If you have been reading the Blog for a while you will know that Festo is not a stranger to this Blog. They have been making the news pretty regularly every year with their Bionic Learning Networks flying animals which they develop as eye catchers for the Hannover Messe each year. After the flying manta ray called Air_ray in 2007 and the flying jellyfish called AirJelly in 2008 this year it's penguins and you guessed it they are appropriately named AirPenguin. The Air_ray did make it onto YouTube a while after it was presented at the Hannover Messe, the AirJelly was uploaded by Airshipworld to YouTube directly when it was published on Festos website, the result was that the AirJelly got a tremendous publicity all over the web with over 380.000 views of it's video. This year Festo decided to start their own YouTube Channel called FestoHQ and they added all the Videos of the things that they will be presenting at the Hanover Messe 2009 which starts tomorrow April 20th 2009. So here you go watch the graceful AirPenguins fly, and also watch the second video with some more of Festos projects that they will be presenting, the second Video also contains an explanation of the AirPenguins. Unfortunately Festo disabled the embedding of the videos which is a shame. If you aren't into the videos to much, just below we have added the whitepaper that you can get from Festo which explains the Airpenguins technology, its an interesting read especially for those building small remote conrtolled airships themself.
AirPenguin A group of autonomously flying penguins Info Flying through the sea of air with collective behaviour AirPenguin – technology-bearers for adaptive flapping-wing mechanisms The AirPenguin is an autonomously flying object that comes close to its natural archetype in terms of agility and manoeuvrability. It comprises a helium-filled ballonett, which has a capacity of approx. 1 cubic metre and thus generates approx. 1 kg of buoyant force; at each end of the ballonett is a pyramid-shaped flexible structure of four carbon fibre rods, which are connected at joints by a series of rings spaced approx. 10 cm apart. The rings together with the carbon fibre rods yield a 3D Fin Ray ® structure that can be freely moved in any spatial direction. The Fin Ray ® structure was derived from the anatomy of a fish’s fin and extended here for the first time to applications in three-dimensional space. Each pair of spatially opposed carbon fibre rods is connected via bowden wires and a double pulley, and can be extended and retracted in contrary motion by means of an actuator. This gives rise to rotation free of play both at the tip of the AirPenguin’s nose and at the end of its tail. By superimposing two perpendicular planes of rotation, any desired spatial orientation can be realised. A strut to which the two wings are attached passes through the helium-filled ballonett. This new type of wing design can produce either forward or reverse thrust. Each wing is controlled by two actuators: a flapping actuator for the up-and-down movement of the wings, and a further unit that displaces the wing strut to alter the pressure point of the wings. There is also a central rotational actuator for the two flapping wings that directs their thrust upwards or downwards, thus making the AirPenguins rise or descend. All three actuators are proportionally controlled. This makes for continuously variable control of the flapping frequency, forward and reverse motion, and ascent and descent. Penguins are fascinating creatures which have lost their ability to fly in the course of their phylogenetic development as marine birds. With the AirPenguins, the engineers have created artificial penguins and taught them “autonomous flight in the sea of air”. The knowledge acquired from this research project of Festo’s Bionic Learning Network is to be put to use for future requirements in the automation of production processes. The entire wing complex comprises a strut with flat flexible wings of extruded polyurethane foam. The wing strut, which is supported at the pivot point of the torso, can be moved either towards the front or rear edge of the wing. Displacing the strut towards the front, for example, causes the wing’s pressure point to migrate forwards. The pressure of the airstream bends the cross-section of the wing in such a way as to produce a profile that generates forward thrust. If the wing strut is moved towards the rear edge of the wing, the pressure point is likewise moved to the rear, and the AirPenguin flies backwards. With this design a self-regulating, wing pressure-controlled, passively twisting adaptive wing has been realised for the first time. 2 Rear section with 3D Fin Ray ® structure AirPenguin – autonomous self-regulating systems with collective behaviour The AirPenguins are also equipped with complex navigation and communication facilities that allow them to explore their “sea of air” on their own initiative, either autonomously or in accordance with fixed rules. The underlying project: A group of three autonomously flying penguins hovers freely through a defined air space that is monitored by invisible ultrasound “transmitting stations”. The penguins can move freely within this space; a microcontroller gives them free will in order to explore it. The microcontroller also controls a total of nine digital actuators for the wings and for the head and tail sections. By means of XBee, based on ZigBee, large volumes of data can be transmitted between the penguins and the transmitting stations by 2.4-GHz band radio. The penguins recognise each other on the basis of their distances to the transmitting stations. The rapid, precise control allows the AirPenguins to fly in a group without colliding, while also mastering height control and positional stability. As an alternative, they can act synchronously as a group. A comprehensive central surveillance system provides security in case of sensor failure and reports low energy supply. Whenever necessary, it prompts the penguins to return to the charging station. Technology-bearers for the automation technology of tomorrow If the 3D Fin Ray ® structure of the head and tail sections is transferred to the requirements of automation technology, it can be used for instance in a flexible tripod with a very large scope of operation in comparison with conventional tripods. Fitted with electric drive mechanisms, the BionicTripod from Festo for example makes for precise, rapid movements, just like the AirPenguin. Autonomous, versatile, adaptive self-regulating processes will acquire increasing significance in future for automation in production. The animal kingdom can provide insights here which, when implemented by resourceful engineers, lead to astounding new applications. The ongoing development of sensor and control technology is thus also being promoted along the road to decentralised, autonomously self-controlling and self-organising systems thanks to inspiration from nature. The transfer to automation technology is also to be found by analogy in regulating technology from Festo, for example in the new VPPM and VPWP proportional-pressure regulators for servo-pneumatics. 3 Technical data Overall length: Max. torso diameter: Helium volume: Wing span: Weight: Control of wings, head and tail segments: Materials Buoyancy body: Head and tail segments: Wings: Wing strut: Accumulator battery for wing drive and torso orientation: Receiver sensors: 3.70 m 0.88 m 0.980 cbm 2.48 m 1.0 kg 9 digital actuators, range 180° aluminium-metallised foil, 22 g/qm 3D Fin Ray Effect ® structure of carbon-fibre rods extruded polyurethane foam carbon-fibre rod Project partners Project initiator: Dr. Wilfried Stoll, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Festo AG Project manager: Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Markus Fischer, Corporate Design, Festo AG & Co. KG AirPenguin concept and realisation: Rainer and Günther Mugrauer, Clemens Gebert Effekt-Technik GmbH, Schlaitdorf, Germany Autonomous control concept and realisation: Dipl.-Ing. Agalya Nagarathinam, Dipl.-Ing. Kristof Jebens Ingenieurbüro Jebens & Nagarathinam GbR, Gärtringen, Germany Photos: Walter Fogel, Angelbachtal, Germany Graphic design: Atelier Frank, Berlin, Germany Li-Po battery, 2000 mAh, 4.2 V 32-bit microcontroller @ 50 MHz MCU 2x LM3S811 64 kbyte flash, 8 kbyte RAM SCP 1000 pressure sensor ultrasound receiver capsules Altitude measurement: Distance measurement: Measurement of rotation rate about vertical axis: Lisy 300-AL gyroscope Directional and positional sensors: positionally compensated 3-axis compass with accelerometer Temperature measurement: temperature sensor 2.4 GHz radio transmission: based on ZigBee Current and voltage monitoring for Li-Po cell Overvoltage protection: DS2764 Li-Po protector Charging controller for Li-Po cell: Max1555 charging controller Accumulator battery: Li-Po battery, 2000 mAh, 4.2 V Base stations/ transmitting stations: Altitude measurement: Distance measurement: Temperature measurement: 2.4 GHz radio transmission: Current and voltage monitoring for Li-Po cell Overvoltage protection: Charging controller for Li-Po cell: Energy reserve for approx. 50 h continuous operation: Brands: 32-bit microcontroller @ 50 MHz MCU LM3S811 64 kbyte flash, 8 kbyte RAM SCP 1000 pressure sensor ultrasound transmitters temperature sensor based on ZigBee Festo AG & Co. KG Corporate Design Plieninger Straße 50 73760 Ostfildern Germany www.festo.com/bionic Phone +49 711/347- 38 80 Fax +49 711/347- 38 99 fish@ de.festo.com DS2764 Li-Po protector Max1555 charging controller Li-Po battery, 2000 mAh, 4.2 V Fin Ray Effect ® is a brand of EvoLogics GmbH, Berlin, Germany 54709/EN
I don't want to leave you completely without videos so here the Air_ray and the AirJelly videos from 2007 and 2008.
