each in the U.S., Japan and Germany, all made in Germany. This one’s only a year or so old; its real name is “Eureka”.

The landing gear consists of two wheels, fore and aft, not retractable. The steps are removable. Getting on and off the zeppelin was tricky because it moves around depending on wind direction and speed. So you kind of have to time it like getting on a rocking boat..

Left Propeller Rotated Up for Liftoff

It has three 4-cylinder engines, one on each side and one on the tail. The big deal is the gearbox, which allows at least the side propellers to be rotated up to control elevation or forward to control speed. The propeller pitch can be changed to create lift or down force.

Zeppelin Springs a Leak!

As the crew removes the steps, I notice a big puddle of liquid on the tarmac. They had added ballast (water) while it was parked in the hangar. When we got on, they dumped ballast to get neutral buoyancy again. The pilot just has a handle on the floor labeled “Water”. After the ballast is dumped the pilot must control the airship with the propeller pitch.


Barbara and Steve	Mischel and John
The ship has radar and radio, and GPS, and leather seats but no cupholders or fold-down trays.

Flight Deck

Our pilot (the only female qualified to fly a Zeppelin) and the co-pilot are both on TDY from Germany. The Zepplin flew about 35 mph at between 1000 and 1500 feet. The only noise was from the engines.

We expected to head south for Los Gatos, then up the hills to Stanford, but after a few minutes the pilot announced that we were cleared to fly up to San Francisco, and we turned north.

Mountain View: Highway 101 and Highway 85 Interchange

Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View

Stanford Campus

The road in the foreground is El Camino Real. The new stadium is on the near right.

The one tall building is Hoover Tower, home of “The Hoover Institute on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University”, a right-wing think tank on a left-wing campus. The name is notable because everything else (the graduate schools, the golf course, you name it) is “The Stanford this or that”.


Stanford: Palm Drive

Oracle HQ

Bay Meadows Horse Racetrack is no more


San Francisco Airport

San Francisco Bay: Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco Bay: Angel Island

San Francisco Bay: copilot; Treasure Island

San Francisco Bay: Bay Bridge

San Francisco Bay: Bay Bridge

This is the part they replaced over Labor Day weekend, to reroute traffic

The landing was interesting. There was no truck with a boom to catch us and hold us down. I wondered how she was going to loose altitude without the water ballast or releasing helium gas. She rotated the engines so that they pushed us down. Then she used the throttles and joystick to maintain a stationary position on the ground. But, it's not easy. Even a little wind will cause the airship to move. This is why getting on and off the stairs is tricky.

Disembarkation

In order to maintain a even weight distribution they made us get off two at a time while two new passengers got on. Our pilot must have been pretty good because the ship didn’t move much while we were getting off.


End of a Great Trip with Good Friends
We had to wait as a group right next to the ship as it took off for the next flight.

Departure for the Next Group of Passengers

Looks like the tail engine has two propellers, at right angles