Airship Update: Farmers Zeppelin Reaches Oklahoma on National Tour

reprint from NewsOK.com:

Zeppelin Makes Oklahoma City Stop


The Farmers Airship, also known as the Eureka, made a stop in Oklahoma City on Monday. The 246-foot, 14,000 pound airship has been touring the country for the past six months, and is set to return to its California home about three weeks from now.

BY MATT DINGER mdinger@opubco.com
Published: September 20, 2011

The world's largest zeppelin made a stop in Oklahoma City on Monday.

The Farmers Airship, the world's largest airship and one of only two zeppelins
 in the world passes south of downtown Oklahoma City Monday, September 19, 2011.
 Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman. ORG XMIT: KOD

The Farmers Airship, also known as the Eureka, travels at an altitude of 1,000 to 1,500 feet, and is capable of speeds up to 75 mph, but typically travels at 35 to 40 mph.

Unlike hydrogen-filled airships of the past, this zeppelin is filled with helium, a nonflammable, lighter-than-air gas. What separates a blimp from a zeppelin is the rigid frame inside the ship, which means that it holds most of its shape even when emptied of gas and the engines are mounted on the side and the rear of the ship, rather than the cabin.

“We like to say, ‘We don't fly. We float,'” said David Finney, guest services supervisor for Airship Ventures, the California company that owns the airship.

Zeppelin on tour: Take off on the largest airship on the planet

Re-print from Chicago Sun Times 

BY LORI RACKL July 13, 2011 1:24PM

Please, don’t call it a blimp.

It’s a Zeppelin.

The Farmers Airship that’s floating across the country offering flightseeing tours in 16 cities — including Chicago and Oshkosh, Wis. — is one of only two Zeppelins in the world.

The difference between a Zeppelin and a blimp is that a Zeppelin has a rigid internal frame that gives it its shape. Blimps are more like balloons.

Because blimps lack a Zeppelin’s skeletal framework, their engines are mounted on the side of the passenger cabin, creating noise and vibration. A ride on a Zeppelin is much more peaceful, thanks to the engines being tucked away on the sides of the hull and the tail end of the airship, far from the passenger gondola.

Another key difference is that “Zeppelin” sounds way cooler than “blimp.” Jimmy Page would never be in a band called Led Blimp.