A few hours ago we updated you on the progress of the Zeppelin NT and that Airshipventures will fly it in the US. We just got a press release form Zeppelin giving us more information and also answering the question if the Zeppelin will be shipped or flown to the US. The answer is it will be shipped. Since the press release is available only in German, you can read it attached at the end of the post I will try to translate as much as possible for our non German speaking readers. So this is my personal translation of the press release this is not an official translation
Fourth Zeppelin NT will fly in the USA
Friedrichshafen, California USA, 9. May 2008. The fourth Zeppelin NT will fly in the USA. ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co KG and Airship Ventures have signed the contract fo rthe Zeppelin NT 07. Basis is the successful closing of the Series A Preferred Stock financing by Airship Ventures in San Francisco. The Airship is planned to be shipped to the USA in September 2008
A total of 6 investors have signed a total of 8 Mio. US$. The Zeppelin airships are returning to the USA after 70 years. A Zeppelin from Lake Constance above the Golden Gate Bridge - a dream comes true. "We are very happy about the signing of the contract", says Thomas Brandt, CEO of ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co KG. Michael Schieschke, COO of ZLT notes "After Europe and Asia, North America will be the third continent on which the Zeppelin NT will fly."
The Zeppelin NT will be transported to the USA on a dock ship in September. The largest semi rigid airship in the world and part of it's crew will spend around 16 days at see. Until the Zeppelin NT is shipped it will fly in Europe. Negotiations with partners and customers are in the final stages. The exact locations can not be announced yet. The negotiations comprise the Benelux (Low) countries as well as Great Britain. In the meantime Airship Ventures is ramping up their operations in the USA. The Zeppelin NT will offer exclusive passenger flight in San Francisco and will be used for advertising and scientific missions.
The Zeppelin NT airship is used commercially since August 2001, since then it flew more than 13.500 hours, carried more than 75.000 passengers and flew numerous special missions.
Zeppelin Contact Michael Schieschke COO +49-7541-5900-539
Airship Ventures Contact: Alexandra Hall CEO pr at airshipventures dot com +1-408-317-4310
If you want to check out how it will look when the Zeppelin NT is shipped check out the pictures of the Zeppelin NT getting shipped to Africa and Japan. You can also check out the website of Dockwise where they talk about the project of getting the Zeppelin to Japan. Hotair.nl also has a gallery with many pictures of the Zeppelin NT being shipped to Africa for the Africa shipping Dockwise was also used so we can only assume that they will be used again to transport the Zeppelin to the US. Here is a link to the Press release of Dockwise when they shipped the Zeppelin NT to Africa. It is attached after the Zeppelin press release at the bottom of the post.
PRESSEMITTEILUNG Vierter Zeppelin NT geht in die USA Friedrichshafen, Kalifornien USA, 9. Mai 2008 – Der vierte Zeppelin NT geht in die USA. ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co KG und Airship Ventures haben den Vertrag für den Zeppelin NT 07 unterzeichnet. Grundlage ist die erfolgreiche Zeichnung des Eigenkapitals von Airship Ventures in San Francisco. Das Luftschiff soll planmäßig in September 2008 in die USA verschifft werden. Insgesamt 6 Investoren haben bei Airship Ventures insgesamt 8 Mio US$ gezeichnet. Nach 70 Jahren kehren die Zeppelin Luftschiffe in die USA zurück. Ein Zeppelin NT vom Bodensee über der Golden Gate Bridge - ein Traum, der wahr wird. „Wir freuen uns sehr über die Vertragsunterzeichnung“, so Thomas Brandt, Geschäftsführer der ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co KG, und Michael Schieschke, COO der ZLT, bemerkt “Nach Europa und Asien folgt nun mit Nord Amerika der dritte Kontinent auf dem der Zeppelin NT seine Kreise ziehen wird.