Interview with Robert Rist from Ohio Airships

It's been a long time since I heard any news about the Dynalifter Aircraft that is being developed by Ohio Airships. But it seems like they rebuilt their damaged prototype in a proper hangar and are trying to continue development. I am still a bit doubtful that the Dynalifter will ever fly or if it does will have that kind of impact that Ohio Airships claims it will have. Time will tell. Have a look at this video that was just posted on YouTube where Robert Rist from Ohio Airships gives an interview about the Project, you get some good views of the prototype.
Ohio Airships

Akron Windtunnel Experiments 1935

© NASA

I just browsed a bit through YouTube and found a very interesting video of Windtunnel Experiments done in NASA Langley Research Center 1935. Worth a look for anyone interested in aerodynamics and historic airship footage. The models they used was a 1/14 scale model of the Akron and a model of the Lakehurst Hangar of equal scale.

Links:

• Tests of the US Akron and Lakehurst Hangar

Video of the Zeppelin NT with the new branding

The new season has just started for the Zeppelin D-LZZF in Friedrichshafen. We featured a photo of the new Süddeutsche Zeitung branding in our last post. Now we can bring you a video of the Zeppelin featuring the new branding and showing a glimpse of the Skyship that is just in the hangar in Friedrichshafen.

Thanks to Brian Hall from Airship Ventures for the tip via the Colorado Airship-List

KQED - QUEST Segment on Airships

KQED is a public broadcasting station for Northern California, one of their shows is QUEST a "multimedia series about the people behind San Francisco Bay Area science and environmental issues" it combines traditional media like TV and radio with new media formats like a website containing a blog and audio podcasts as well as video podcasts. This current season opened with a segment about airships, looking back at the USS Macon (ZRS-5) disaster and looking at the Zeppelin NT based at Moffett Field and operated by Airship Ventures.


QUEST on KQED Public Media.
To get a better version of the Video jump to Zeppelins Resurrected page on the QUEST website. You can also download the 80MB MPEG4 Video here. If you don't know how to watch MPEG-4/h.264 download VLC Player or Apples QuickTime/iTunes, both are freeware and play M4V files.

You should also check out the Zeppelins Resurrected page contains also additional content and links, like this nice slide show of photos taken during the shooting of the segment on the QUEST page.

Airship Videos of the Week #1 of 2009

Happy new year to everyone. I am back from my small hiatus November and December the end of the year was quite busy for me in my daily life but I am back and I have lots of great posts in the queue. Starting of the year I am starting a new weekly post of the Videos of the Week, mostly found from YouTube. They are available as a Playlist on YouTube as well as on Delicious. You can watch them in the embedded player below.
Highlights include a video of the Airship Ventures Zeppelin featuring Chris Humphrey who came up with the name Eureka for the new Zeppelin. A video of the Zeppelin NT for the 100th anniversary of the first Zeppelin flight. An interesting presentation on the idea of a container hauling blimp, an interetsing discussion topic for the mailinglist. Avideo of the Christening of the Goodyear Blimp "Spirit of America". A video of the Japanese Zeppelin doing ground procedures and then taking of. So lean back and enjoy.



If you happen to find a really great video that you want to share, send us an email to airshipworld at gmail dot com with votw in the subject line or tag it on Delicious as for:gruni airshipworld votw.

Links:

• YouTube - Playlist: 2009/01 Videos of the Week - Airshipworld
• Delicious Bookmarks Video of the Week 1 of 2009

Airship Ventures Promovideo on Youtube

Just found this promotion video featuring the Airship Ventures Zeppelin on YouTube. Enjoy!


[Update 081112] Unfortunately the video has been removed from YouTube, if you happen to know another source let me know and I will put it back up, until then sorry for the inconvenience.

The Goodyear Blimp in pictures, stories, videos and more

© Michael Harley / Weblogs Inc.

