Ride The Farmers 'Zeppelin NT' 3-Engine Airship At Oshkosh 2011

The Farmers Airship (Zeppelin NT) is coming to OSH11!  (photo: Airship Ventures)

(7 pix and a lot of words!)

 Airship Ventures, operators of the Zeppelin NT (NT=New Technology) the semi-rigid helium-filled airship in the San Francisco bay area will be heading east for July to Wittman Regional Airport and Oshkosh 2011!  This means the fabulous Farmers Insurance branded airship, which just happens to be the largest in the world, will be making the skies over Oshkosh look beautiful and nostalgic... and even better, you’ll be able to purchase a 45 minute ride in this fascinating flying machine.

 The rides aren’t cheap, but this once-in-a-lifetime experience will be well worth it… especially since you’ll be getting a relaxing, panoramic view (look at the size of those windows!) of the world’s greatest aviation event! For $399 per person, you and 11 other passengers will experience comfort and fun in the most technologically advanced airship ever made. And it’ll be operating out of the most dynamic airport in the world. Actually, the Farmers Airship will operate out of the ‘airport within an airport’, Pioneer Airport, the nostalgic grass runway and hangars right next to the EAA Air Adventure Museum.

Large gondola with room for 12 pax and some really huge windows! (Airship Ventures)

(click pic to enlarge) 

In my opinion, Oshkosh is always more enjoyable when an airship is in the sky over the event. Whether it’s the Goodyear Blimp, the Virgin Lightship, or the Farmers Airship, there’s just something very satisfying about having a graceful airship overhead. And this year, the 246 foot long Zeppelin NT will be hard to miss since it’s significantly larger than any other airship currently flying.

There’s no way to know how fast the rides will sell out, but I strongly suggest that if you’re interested in this amazing ride opportunity, which will run July 22nd thru the 31st, you should call 650-969-8100 ext. 111 or e-mail reservations@airshipventures.com to get your tickets in advance. I can’t think of a better way to experience Oshkosh this year! Read on for a lot of Zeppelin NT details...

This Zepellin NT normally operates in the San Fransisco bay area (Airship Ventures)

(click pic to enlarge)

 I’m overjoyed that the 3-engine Farmers Airship is coming to OSH11 for two reasons. First is what I stated above, airships make Oshkosh even better than usual just by filling the sky with goodness. But secondly, the recent announcement of the plan to bring the Zeppelin to Wisconsin has given me reason to do something I should have done a long time ago… take a close look at what the Zeppelin NT really is.

 After a few days of research, I’m extremely impressed with what this descendant of the original Zeppelin line has to offer. And it’s not just me that’s impressed either, Goodyear recently announced that they will be replacing their aging fleet of blimps with Zeppelin NT’s in a joint effort to build new airships. If you know your history, you’re probably aware that Goodyear and Zeppelin teamed up way back in 1917 to build airships, so this is kinda going full circle. The original cooperative effort led to a lot of U.S. built blimps and two of the really huge rigid airships, the Akron and the Macon, which were similar to the Zeppelin Hindenburg. However, World War II came along and understandably separated the two companies.

The amazing vectored thrust means very little ground crew is needed (Airship Ventures)

(click pic to enlarge)

 The modern Zeppelin NT is bigger than the blimps you’ve seen in the last 50 years. For example, the NT is 246 feet long and the current Goodyear Blimps are 192 feet long. There are other very big differences as well… like the fact that the NT’s are semi-rigid, unlike blimps that don’t have any internal, rigid structure. In contrast, the huge Zeppelin’s like the Hindenburg, which was a whopping 803 feet long, had a full rigid structure with a skin covering. The NT uses aluminum and carbon fiber to create an abbreviated structure allowing hard points for the gondola, the high mounted side engines and the fins with the aft mounted engine. It’s this hybrid concept that really introduces some great advances in performance.

 First, the minimal rigid structure keeps the weight reduced compared to having a full shape-giving structure. But, because this structure exists, the engines could be moved from the aft end of the gondola like we’ve seen on most all blimps, to a position much higher up the side of the envelope where there’s structure to support the weight and handle the thrust loads. You just can’t very practically do that on the fabric skin of a blimp. Moving the engines to this spot accomplishes several really good things. The propellers are moved high out of the way making the loading and unloading of passengers much easier and safer. It also moves the noise of the engines farther away from the gondola, as well as eliminating the chance of damaging the props from stirring up debris on the ground. The engines are also effectively out on a pretty long arm now so you get some potential significant yaw power with varied thrust.

My favorite airship of all time - the Zeppelin NT is a taildragger!  (Telstar Logistics)

(click pic to enlarge)

 The three engines on the NT are Lycoming IO-360’s making 200 hp each. The two engines mounted on sides of the envelope are set up to allow the props (not the engines) to pivot from pushing air straight down, to straight back, to 30 degrees up. Being able to vector the thrust adds an amazing amount of control in an airship. The Airship Industries blimps from the 80’s (like the old Fuji Blimp) had ducted fans that pivoted which demonstrated much easier ground handling, launch and landing capabilities than a Goodyear style blimp with a fixed thrust line. The Zeppelin adds even more controllability by having the thrust mounted higher and wider on the envelope, and with an amazing range of vectoring.

Tail fins, rear engine driving two props, and the tailwheel  (Telstar Logistics)

(click pic to enlarge)

 But when you want to talk about extreme controllability, the Zeppelin NT has a secret weapon… the aft mounted engine driving a pivoting pusher prop as well as a side facing prop that can function like a tailrotor. This combination allows a level of control, especially close to the ground, that has just never been seen before in an airship. And it’s here again where having some internal structure allows for the weight and thrust loads of an engine mounted in this location. The semi-rigid design concept seems to make a lot of sense when you understand more of the reasons for it. Plus, the three engines when combined for forward thrust yield a max speed around 75 mph, tho typical cruise is around 35 mph.

Close up of the rear engine and dual props for amazing thrust control (Telstar Logistics)

(click pic to enlarge)

 Another really interesting design element to the NT is that it’s not normally operated as lighter-than-air. The weight at takeoff is typically around 750 pounds, which means that the articulated props are actually creating the lift as well as the forward thrust. It would seem that this would make ground handling easier while also making controlled descent easier to accomplish. I’m pretty sure the Goodyear blimp typically uses the ballonets to point the blimp nose down, then uses forward thrust to drive the blimp downhill. This certainly works, but having both a heavier-than-air airship and the wide-range vectored thrust allows the Zeppelin NT to be far more maneuverable, and do it rather easily. And when you add modern fly-by-wire control systems to all this enhanced controllability, you’ve got an amazing airship that can easily operate out of a 600 foot circle, take off and landing vertically, and do so, with a passenger exchange, in under 5 minutes.

 So, I’d say having a Zeppelin NT flying overhead at Oshkosh 2011 is a pretty big deal… and having the opportunity to buy a ride in this fantastic flying machine is absolutely almost too good to be true! If you’re able to afford the ride, make the call or send that email now!

650-969-8100 ext. 111
reservations@airshipventures.com

 I plan to go into even more detail in the future on what makes a modern airship tick. I’ve always had a strong attraction to the beauty and grace of these unusual flying machines, and getting to know the Zeppelin NT has really rekindled that fire : )

Comments

[glen towler]

Lets hope they more success than airship industries a company who lasted only 10 years according to Wikipedia