“ Im September wird der Zeppelin NT mit einem Dockschiff in die USA transportiert. Ungefähr 15 Tage verbringt das weltweit größte halbstarre Luftschiff und ein Teil seiner Mannschaft auf See. Bis zur Verschiffung wird der Zeppelin NT in Europa betrieben. Die Verhandlungen mit Partnern und Kunden laufen in der Endphase. Die genauen Einsatzorte können noch nicht bekanntgegeben werden. In Verhandlung sind Orte in den Benelux Ländern sowie in Groß Britannien. Gleichzeitig baut Airship Ventures seinen Betrieb in den USA auf. Der Zeppelin NT wird in San Francisco für exklusive Passagierrundflüge, Werbeeinsätze und wissenschaftliche Sondermissionen eingesetzt werden. Zeppelin NT Luftschiffe sind seit August 2001 im kommerziellen Betrieb und haben seither über 13.500 Flugstunden und mehr als 75.000 Passagiere befördert, sowie zahlreiche Spezialeinsätze durchgeführt. ZLT ZEPPELIN LUFTSCHIFFTECHNIK GMBH & CO KG ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co KG, hat ihren Sitz in Friedrichshafen, entwickelt, baut und vermarktet den Zeppelin NT, ein modernes Luftschiff für eine Vielzahl von Einsatzmöglichkeiten. Zeppelin NT Luftschiffe werden derweil in Deutschland und Japan betrieben. Die Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei, ein 100% Tochtergesellschaft der ZLT, betreibet den Zeppelin NT seit 2001 für kommerzielle Rundflüge, Werbung sowie wissenschaftliche und industrielle Einsätze in Europa. AIRSHIP VENTURES, INC. Airship Ventures Inc., wurde 2007 in Los Gatos, Kalifornien, USA gegründet, um den Zeppelin NT in den USA für kommerzielle Passagierrundflüge, wissenschaftliche Einsätze sowie Werbe- und Medieneinsätze zu betreiben. Airship Ventures ist ein Warenzeichen der Airship Ventures, Inc. Zeppelin ist ein Warenzeichen der ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co KG. Alle anderen Produkte und Namen können Warenzeichnen oder registrierte Warenzeichen ihrer jeweiligen Eigentümer sein. Zeppelin Kontakt: Michael Schieschke COO +49-7541-5900-539 Airship Ventures Kontakt: Alexandra Hall CEO pr@airshipventures.com +1-408-317-4310
This is the Dockwise press release that was issued when the Zeppelin NT was brought to Africa for DeBeers.
OVERSEAS TRANSPORT OF A ZEPPELIN BY DOCKWISE a transport which seemed to be inconceivable in the past! Breda, August 02, 2005 Dockwise Shipping, a leading specialist in heavy transport shipping located in Breda, the Netherlands, was awarded the contract by De Beers, a leading diamond-mining company, for the transportation of a Zeppelin NT airship from Amsterdam to South Africa. The dock ship Enterprise will load the zeppelin in Amsterdam with destination South Africa today at approx. 18.00 hours. With a weight of only 700 kilos the zeppelin is the lightest cargo for Dockwise. A great contrast to the heaviest and largest cargo transported last year, the 59,500 ton weighing production platform of BP the Thunderhorse. A challenging transport for Dockwise, not because of its weight, but because of the enormeous vulnerability of the zeppelin. A sea transport of a zeppelin, which was seemed to be inconceivable, has become reality! ‘As a transport shipping company we are proud to have a substantial role in the start of the South Africa project ‘Diamonds for Development in Africa’ of two renowned companies De Beers and Zeppelin. As Dockwise offered the transport solution for this extremely vulnerable airship, De Beers is now able to bring this unique technology in an innovative application to Africa soon. Furthermore, sea transportation will enhance business opportunities in new markets for Zeppelin’, according to André Goedée Chief Executive Officer of Dockwise. The heavy transport vessel Enterprise, with a length of 160 meter and a width of 29 meter, is expected to deliver the zeppelin, with a length of 75 meter and 19,5 diameter, in South Africa at the end of August. Dockwise Shipping is located in Breda, The Netherlands and operates a fleet of 15 semi-submersible heavy transport vessels of various capacities and designs. Dockwise employs about 800 people worldwide. With a global network of three offices: in Breda, the Netherlands (head office), in Houston, Texas, USA and in Shanghai, China, as well as 8 representing agents, Dockwise is able to service their clients to its best ability. As a leading provider in its specialist field of marine transport services, Dockwise has the experience and the resources to meet complex ocean transportation requirements. For more information please contact: Dockwise Shipping B.V. Breda, The Netherlands Mrs. Jeanny C.M. de Leeuw (Public Relations Officer) Telephone: +31 [0]76 - 5484100 E-mail: pr@dockwise.com
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Festo was so kind to send us the English whitepaper on the flying jelly-fish called AirJelly. We had posted the German version of it in our first post which also included the great video of the Air Jelly which has been seen over 40.000 times now. Also check out our second post about where we link to the English press release which contains some great highres pictures of the project.