Following our last non Zeppelin we continue to resist the urge of writing yet another Zeppelin post. But we won't be able to hold off for to much longer. Great news about the Zeppelin NT simply have to be reported so stay tuned.
Today after looking at the Metlife Blimps last we look at the good old Goodyear Blimps and see what they have been up to. Back in April we last looked at them. Starting of today's post is a great article on Autoblog called "Above the Autoblog Garage: The Goodyear Blimp". The article is well written and talks about the Blimp how it is controlled and the overall ride experience. But this is not everything that the article has to offer. Along with the article Autoblog posted a picture gallery of 53 high resolution photos from outside and inside the blimp. Some really nice shots in that gallery. Also hot of the press and a big thanks to Ken DeLacy for finding this bit. At the 2:00 minutes mark of the Aero-TV's Daily Update from EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for Friday August 1st the Goodyear Blimp is featured as it made it's appearance to this years AirVenture Oshkosh.

Aero-TV:OSHCast 2008 Aero-TV Daily Update: Day Five!
But this is of course not the only video that we were able to find, check out all these great videos of the Goodyear Blimp that we found on YouTube


But not only videos were made of the Goodyear blimp the Goodyear Blimp Blog is also always a great place to read more about the ongoing missions of the Blimp. Here are the latest articles:

• 4th of July Blimp Style
• 35 Years!
• Home for a bit
• Detour
• Nasty weather
• Blimps and dolphins
• Sweet home Alabama
• Back in the saddle
• A new pilot
• Pilot in Charge
• Marine invasion
• Winds and Mohawk haircuts

Goodyear also updated their website adding a couple videos from the Archives to it. Unfortunately the Videos are encoded with a Codec called Indeo Video 3.2 which is not distributed with newer versions of Microsoft Windows (eg. Vista). To be able to watch the Videos if you don't have the codec on your system. You will notice by having sound but no picture when playing the Video you can download the free VLC Media Player which still supports Indeo Video 3.2. So nothing that can keep you from diving into histroy and seeing the christening of the Akron and many other gems from Goodyears archives.
Do you have any more pieces about the Goodyear Blimps, then let us know. If you have just recently found us, check out our Forum where you can ask questions and share your thoughts. You can also subscribe to the Blog. Either subscribe to the RSS Feed or via Email and get the posts delivered right to your mailbox, for free.

Some bits from the MetLife Blimps

With all the pictures and videos from and of the Zeppelin over London one could almost forget that there are many other Airships out there. So today we once again take a look at what the MetLife Blimps are doing. Last time we talked about the Metlife Blimps was in a post in May were we talked about their PGA Tour footage. So what is hot about MetLife's Blimps lately?
Well first and hottest of the press is probably the Announcement and Presentation of Snoopy Three. The regular readers will have a little deja vu here because Snoopy three has already been flying last year from August until October but now he is back for it's 2008 flights. You can check out the schedule on the MetLife Website. This years Snoopy Three operation was accompanied with a nice video. The original can be seen here, but there is also a version on YouTube that we embedded right below:

MetLife Displays How Newest Blimp, Snoopy® Three, Takes Off

Here is the full text of the accompanying press release:

MetLife’s Snoopy Three Takes Off

Behind the Scenes Look at How Blimps Help Cover America’s Most Important Sporting Events

Peanuts® Characters Help Celebrate the Christening of the Newest MetLife Blimp

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Snoopy® and the gang joined representatives from MetLife to christen their newest blimp and to celebrate its 2008 flying season. Snoopy Three, the company’s largest airship is known for providing breathtaking beauty shots and spectacular aerial shots of sporting events. The airship is an A-150 model blimp that measures 165 feet long, 46 feet wide and 55 feet tall. The blimp is significantly larger than Snoopy One and Two and will provide coverage of major sporting events such as the PGA championship as well as various NFL Games.

This video goes behind the scenes with Charlie Smith, the line pilot for Snoopy® Three as he shows you how he pilots the blimp that helps provide TV coverage for your favorite sporting events, such as the PGA TOUR and various NFL games.

