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ISSUE
100 - January 2010
Over 8,000 Total Ads Listed
1,000+ NEW Ads Per Week
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Zeppelin
Eureka Part 2 |
By Bernard Zee,
Contributing Editor & Photographer
Fremont, California |
I'm still giddy over having had the opportunity
to ride in, and photograph the only Zeppelin in the United
States. The 'Eureka' is one of a new breed of lighter than
air ships manufactured by the Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH,
and operated by Airship Ventures. This is Part 2 of the adventure...Part
1 can be found in eFlyer
#099. |
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Downtown Oakland. That crazy straight street?
I believe that's Broadway. |
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Lake Merritt is pretty darn big. |
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A parting view of downtown Oakland. Or as
a Southwest flight attendant said over the intercom - land
of Oaks. I know, I'm just repeating what I heard! |
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The Oakland Coliseum parking lot is huge! |
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The airship pilot uses the joy stick for
primary directional control, and the computer figures out the
rest (like how much to swivel or tilt the engines, and a host
of other calculations). There are a also other controls available
which can be used to adjust for trim and buoyancy if needed. |
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Actually shot this with a very slow shutter
speed. The props don't really seem to spin that fast in real
life. Even though we were supposed to cruise at around 35mph,
I think the pilot's GPS said we were going 45kt. Max speed,
which is not ever used, is 70kt. |
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Eureka is the 3rd of its class of Zeppelin
NT airships, and the only one in the United States. The other
airships are in Germany, and Japan. The one in Japan flies
for ads space only, and doesn't carry passengers. |
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Here's a shot showing the Zeppelin's shadow.
With the sun being so far from earth, the light rays reaching
us are for all intents and purposes parallel. Thus, the shadow
cast by sunlight is the same size as the object (assuming the
surface the shadow is cast on is normal, or perpendicular,
to the light rays). You can see how big Eureka is by comparing
the cars on the freeway below to the shadow! Of course, the
Eureka is a fraction of the size of the giant interwar year
Zeppelins and rigid airships. Those behemoths can easily carry
over 100 people in comfort. |
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Throwing in an artsy shot of the airship
controls.
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I liked the way the 4 softball fields are
arranged. |
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The old salt evaporation ponds (between
the San Mateo Bridge, and the Dumbarton Bridge) creates interesting
color patterns, due to the different salinity and resultant
algal and brine shrimp concentrations. |
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Helium and air valves. Apparently, helium
is never released during normal flight.
Air is moved back and
forth to help trim the air ship though. |
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Here's a nice view of the air ship's cabin. |
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As we approach the end of the flight, we
have to once again take our seats and buckle in. Out the window
can be seen the main runway of Oakland International airport.
No, we're not landing there...as mentioned before, the cabin
is very quiet, and it's effortless to carry on a normal conversation.
The ride was likewise very smooth. |
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Just so there's no mistake, 'OAKLAND' is
painted in big letters on the tarmac. |
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On final approach, it's as soft as an escalator
ride. Actually, even smoother! The key to Eureka, is that it
is safe. Unlike blimps and older generation airships, the Eureka
is fully maneuverable. Even in light to moderate winds, it
can hover and land, and only needs one person on the ground
to hang on to the rope. A far cry from the old days, when there
were tons of people grabbing the ropes and hanging on for dear
life! |
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The front of the airship has what looks to
be a quick connect fitting, which attaches to a boom on a truck
in Moffett field. That's how they park her at night. Sometimes,
they will roll her into the hangar. But mostly, it's park outside
hangar 2. Tethered only on the front, the airship is allowed
to swivel around that attachment point by the blowing wind. |
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With all the passengers off, and a new load
of passengers on,
Eureka prepares to take off again. And Off
it goes! |
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Pretty cool to have it fly directly overhead!
You can check their website for details, but I believe Airship
Ventures charges $495 for an hour's flight. Chartered flights
are also available. |
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I count my lucky stars to have had the opportunity
to experience flying in an airship! If you've ever wondered
what it's like to float above the hustle and bustle, you owe
it to yourself to try this out! |
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