AirJelly An airborne jellyfish with electric drive unit Info Glides through the air by peristaltic motion A central electric drive unit with crank mechanism Can the jellyfish’s motion through water serve as a propulsion principle for an airborne object? In other words, is it possible to glide through the air as a jellyfish swims through water? These were the considerations that gave rise to the development of AirJelly. The history of aviation has been aware of the analogy between the media of water and air ever since the first gas balloon flights of Jacques Alexandre César Charles, who on 1st December 1783 set off from Paris on the first ever manned gas balloon journey together with Noel Robert. The gondola of the “Charlière” was designed in the form of a ship’s hull. The balloon of the French aviator Jean Pierre François Blanchard, who crossed the English Channel from Dover to Calais together with Dr. John Jeffries on 7 th January 1785, also used a gondola in the form of a ship’s hull. It is therefore all the more surprising that this analogy from a bygone era has not provided inspiration for adapting the propulsion mechanisms of marine creatures for drive units in the aviation sector. In 2005, the Swiss Materials Science & Technology Development (EMPA) in Dübendorf near Zurich presented a concept in which the balloon of an airship was to be covered with electro-active polymer foils. The airship was to float in the sea of air like a fish in water. This airship has since been fitted with elevators and rudders actuated with electro-active polymer foils. Seeking recourse to jellyfish as a source of inspiration for powering gas-filled balloons is an obvious thought; after all, a jellyfish consists of water to 99%. Its weight-to-volume ratio is approximately 1, and the figure is similar for a gas-filled balloon. Jellyfish fossil finds indicate an ability to survive dating back more than 500 million years. Jellyfish have thus repeatedly adapted to various environmental and living conditions and have become veritable survival artists; the diversity of jellyfish species suggests a high degree of adaptability. AirJelly is a remote radio-controlled airborne jellyfish with a central electric drive unit and an intelligent adaptive mechanism. AirJelly consists of a helium-filled ballonett with a diameter of 1.35 meters. This yields a filling volume of 1.3 cubic meters of helium. Since one cubic meter of helium provides buoyancy to lift approximately one kilogram, the total weight of AirJelly, comprising its ballonett and all ancillary components, must amount to no more than 1.3 kilograms. AirJelly houses two lithium-ion polymer accumulator batteries rated at 8 V and 400 mA, which can be completely charged in half an hour and are AirJelly’s sole source of power. A connected central electric drive unit transmits the force to a bevel gear wheel and 2 then to eight spur gears in sequence. These gears power eight shafts, each of which activates a crank; these in turn move the jellyfish’s eight tentacles. Each tentacle is designed as a structure with Fin Ray Effect ® – a construction derived from the functional anatomy of a fish’s fin. The actual structure consists of two alternating tension and pressure flanks movably connected by ribs. If a flank is subjected to pressure, the geometrical structure automatically bends in the direction of the applied force. Together, the tentacles produce a peristaltic forward motion similar to that of their biological model. Controlling AirJelly’s motion in three-dimensional space is effected by weight displacement. For this purpose, a pendulum is set in motion by two actuators in the X and Y directions. The actuators are positioned at the jellyfish’s “north pole” and are proportionally controlled. The pendulum is 55 centimetres long. AirJelly’s centre of mass is displaced in the direction of the pendulum’s motion; the jellyfish then moves in the same direction. By means of this peristaltic forward motion, AirJelly can move in any spatial direction. Propulsion of a ballonett by means of peristaltic motion is as yet unknown in the history of aviation. AirJelly is thus the first indoor flight object with peristaltic drive. Observation of models from nature gave rise to this new propulsion concept for the airborne jellyfish. With this exhibit, Festo is demonstrating that a central electric drive unit in combination with an intelligent mechanism opens up fascinating opportunities in propulsion systems for lighter-than-air flight. Both in automation and in didactics, Festo sets out to generate enthusiasm among its customers with innovative, fascinating and intelligent solutions; it therefore offers a wide range of electric, pneumatic and hybrid drive units, along with the appropriate sensor systems, control and regulating components. 3 Project partners Project initiator: Dr. Wilfried Stoll, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Festo AG Project team: Rainer and Günther Mugrauer, Effekt-Technik GmbH, Schlaitdorf, Germany Project manager: Markus Fischer, Corporate Design Festo AG & Co. KG Graphic design: Atelier Frank, Berlin, Germany Technical data Diameter: Height: Total weight: Propulsion: Reduction ratio: Power supply: 1.35 m 2.20 m 1.3 kg coreless motor, 3 V 262:1 lithium-ion polymer accumulator batteries; 8 V and 400 mA Festo AG & Co. KG Corporate Design Rechbergstraße 3 73770 Denkendorf Germany www.festo.com/de/bionic Phone +49/7 11/347-38 80 Fax +49/7 11/347-38 99 fish@de.festo.com Photos: Walter Fogel, Angelbachtal, Germany Brand designation: Fin Ray Effect ® is a brand of Evologics GmbH, Berlin, Germany 52938 EN
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On Tuesday we reported about the amazing AirJelly the jellyfish that gracefully flies through the air. Unfortunately there wasn't much information in English available. But that has changed now. We found the press release by Festo which you can access here or read the piece about the AirJelly right here and the fulyl release on Scribd. You can also go directly to Festo and get high resolution press pictures of the AirJelly here. Also check out the Video of the AirJelly on YouTube.
