Operators On this page you will find a short list of airship operators that we have reported on in the pages of the AIRSHIP Journal, together with a link to each operator's web-sites. These web-sites are good sources of additional information carrying imagery, latest news stories, and, in some cases, booking functionality where commercial flights are already available. Zeppelin NT and Goodyear both operate tourist flights, and OceanSky Cruises are taking advance bookings for their proposed North Pole expeditions. If you are a current airship operator and would like to be featured on this page then please contact our editor at editor@airship-association.org Air Nostrum Based in Spain Visit website Airsign Airship Group Based in the U.S.A. Visit website Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei GmbH Based in Germany Visit website Galaxy US LLC Based in the U.S.A. Visit website Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Co. Based in the U.S.A. Visit website OceanSky Cruises Based in Sweden Visit website

< Back Available from amazon, price £46.95 Hindenburg There have been many books published about the Hindenburg (this one was published in 1994) but, for me, this large format illustrated book is one of the best because it isn’t just about the Hindenburg. In a series of chapters, all beautifully illustrated with photographs, maps and diagrams, the book traces the development of airships from Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin’s first balloon ride in 1863, through WWI and on to the big American airships, the British experience with the R100 and R101, and a chapter on the ‘globetrotting’ Graf Zeppelin. But from page 141 onwards the book is all about the Hindenburg. Starting with its development, and including some beautiful cut-away drawings and photographs, the book tells the story of the ‘ Ship of Dreams ’ and is full of fascinating detail, including diary entries and excerpts from reports and documents of the time. The book then comes to its tragic finale with the details of the final flight, the crash and the aftermath. There is a good discussion of the possible causes of the crash but, wisely, the author avoids drawing any firm conclusions. This probably isn’t the definitive history of the Hindenburg but it is, in my opinion, the most beautifully illustrated one.

< Back Available from amazon, price £20.61 When Giants Ruled the Sky Exclusive excerpt for AIRSHIP from, When Giants Ruled the Sky: The Brief Reign and Tragic Demise of the American Rigid Airship by John J. Geoghegan. Copyright John J. Geoghegan Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, Chief of the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics, departed Washington, D.C. accompanied by his naval aide early Monday afternoon, April 3rd, 1933. Normally, Moffett preferred flying to Lakehurst, New Jersey where his newest rigid airship, the USS Akron (ZRS-4) was based. After all, he was head of naval aviation. But the weather was sketchy, so he made the long drive in his staff car instead not wanting to risk being grounded. When the Admiral arrived at Lakehurst Naval Air Station nearly six hours later the huge slab-like doors of Hangar No. 1 were already open. Inside, the Akron , her airframe poking through her canvas-covered hull like the ribs of a steer, hovered off the concrete floor. That something larger than a battleship could float in the air seemed counterintuitive--as if the airship were thumbing her nose at gravity. And yet there she was illuminated by overhead lights with a shadow beneath her proving it was no magic trick. Moffett’s car pulled into the Akron’s hangar followed by a shrill whistle alerting the crew to fall in place. While the men came to attention, their breath visible in the chilly night air, the Akron’s captain, Commander Frank C. McCord, greeted Moffett with a smart salute. NAS-Lakehurst was the heart of Moffett’s rigid airship program. Still, Moffett wasn’t satisfied with having a dirigible base on the east coast of the United States. He was building a second one in California as well. In the meantime, the culmination of everything America knew about big rigids operated just a few miles south of New York City. There was nothing small about Moffett’s rigid airship program. From the size of its budget to the thousands of miles the Akron could fly without having to land, no string of superlatives quite did it justice. There’s no denying the Akron was a window into the future. A miracle of modern engineering, she was state-of-the-art for the U.S. Navy when commissioned in 1931. Seven hundred and eighty-five feet long and 140 feet tall, she dwarfed everything around her including her crew which looked Lilliputian by comparison. Even King Kong, the giant ape in a new movie released the previous month was a chimp by comparison. Size didn’t mean she was slow, however. The Akron was the fastest dirigible the Navy had ever flown. Her eight Maybach engines generated a top speed of more than 80 miles per hour. That wasn’t as fast as airplanes of the day, but the Akron didn’t need to be. Her job wasn’t to get some place in a hurry, but to scout thousands of square miles for days at 1 a time. This required range not speed. Able to travel more than 10,000 miles without refueling, the Akron was a marathoner not a sprinter. Incredibly, she was also a self-contained city in the sky with everything she needed to keep her 80 man crew aloft for days on end. This included three separate mess halls plus a galley; three separate sleeping quarters for her officers, Chief Petty Officers, and enlisted men; “heads” with toilets and sinks (if not showers); navigation and radio rooms; a weather center; sick bay, smoking room, and captain’s cabin all residing inside her enormous hull connected by a labyrinth of catwalks, stairs and ladders. Additionally, the Akron not only had running water, but her own power plant to generate electricity. Eighteen telephones spread throughout the ship assisted communication while eight machine gun emplacements helped repel attack. There was even a sub cloud observation car that could be lowered on a cable to spy on the enemy below. If that wasn’t impressive, the Akron was also a flying aircraft carrier. She not only carried two airplanes inside her belly, which could be deployed and retrieved in mid-flight, but a third which hung from a trapeze outside the airship. The world had seen nothing like it. Unfortunately, the Akron also suffered from the same high hopes so many first born are saddled with. Although she’d only been flying 18 months, there was the feeling she wasn’t living up to expectations. Having experienced a series of mishaps as well as judged vulnerable to being shot down, the Akron had a long ways to go before proving herself an effective ocean-going scout. One flight wasn’t going to change that, but Rear Admiral Moffett wanted to be on board that night if for no other reason than to demonstrate she could fly even in inclement weather. As if being a wunderkind weren’t enough, the future of America’s airship industry depended on how the Akron performed. If she did well then the financial community would feel comfortable investing in passenger-carrying airships, but if the Akron failed to live up to expectations then the financial markets would steer clear of what they deemed a risky investment. In other words, Moffett to show the Akron could fly in poor weather if he wanted the financial community to invest in America’s nascent airship manufacturing industry. That’s why he didn’t want a fewstorm clouds preventing the Akron from taking off that night. Unfortunately, that decision would cost Moffett his life.

