Release 0.9: Airship Tour

This post is a pointer to a set of Flickr photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/edyson/sets/72157602060974418/ from my trip last week aboard Airship Management's blimp, cruising around New York City. If you see/saw a white blimp cruising around the city, it's probably the one I was on.

The company is based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and, with partners, manages six blimps. Each airship is about 200 feet long , with a volume of about 250,000 cubic feet. The ships themselves check in regularly at the company's repair station and technical facility in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The company now wants to set up shop around New York City and is looking for a suitable launch location there. It's also looking for funding (around $ 10 million): The three major revenue sources are advertising, paid tours (disclosure: mine was free; thanks, George!) and surveillance. One ship is used full-time hunting drug-runners and other miscreants in the Caribbean.

CEO George Spyrou originally got involved with the company as a maritime lawyer searching for things more exciting in the mid-80s. And excitement he got: Australian entrepreneur Alan Bond won the Americas Cup sailboat race and bought into the predecessor English company, Airship Industries Ltd., a publicly traded enterprise, in 1985. However, Bond's own company collapsed in 1989 and took AIL with it in 1990. With the support of Fujifilm and Japanese trading house Nissho Iwai Corporation, Spyrou eventually bought all of the rights and now owns four of the six ships.

We left from Floyd Bennett Field (following the lead of Amelia Earhart among others), but it's a bit remote and you can get delayed by traffic on the two ground routes - either Flatbush Avenue or the Belt Parkway (as my co-pilot on a United Airlines flight did this morning, FWIW).

The trip was absolutely stunning: Our flight the day before was canceled because of weather - not rain, but the winds that accompanied the front that came in and cleared out the rain. So we got an absolutely stunning view from about 3000 feet up, sailing serenely with the windows wide open. I clung tightly to my camera but I completely forgot about the glasses perched on my head and got to watch them fly away - fortunately they were dense enough to fall rather than get sucked into the propeller.

We traveled around the edges of the city (on a route controlled by the ATC at LGA, JFK and EWR) and circled the Statue of Liberty.

Further disclosure: I am involved with another similar venture, Airship Ventures, which is not yet operating, but will likely offer similar tours in the Bay Area.

 

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Comments

[Arielman]

01:13 PM on 10/01/2007

Hello Ms. Dyson, long time no read...back in MSDOS time I mean. I was just working at Republic Airport, archaeological testing for "new hangars" and right next door was a blimp mast which held the Met-Life (Snoopy) airship and then the Goodyear airship. It's in the lower southeast corner of "New York state's fourth busiest airport" though used only for private and charter, out there in Melville, NY. Maybe they could use that location for some Long Island tours, though currently it's kind of in a remote area of the airport it might not be very soon. I have a friend/reporter who once was in a four airship race around NYC I think the Fuji Film airship won. Thanks for the airship vistas.

[JScott]

08:18 AM on 10/01/2007

Got an image of it at the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge from earlier this month when I was in NYC:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a85/alexeichler/ny%20trip/100-0009_IMGverrazanonarrowsbridgew.jpg

So that's what that was I noticed it was cruising regularly with no adverts on it. Yep like other comments I googled blimp rides in NYC but got no results. There as an old item about putting it near Idylwild but that eventually was an office park. Looks like finding a location will be difficult

[WilliePilgrim]

07:35 AM on 10/01/2007

Bravo Esther!. Thanks for bringing this report. The multi-generations bias against airships seems to be albating slowly but surely and the publics acceptance of airships for a much expanded role n our transportation infrastructure, at long last, may become a reality. Let's hope an enlightened leadership gets on-board and smoothes the way for developement in what is an obviously a much over-due advancement in our transportation technology.
When do we get the really big airships again? I'm eager to fly for days on end. Cheers.

[Joeseo]

06:57 AM on 10/01/2007

Hey, thanks for your posting. I saw a white blimp flying south this past weekend. Lots of drivers like me were rubber-necking. It was a treat. NO ADS. I sure hope you folks keep it that way!

Now I can brag next time, 'cause I know.

[bar1ed]

02:47 AM on 10/01/2007

i cant wait till the graffiti artists get at it !!!!!!

[city]

01:49 AM on 10/01/2007

So this is a pitch for investors? Jeez.

[city]

01:22 AM on 10/01/2007

So this is a pitch for investors? Jeez.

[ChicagoMolly]

04:44 PM on 09/30/2007

OK, so right now we're still at the Expensive Joyride stage. And they're still hostages to bad weather. But maybe if enough people get excited by blimps for them to start making money the airship entrepreneurs can move on to bringing back the Dirigible! A proper Air Ship that could actually transport paying customers to real destinations. Yes, we'd have to get past that whole Hindenberg meme, but the materials boffins must have some ideas for a fireproof shell that's also light enough to compensate for the extra weight of helium. And here's a thought for nothing: cover the top of the Dirigible with high-capacity solar cells and run the propellers with electric motors.

[realitytrumpsbull]

01:42 AM on 09/30/2007

Didn't they just have one of those things
fall apart in a high wind and drape itself
over a building or something? Hmmm...I'm holding out for the personal jet-pack, thanks.

[jnik]

06:35 PM on 09/29/2007

AWESOME!!! I've always wanted to ride one of those things! how much does it cost? Can you post a link?

[Esther Dyson]

12:27 PM on 09/30/2007

It *will* cost about $200-300, I'd guess. but right now the service is not publicly available. Once they get their financing, that will change.