Air is the element of the AirJelly. Rather than swimming through water like the AquaJelly, it glides through the air with the aid of its central electric drive and an intelligent, adaptive mechanical system. The remote-controlled AirJelly is kept in the air by its helium-filled ballonet.
The AirJelly’s only energy source are two lithium-ion-polymer batteries, to which the central electric drive is attached. This transmits its power to a bevel gear and then to eight spur gears, which drive the eight tentacles of the jellyfish via their respective cranks. The structure of each tentacle is based on the Fin Ray Effect®. Using a peristaltic movement to drive a balloon was previously unknown in the history of aviation. The AirJelly is the first indoor flying object to use such a peristaltic propulsion system. The jellyfish glides gently through the air thanks to this new drive concept based on the reaction thrust principle.
The AirJelly steers through three-dimensional environments by shifting its weight. Its two servo motors are located at the “North pole” of the jellyfish and controlled proportionally. If the pendulum moves in one direction, the AirJelly’s centre of gravity shifts in this direction – the AirJelly is thus able to swim in any spatial direction. The propulsive force of the drive can be varied by moving the Fin Ray® tentacles more quickly or slowly.
Festo demonstrates with this exhibit that a central electric drive – combined with an intelligent mechanical system – can offer fascinating possibilities for “lighter-than-air” aviation. Festo aims to delight its customers with innovative, fascinating and intelligent solutions in both automation and didactics. It therefore offers a wide range of electric, pneumatic and hybrid drive systems, together with the respective sensors and control possibilities.
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It's been a only few weeks since we have give you an update on the progress of Zeppelin NT07 #004, you can check the pictures here. But things are progressing rather quickly and Airshipventures is writing about it in their Blog Up Ship! in the article "Getting a bit crowded" they feature the photo that you see in this post. The envelope is currently undergoing pressure testing and can be seen on left border of the picture. Since the envelope is one of the most expensive parts of an airship this has to be done with great care. In the middle is the Zeppelin NT07#3 with his t-city branding during his yearly inspection. But this is not the only news that reaches us from San Francisco based Airshipventures they are soon (read this week) announcing some news, probably having something to do with their new "office" buildings. Check out their blogpost "Growing...", maybe the pictures might give you a little clue as to where they are going to be located. But keep an eye on Airshipworld as well as the Airshipventures Website and Blog. We will be publishing the news as soon as we receive it. In the meanwhile read up about Airshipventures in Airshipworld or read a few of their other posts on UpShip! like this one, this other one or this here.
John Christopher from Zeppelintours was just recently in Friedrichshafen again and brings us some great pictures from the Zeppelin Hangar, showing the NT #004 and NT #003.
NT003 with artwork for Deutche Telekom, plus on the underside of the nose for the BKK Gildemeister Seiden Sticker insurance company.
Work being done on the frame of the new Zeppelin NT07 #004 destined to be delivered to the US.
In the foreground the almost completed girders of the Zeppelin NT #004 behind that you see the yellow bags where Helium is stored and the NT#003 having it's annual inspection. Airshipventures who are the future owners of the Zeppelin NT07 #004 also posted a nice picture of the Helium bags on their blog Up Ship!
The new Gondola of the NT 004 is also taking shape in another corner of the Zeppelin Hangar.
The internal rigid structure of the new Zeppelin is taking shape, it won't be long before the next one is flying.
One of the props of the Zeppelin NT 003 undergoing maintenance, thanks to it's rigid structure it's positioned far away from the gondola making the ride a lot more quiet than in traditional blimps that have their engines attached to the gondola.