But Snoopy Three isn't the only MetLife Blimp. Kieth Krause is the Blimp Blogger on board the Snoopy Two treating us regularly with updates on the different events and missions the Blimp flies on his Blog "Blimpin' Ain't Easy" we have mentioned his Blog before and if you aren't a regular reader of his Blog check out some of his latest posts, they usually contain a short video or picture gallery from the places he went.

• Back on Snoopy 2
• Big Brother Snoopy 3
• Chicagoland Speedway
• Quad Cities
• After the Storms
• New York, New York the Video
• New York, New York
• Return to Jersey
• Days Off in DC
• Transit to Delaware

Unfortunately Keith mostly reports on Snoopy Two, we rarely get news from Snoopy One. And in general we need more Airship/ Blimp Bloggers. The Goodyear Guys caught the virus, Airship Ventures had it from day one but what's with the rest, when will Zeppelin start a Blog or Airship Management Services. If you need help with it send me an email.
So that's almost it for MetLife Blimp updates, except for these three great pictures on Flickr unfortunately copyrighted so I can not add them to this entry but have a look at them they are nice:

• as imagined
• Blimp
• Snoopy Blimp

So that's it for now on the MetLife Blimps, if you think we have forgotten something let us know, drop us an email or post a comment on the Blog, we love to hear from you. Also remember to spread the word. Thanks to you the readers and subscribers we have had the most successful month since we started the Blog back in March 2007. If you have ideas on what we could do better share them in the Forum or send us an Email directly to airshipworld (at) gmail.com
Thanks for reading Airshipworld, thanks for subscribing and thanks for stopping by, let's try to make August even more successful than the last Month.

Great Zeppelin NT Video of the two brothers

Here is another great Video of the Zeppelin NT#4 and it's older brother the Zeppelin NT#3. Enjoy!

Zeppelin NT No 4 & No 3

Believe in Tomorrow Children's Foundation - Blimp Video

We have mentioned before that the AVICTA Complete Cotton Airship is flying missions for the Believe in Tomorrow Children's Foundation. Today we found this great video of the airship taking a kid for a ride. It's always great to see the joy peoples faces when they see an airship.

Flying Without Wings

Also check out the Believe In Tomorrow YouTube channel for more videos. For example this one which features the Sanyo Blimp

Hands On Adventures

[Updated]I have corrected the link to the first video. It was taken down and re uploaded. Now you can enjoy it again.

Let's have some Altitude-Attitude

© Altitude-Attitude

You have probably seen those big camera cranes that are used in movie and TV productions to provide aerial shots. Some are up to 100ft high but what if you want to go 150 ft? Well you either need a bigger crane or you need to fly. Traditional means of flying are planes and helicopters. If you want to shoot at one location a plane is not the right option since it can not hover, a helicopter can. Using a helicopter though has the big disadvantage of a lot of noise, vibrations and the enormous wind the rotor generates downwards, so low altitude and low vibration video shoots aren't possible by using any kind of traditional aircraft. But an airship can solve exactly this problem. It is almost silent, with little to no vibrations, can hover over one spot without costing energy since it is lighter than air and doesn't generate downward wind that might disturb the scene that should be shot. So video airships are a great alternative for aerial filming and photography. The Metlife Blimp for example is filming the PGA Golf tour and provides fantastic footage. Check out this clip from the PGA Tour to get an impression. But such a big Airship can only be used outside and might actually be to big if you just want to shoot a small scene, especially at low altitude. Which leaves room for small remote controlled blimps and airships that are equipped with a camera. One company that offers these services is Altitude-Attitude, a Belgian company focusing on aerial photo and video production. They have already done quite a few projects with their camera equipped blimp. Besides having more freedom of movement in the three dimensional space a small airship also doesn't need to be set up extensively like a crane. It can arrive on site, maybe has to be filled with helium and can start flying. By using a wireless video transmitter the airship can even deliver live aerial video. Check out these YouTube Videos to see the blimp in action or go to the Altitude-Attitude Website and check out their galleries.

altitude-attitude.com Belgacom christmas party Théâtre de la


altitude-attitude.com clip demo dirigeable


altitude-attitude.com video blimp in Macau

What do you think about remote controlled video airships. Should they be used more often? We believe there is a market for those airships, allowing directors new creative and innovative ways of filming from perspectives that are simply not possible with a crane. Leave a comment on the blog share your thoughts in the Forum or on the Mailinglist. Subscribe to the blog and spread the word, tell your friends about airships and Airshipworld, let's create something great.

