Some own them (Goodyear and Fuji for instance), but most lease the airship and the service. Service includes the pilot and crew, insurance, service vehicles and operations management. The only thing the advertiser has to do is determine where they want to fly their blimp.

An airship, also known as a dirigible, is a powered lighter-than-air craft. In other words, an airship is an aircraft that derives its lift from a lifting gas (usually helium or hot air) while it is propelled forward by an engine.

their name implies, rigid airships have an internal frame. The Zeppelins and the USS Akron and Macon were famous rigid airships. The rigid structure, traditionally an aluminum alloy, holds up the form of the airship. In general rigid airships are only efficient when longer than 120 Meters (360ft.) because a good weight to volume ratio is (or was) only achievable for large airships. For a small airship the solid frame would have been too heavy.

Why airships fly is explained by the Principle of Archimedes: "Bodies submerged into a fluid receive from it a lifting force which is equal to the mass of the displaced fluid." (This is the same principle that explains why boats float on water.) The airship is filled with a lifting gas (Hydrogen, Helium, hot air or natural gas). The air in which the airship finds itself has a higher specific weight than the lifting gas.

There is a special pilot licence that is required for airships. In the USA the airship pilot rating was recently split into VFR (visual flight rules) and IFR (instrument flight rules) since modern airships are now able to fly under instrument flight conditions, i.e. at night or in the clouds. As for any other pilots licence, a special commercial rating has to be obtained for commercial flights. Virtually all airship pilots are professionals employed by commercial airship operators.

Unless you have several hundred thousand dollars to spend, you should probably consider building a radio-controlled airship or a manned hot air balloon instead. If the financial requirements do not deter you, a book called "Building Gas Blimps - A Practical Guide to Building Small Gas Blimps" by Robert J. Recks will provide you with more detail. The book is available for approximately US$80 directly from the author (e-mail r.recks@juno.com).

semi-rigid (those having a rigid keel running the envelope length, such as the Norge or Italia or the new Zeppelin NT), and non-rigid (having no internal framework, such as the present Goodyear fleet -- Eagle, Stars & Stripes, Spirit of Akron). In non-rigids, the internal pressure of the lifting gas (non-flammable helium) maintains the shape of the envelope. Internal air compartments -- ballonets -- are inflated or deflated with air to compensate for ambient pressure differences.

There are several other blimps in the world. Most are smaller than the Goodyear blimps and are active in Europe and North America. Yes, and No. The blimps in the United States are manufactured with help from Lockheed Martin. The envelopes and other components are fabricated by Goodyear & Lockheed Martin, and final erection takes place at the airship hangar in Akron, Ohio. It takes twenty-five people twelve weeks to put everything together.

Want to ride in a Zeppelin? Me too! Book flights via Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei. Auf deutsch. € 335,00 - € 370,00 per person. Tell them I sent you. They'll look at you strangely :) since May 14, 2002 we operate the most confortable airship worldwide with the highest passenger capability available. Our Skyship 600 N-605SK carries up to 12 passengers from We to Sun on five to six flights a day over one of the most beautiful areas of Switzerland.

Of the hundreds of inventors granted patents for early airship (and airplane) designs and variations, few succeeded in building or flying their craft. gt; J.B.M.

Within the archives they have a large number of Blue Prints of Airships! (Tangential: R100 in Canada pdf.) A 6ft.-long (2m.) 3-view drawing of the USS AKRON is available from the MAPS Air Museum gift shop for $10 US, including shipping & handling in the US. Write to:

To give your blog more visibility to attract advertisers, you can join the Marketplace. There's plenty of information about the Marketplace here.

No. We use Helium as our lifting gas, which is completely inert and non-flammable. (In the old days, ships like the Hindenburg were filled with hydrogen which did burn).

Our airships normally operate at around 1,500 to 3,000 feet. We can, however, go up to 8,000 but the payload is reduced.

Goodyear has no plans in the immediate future to expand its airship operations to include experiments with larger airships.

A lease is a contract in which one party permits the other to occupy and use certain premises in exchange for payment of rent. The terms of a lease are openly agreed upon at the beginning of tenancy. The lease need not be technically formal, but must include for the tenant a use, occupation, or possession clause. A lease involves the transfer of interest in real estate and must be in writing to protect all parties. There are different types of agreements.

Just about any commercial equipment for use in business, government or non-profit institutions...[the list] is extensive

Lease to own enables you to move into a property with a lease agreement which gives you the option to purchase the property at a later date at a set price. USA Lease rebates anywhere from 25 to 50% of lease payments toward purchase depending on the property. Also, this is only an OPTION to purchase. You are not obligated to buy the property after fulfilling the lease term.

In-air flight time for the airship (in a typical lease) is 70 - 120 hours per month. Normal flight time is six hours per day, five days per week. Flexible scheduling allows for flight operations on weekends and holidays to best suit the advertiser's needs.