German-made airship set to give Chicagoans a lift next weekend
Click HERE to go to original Chicago Tribune article and video from within the zeppelin.
— Captain Jim Dexter takes passengers up for a spectacular 360-degree view of the earth aboard an aircraft he dubs "the ultimate skybox."
It's the largest flying airship in the world, a Zeppelin NT4 (New Technology) named Eureka, painted with the livery of its current corporate sponsor, Farmers Insurance Group.
The German-made airship represents somewhat of a paradox, albeit enjoyable for its passengers. At 246 feet in length, the zeppelin is 15 feet longer than a standard Boeing 747 and its glass cockpit is equipped with some similar state-of-the-art avionics.
Yet the top speed is 78 mph carrying a maximum of 12 passengers and two crew members, according to Airship Ventures Inc., a California company that owns and operates the vehicle.
The average cruising speed for sightseeing tours is slower, about 45 mph, to make the ride more comfortable, Dexter said. The number of passengers carried goes down when temperatures go up, due to changes in performance caused by hotter air.
The lighter-than-air airship, which is powered by three engines sporting propellers that change pitch to control lift, thrust and direction, can stay aloft for up to 24 hours — a feat that only one 747, Air Force One, can match.
Taking a daylong flight would seem to agree with many of the passengers who paid $399 for a 45-minute tour during the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture air show that ended Sunday in Oshkosh.
"The feeling is serene, kind of like being on a sailboat slightly rocking back and forth," said Steve Whitney, of Glenview, a pilot who flew to Oshkosh in his seaplane and splashed down on Lake Winnebago.
Two of the zeppelin's 200-horsepower engines are mounted on each side of the hull and the third is at the rear, powering one propeller for lift and another for thrust.
"The zeppelin was a blast. I didn't expect it would be so calm," Whitney said after exiting the gondola on Friday.
During the flight, passengers were allowed to unbuckle their seat belts and walk around, even stick their heads and cameras out open windows to take in what the locals call "Winnebagoland.''
A cruising altitude of about 1,200 feet provided sparkling views of farms and homes dotting green pastures — close enough to the ground to see the shadows of cows swishing their tails back and forth.
The $18 million airship, which entered service in 2008, features luxury seating, including in the lavatory.
"There is a window in the lavatory too," said Anthony Dizon, the flight attendant on the airship who is also a flight attendant for a major airline.
"If nature calls, you don't miss anything," Dizon told passengers.
Zeppelins and blimps are both dirigibles, which are any lighter-than-air ships that are powered and steerable. A blimp's shape is maintained by the pressure of the nonflammable helium within its hull. A zeppelin, which also uses helium, contains a rigid internal metal framework. Both stay aloft because the helium is less dense than the surrounding atmosphere.
The Hindenburg, which used flammable hydrogen in its envelope to stay aloft, was a rigid airship. It burned while attempting to dock in 1937 in New Jersey, killing 36 people. The Hindenburg and the zeppelin warships of World War I were made by the same company that manufactured the Eureka, Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik, of Friedrichshafen, Germany.
The Eureka can dock with a mast truck. But during operations at Oshkosh, where up to 16 flights took place each day, it was quicker to conduct "flying exchanges," said Rachel Loya, a spokeswoman for Airship Ventures.
It worked this way: Each time Dexter, a commercial pilot who is also required to maintain a Lighter Than Air rating from the Federal Aviation Administration, brought Eureka in for a landing on its one wheel, a ground crew member grabbed a long line connected to a ball hitch on the airship's nosecone.
Other ground crew members then escorted one passenger on to the gondola and one passenger off, via a set of movable stairs, to maintain a nearly equal weight and balance onboard. The transfer of passengers continued, one for one. The airship is also weighted down with water ballast.
"I'm not a pilot, but I had to take this ride because it's an absolute hoot," said Steve Hart, who lives in Sun Prairie, Wis. "It's better than a hot-air balloon, which by the way doesn't have its own bathroom, at least not a private one."
The Eureka is on a six-month barnstorm covering 26 states. Tours will be offered in the Chicago area Friday through Sunday, Loya said. The airship will be based at DuPage Airport in West Chicago. Different trips will be available, including some to downtown Chicago and back, Loya said. Information on flights and rates is available at airshipventures.com
Contact Getting Around at jhilkevitch@tribune.com or c/o the Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Read recent columns at http://www.chicagotribune.com/gettingaround
Related blogs and new articles about the zeppelin and our hot air balloons:
For a news video from Detroit, Michigan, click here.
Or for a report from Chicago, Illinois.
Or even Milwaukee, Wisconsin, or Muskegon.
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Click HERE for a video from airship flights over San Diego. Explains the difference between zeppelins and blimps.
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