The Sanyo Lightship Video

In reply to our post 20 Great new Airshipvideos tvnshack from YouTube compiled a really nice Video of the SANYO Airship passage at night during the 1997 Miramar Air Show "Twilight Show". The blimp is doing a touch and go at night. Check it out here

Lighted Airship (Blimp - Zeppelin) at Night

Do you have some great airship videos you want to share send us a message and let us know. Thanks again to tvnshack for his great video.

AVICTA Complete Cotton Airship - Tour

Another high profile airship tour is making it's way through the Southern United States. The AVICTA Complete Cotton Airship is on a tour also partnering with the Believe In Tomorrow Childrens Foundation. Thanks to the Blimp operations Yahoo Group for pointing out the links to the websites.
Here is also a YouTube Video of the Avicta Blimp over the Mississippi River:

Check out the Avicta Blimp Page which contains slideshows and a map where the blimp was. The airship is currently somewhere around the Mississippi River. Also read on about the Believe In Tomorrow campaign.

Goodyear Blimp Accident ?

I just found this video of the Goodyear Blimp on YouTube.

Goodyear Blimp Accident

The info to the video states that the video is from 5/27/1995 in Carson,California so it's a few years ago but I couldn't find anything about a Goodyear Blimp Accident on the web at that time. But maybe I haven't searched enough.
Do you know anything about this incident ? Let us know and discuss it in our Forum or send us an Email or post a comment in the comments section of this post.

Also you might have seen these new links right below the post. Using these links you can share our articles with the rest of the world. Right now we provide links for del.icio.us, Digg, and StumbleUpon which are the most popular social bookmarking sites on the web that allow you to share those articles that you like. Do you want more or less options? Do you maybe want to be able to send an article as email to someone? Let us know we are happy to add anything that you ask us to and that makes sense.

Airship Surveillance Inc. - new airship company

When I looked back at last year this January I felt that 2008 was going to become the year of the Airships and right now all signs seem to point into the right direction.
Today we want to present you a new company that joined the airship industry. Airship Surveillance Inc. based in Las Vegas, USA. Their name states already the goal of the company to build surveillance Airships, on their product page they already list three planned types that they are planning to build. They also put a video of their first test flight up on YouTube, you can watch it here:

Airship Surveillance Inc R&D 1 Airship First Flight

While I was watching this Video I could not help but think about the Hyperblimp which is a development by Daniel Geery from which it seems Airship Surveillance has taken a few clues. Check out our posts about the Hyperblimp here. Do you know anything more about Airship Surveillance Inc ? Thoughts about the Hyperblimp similarities ? Share you thoughts in the Forum&Mailinglist

10 brand new airship videos - you haven't seen yet

We are regularly taking a look everyones favourite video portal YouTube, looking at the amount of brand new airship related Videos one has to say the airship world is alive and growing strong. Take a look at these new videos that you might have not seen yet.

Playlist can be found here

If you have subscribed and aren't seeing the video displayed jump over to the Blog to see the video. Click here to watch them.