If you want to get so close to the Zeppelin NT and shoot some of those pictures yourself book a trip with John Christopher through his site Zeppelintours. Additional Pictures from Friedrichshafen can also be found in the Blog posts of Airshipventures in Up Ship! for example:
Before the year ends here few year ender updates from Zeppelin. The Zeppelin NT flew this year for the first time all the time until the beginning of December, letting more than 12.000 passengers experience Lake Constance out of an airship this year. This totals in more than 73.000 Passenger since August 2001. That is more than 14.6 million Euro just in ticket sales. The Zeppelin NT also received a new branding. With a 14 month contract the Deutsche Telekom signed the longest running branding contract in the companies history. The URL that can be seen on the Zeppelins envelope directs to the T-City which was a contest project by the Deutsche Telekom to find a City in Germany with innovative concepts on how to use communication and information technology in a city. The winner of this contest was Friedrichshafen at Lake Constance the home of the Zeppelin.
The bottom part of the envelope that can only be seen from directly underneath the Zeppelin is branded for the same time with the Health Insurance BKK Gildemeister Seidensticker.
Also I would like to share with you this years holiday Card from Zeppelin, which was only sent out digitally and the money saved by doing so was given to a charity.
Have you ever wanted to dive into the archives of historic Zeppelin pictures? As of today the picture archives of the Federal Archives of Germany are open to the public and can be searched online. The Federal Archive has around 11 million pictures, photographs and posters of the modern German history dating back to the 1860s. The collection consists of pictures from the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), the Nazi Reich(1933-1945), the GDR(1945/49 - 1990) and the Federal Republic of Germany(from 1945/49 onwards). Currently are "just" 60,000 pictures from all time spans available but more pictures will be added continuously. You can search the database by full-text retrieval, extensive search or research by subject, person or locality. So why don't you go a head and do a search for "Zeppelin", "Luftschiff" or "Hindenburg". I am sure there are some gems in there that no very few people have seen before. If you found something great, tell us the Signature of the Picture in the Comments section. For example if you enter "146-2005-0095" in the Search box it should get you to a nice drawing of Graf Zeppelin. So dig through the archives and tell us what you found in the comments.
Today we bring you the 4th and last video (for now) of the Airship Parade. We have some shorter Clips that we will edit and upload later but the main event is covered now. Following our photo and video coverage we will now dive into the teams, their companies, the advantages of hot air airships but also the disadvantages. We will give an overview of costs, and give information on how you can get one, either for lease or to own.
If you liked the videos, and would like to publish them on your website, please contact us, we will assist you in doing so. You can share them completely free but we ask you to provide proper credit to Airshipworld.
The airship parade continues, now the competition starts the airships compete in the first airship bowling ever captured on video, at least we think so :-) The hot air airship perform very risky maneuvers and touch the ground a couple of times.
Tonight we have the second part of the video from the airship parade for you. Now finally all the airships are in the air except three for which the wind was just to strong. If you have missed part one see it here. But now enjoy another 9 Minutes of hot airship flying in part two: 5th Airship Parade - part 2
If you would like to put those videos onto your website please go ahead, share them. If you don't know how just send us a quick mail. We can also get you the full original version of the video if you want to. We also have much more pictures of the parade than the 100 we shared if you are interested please contact us.
It's finally online, faster than we thought the first video of the Airship Parade Bad Homburg, showing the start and lift of of the hot air airships. Enjoy 8 Minutes of high quality video. Airship Parade Video Part 1
Tonight we bring you the gallery of the airship parade Bad Homburg that you all have been waiting for. The actual flight and the landing of the colossal hot air airships with a whopping 51 pictures. The next days we will use to get the video ready, since it's more than 7GB in raw data we will have to make some editing to get it ready for the web. But now after you have seen the pictures, and are looking forward to the video we want to ask you what you would like us to focus on in the background stories. We have already some ideas but also want to take your suggestions. Do you want us to talk about costs, of these airships, who the companies are that offer the ships, more about the event? What do you like? Leave your ideas in the comments or send us an email with your suggestion. But for now have fun with these great pictures from the 5th airship parade Bad Homburg
The video of the event is now digitized and on our hard drives, we are now in the post production and readying it for release on the weekend. Until then we are continuing our picture coverage of the 5th Airship parade (Luftschiffparade) Bad Homburg. Today we present the flight preparations, by the teams, as they fill their airships with air first and then heat it up with their burners.
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We are continuing our coverage of the Airship-parade in Bad Homburg that happened this last weekend, today we will post a few pictures we took around the whole event. The first gallery contains some shots of the activities that where happening before the main event.