AirShipOne - a new Airship Concept

Coming fresh from our Mailinglist we present a new hybrid airship concept developed by Gosha Galitsky as a graduation project in Industrial Design. Click on the image to get to a small picture gallery of the Airship. Also check out this great video that he uploaded to YouTube showing the rendering of the Airship from all sides:

AirShipOne

Please continue to stuff like this on the mailinglist or if you do not want to share it yourself in the forums just send it to our main email address airshipworld at gmail dot com and we will make sure to put it in the pipeline to be published. It makes me happy to see the Airshipworld Mailinglist slowly gaining momentum as more people subscribe. Speaking of subscribing please consider also subscribing to the Blog if you haven't yet or tell your friends that they should subscribe. We really want to reach even more people and need your word of mouth to introduce others to our site. We are currently growing at a relatively steady pace which makes me really happy. So please continue to spread the word, it really helps. Subscribing is completely free and will always stay free. Remember that there are two ways to subscribe one is via Email the other one through the RSS feed. Which ever you prefer there shouldn't be any substantial differences except that the feed is probably a bit faster and might have additional features not possible to implement through email.

Video from the Airships to the Arctic Symposium

It was October 2007 that the Airships to the Arctic Symposium was held once again in Winnipeg Manitoba. We have reported about it here and here. Since we have not yet given a report about the event we will provide you with some insights this week. To start the week of, we would like to present a great Video produced by CBC Canada. This is the original link to the Real Video which we copied to YouTube to make it accessible to a wider audience. We would like to thank Paul Boldt who sent us the link to this video.

Original Video available at: http://www.cbc.ca/MRL/clips/rm-hi/north-selleck-airship071217.rm

Please check back tomorrow for our commentary coverage of the Event, written by our own Charles Luffman. Of course if you want to learn more about the Airships to the Artic Symposium follow this link.

Russian Airship Videos

Stanislav from PBO.ru(Translated English Page) posted a great video from the MAKS 2007 that we would like to share. If you do not remember read our post about MAKS from September 2007.
Тележурнал "Воздух!" №3 (click here to view the video)

More videos can also be seen at http://video.mail.ru/mail/fuodoroff/58/
PBO.ru is if I am correct the Russian Aeronautical Society. They have a great page about all Russian Airships as we have mentioned in May of this year

N470 - The Zeppelin over Holland - [updated]

It kind of caught me by surprise, when I was searching through you tube the other day. There were many many videos of the Zeppelin NT with a weird N470 writing on it's envelope. Like this one "Zeppelin NT07 (N470) landing at Rotterdam Airport"

But this is by far not the only video, check out the related Videos that the Video player shows after the Video is done, or take a look over at Youtube at these Videos

• Zirkus Zeppelin @ Rotterdam Airport
• Aankomst NT504 Zeppelin Rotterdam
• Sandman @ Zirkus Zeppelin

A little search quickly turns up the Page http://www.zirkuszeppelin.nl. Zirkus Zeppelin is from what I understand an Artproject by Florentijn Hofman about the N470 Highway in the province Zuid-Holland. As far as I understand Florentijn selected 470 people who life around the N470 or where involved during the construction of the highway to fly on the Zeppelin. They should take pictures and share their stories of the experience of the flight along the N470, all this will then be published in an illustrated book. We are going to Contact Florentijn Hoffman and Zeppelin for more information about this project. For now I invite you to check out all these Flickr images taken on the Flights along the N470

From what I could read on the Zirkus Zeppelin website the Zeppelin NT was only flying for about a week in the Netherlands but all those pictures taken prove it once again. An Airship of whatever kind is a very efficient marketing instrument that reaches many thousand people in a short amount of time and seeing an airship usually leads to positive reactions by the people who see it. We will be featuring more information about the effectiveness of Airships in marketing soon. So keep an eye out and check back regularly.

[Update]We got a reply from Florentijn Hofman, we basically got it right, so our skills in deciphering foreign languages without the tiniest bit of knowledge about them aren't so bad after all. Here is a short excerpt of the Mail we got back

...
I wanted to show people the road and the area around the road from a perspective architects draw their plans.
With a zeppelin you bring another layer into the project, spectaculair, the right speed to read the landscape and the history around zeppelins included.
Those issues makes the choice for renting this zeppelin clear and much better than a helicopter or plane or balloon. (this last one was also no option while a wanted to bring 470 people up in the sky).
...

According to Florentijn the financing of the project was possible because the province which built the N470 took 1% of the cost of the highway construction to art and from that budget the NT could be rented.