We spent the whole day at the Airship parade in Bad Homburg, talked to many people took lot's of pictures and videos. Since it will take some time for reviewing the many many pictures we took, you should come back daily in the next weeks for more pictures and posts about the different teams, the event and the people behind the event. Tonight we would like to share the first gallery of shots taken by Alexander Elsas an aircraft photographer who also contributed to a previous post about hot-air-airships. Now enjoy the pictures, more to come tomorrow.
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Today we want move a bit away from our hot air coverage before coming back to it, in the following days. There is a new hybrid airship concept in the works. It has won an innovation price in 2006(in German) from a German science TV show called "Welt der Wunder" and uses a lenticular envelope, with two non directional wings which will rotate to provide vertical take of and landing abilities. Csaba Singer from the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) held a presentation about the Project at the DGLR Workshop X in Munich mid June 2007. Csaba Singer made the presentation slides available for download, so if you didn't have a chance to catch it back then you can now take a look at them. Also there has been a German patent application which can be seen at the DEPATISnet Website of the German patent office, it provides more diagrams and details than the presentation. There are also two videos available on YouTube. This first one is a computer animated video showing how the airship could work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIFhNzJZxzo
The second video shows a model prototype of the airship performing different maneuvers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmUcpEJys_Y Right now Csaba Singer and the DLR are looking for Students wanting to write their master thesis on the project. If you are a student and interested in this, please go to the Website of the DLR and read the description of the topic. Or contact Csaba Singer at the DLR under: Csaba Singer German Aerospace Center Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, Solar Research Stuttgart - Germany Tel.: +49 711 6862-490 Fax: +49 711 6862-747
What do you think about the project, will it be successful? Will it have scaling issues? Has there been something similar that has been developed, or patented? Tell us what you think leave your comments or write us an email. It's another ambitious project that we will keep an eye on. Make sure to checkout the English Hybrid-Airplane Website or German Hybrid-Flugzeug Website.
Just found this very interesting Zeppelin video, it contains footage from the preparations and the mission performed during the pope visit in Cologne in 2006. I don't know about the Copyright of this video, in the Subtitle it clearly states ZLT as Copyright holder. But I thought since it is on the Web anyway I might as well link to it, and give you a chance to watch it.
The Zeppelin, continues to be one of our top news sources, it seems that there is a never ending stream of news around and about the Zeppelin NT. Today we would like to present a little update that we had just received from Zeppelintours.
John and Ute Christopher of Airship Initiatives tell us that their Zeppelin Tours to Friedrichshafen are going very well. Perhaps the most interesting request so far was from a man in Japan who wanted to take his cat on the flight. (And no, Zeppelin wouldn't permit it.)
They have several accompanied group tours scheduled over the next few months (see below) and as you will see they now offer the option of a three-night stay in Friedrichshafen. There is more new information on the updated website www.zeppelintours.com including a full calendar and prices. Plus lots of new photos and so on.
Forthcoming tours: These include a 60 minute Zeppelin NT flight of course, and all the extras.
8-10 August - Gold Tour with 2 nights in Friedrichshafen 4-7 September - Platinum Tour with 3 nights in Friedrichshafen
In addition they can arrange flights/tours for individuals, and Zeppelin have confirmed that flights will continue at Friedrichshafen until mid-November.
"Hopefully by 2008 we will also be able to offer flights in Friedrichshafen, San Francisco and in Tokyo!" John says. "Of course the 'big plan' is to get a Zeppelin to London and we are continuing to work on this... I have had several airship flights over London in the past and it is a spectacular place to fly. For the moment you can take a virtual London flight on the website."
So take a look at the expanded and improved website, and if you want to discuss getting up in the Zepp then get in touch with John and Ute at customerservice@zeppelintours.com
I just realized that I haven't posted an article since last Wednesday, the reason for this was, that we are in the process of launching a the website for the upcoming First International Airship Investors Conference. So have patience if the updates are a bit slower in the next few weeks. Before I work through the many news items, that have accumulated in the last few days, I would like to start of this week with some pictures of a hot air blimp that was hovering over a folk fest in the Rhein-Main area in Germany this weekend. The advertising shown is for a local radio station FFH. FFH is known for it's love to airships, blimps and Zeppelins, every year in summer you can spot them somewhere with one. You can not reach more people that visually impressive with anything else than an airship. The Identification reads G-BWKE, I'm trying to track this down and try to get an interview with the operators, to find out costs, and availability. If you know anything about this ship, please contact us.
© Festo