Manufacturers On this page you will find a list of airship manufacturers that we have reported on in the pages of the AIRSHIP Journal, together with a link to each manufacturer's web-sites. These web-sites are good sources of additional information carrying imagery, latest news stories and, in some cases, detailed technical content. The LTA Research web-site is particularly good and has a 3D model of Pathfinder-1 for you to explore. If you are a current airship manufacturer and would like to be featured on this page then please contact our editor at editor@airship-association.org Atlas LTA Based in Israel Visit website Flying Whales Based in France & Canada Visit website Galaxy US LLC Based in the U.S.A. Visit website Hybrid Air Vehicles Based in the U.K. Visit website LTA Research Based in the U.S.A. Visit website SCEYE Based in the U.S.A. Visit website Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH Based in Germany Visit website

< Back Available from amazon, price £11.17 N4 Down Triumphantly returning from the North Pole on May 24, 1928, the world-famous exploring airship Italia—code-named N-4—was struck by a terrible storm and crashed somewhere over the Arctic ice, triggering the largest polar rescue mission in history. Helping lead the search was Roald Amundsen, the poles’ greatest explorer, who himself soon went missing in the frozen wastes. Amundsen’s body has never been found, the last victim of one of the Arctic’s most enduring mysteries. Braiding together the gripping accounts of the survivors and their heroic rescuers, N-4 Down tells the unforgettable true story of what happened when the glamour and restless daring of the zeppelin age collided with the harsh reality of earth’s extremes.

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< Back Available from Amazon, price £19.90 Helium This is an exceedingly comprehensive study of the element Helium and a true work of scholarship. John Taylor traces the beginnings of his fascination with Helium to his association with airships and use of the element as a safe lifting gas. Over a period of some six years the author absorbed a very considerable knowledge of all aspects of the element Helium and has rationalised that into an extraordinary detailed six part book. Where visual aids are applied, they are invariably of a high quality as are illustrations depicting various reactions in diagrammatic form. The book is highly educational and it is no exaggeration in describing it as the definitive work on the Helium element.

The AIRSHIP Journal Here is a selection of articles extracted from recent editions of the AIRSHIP Journal. If you like what you read, we invite you to consider joining the Association and getting the next edition of the Journal delivered directly to you, either printed copy by mail or PDF direct to your inbox. Issue 199 Sample Article Issue 202 Sample Article Issue 200 Sample Article Issue 203 Sample Article Issue 201 Sample Article Issue 204 Sample Article

Airship Books Airship Technology Available from Amazon, price £106.28 Read More N4 Down Available from amazon, price £11.17 Read More When Giants Ruled the Sky Available from amazon, price £20.61 Read More Helium Available from Amazon, price £19.90 Read More Hindenburg Available from amazon, price £46.95 Read More Principles of Aerostatics Available from Amazon, price £21.50 Read More Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Available on amazon, price £44.68 Read More Airships - Designed for Greatness Currently out of print Read More Here is a selection of some of the best airship-related books we have reviewed in the pages of the AIRSHIP Journal, together with a copy of our review.

< Back Available from Amazon, price £106.28 Airship Technology Airship Technology is one of the definitive text books about airships, and this second edition includes a lot of new material. I have a copy of the original 1999 edition and it breaks down into into 18 chapters (each written by a subject matter expert) covering every topic from Basic Principles and Aerodynamics through to Piloting, Performance and Roles and Economic Considerations. It’s not a book you read from cover to cover (unless you’re really keen) but it is a valuable reference book that will become ‘well thumbed’ from taking it down to look something up. This new edition (2012) keeps almost all of the original 18 chapters and then adds several new ones covering topics like the Zeppelin NT, Heavy Lift Airships and Disaster & Humanitarian Relief. It is, without doubt, a comprehensive guide to modern airship design and operation. It’s not cheap but with Christmas coming up it may be the perfect time to add a copy to your bookshelf.

< Back Available on amazon, price £44.68 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company This beautifully curated, 260 page photo history covers the broad sweep of Goodyear’s history from it’s founding in 1898 through to 1951, but while there is much that is of only passing interest to the airship enthusiast, two chapters, and one in particular, stand out. Chapter 4 ( Up, Up and Away , 46 pages) covers Goodyear’s balloons from their early barrage and observation balloons to their specialist stratosphere balloons, and includes 37 b&w photos. Chapter 3 ( Gentle Giants , 39 pages) is probably of more interest to the airship aficionado though. Starting with the original Akron (1912) there are some 30 b&w pictures covering every major class of blimp, patrol craft and rigid airship that Goodyear put its name to, including the Shenandoah and the Los Angeles. It is not a cheap book, and the ePub and ePDF versions offer no savings over the cover price which is a shame, but it is undoubtedly a book of great historical interest.

< Back Available from amazon, price £46.95 Hindenburg There have been many books published about the Hindenburg (this one was published in 1994) but, for me, this large format illustrated book is one of the best because it isn’t just about the Hindenburg. In a series of chapters, all beautifully illustrated with photographs, maps and diagrams, the book traces the development of airships from Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin’s first balloon ride in 1863, through WWI and on to the big American airships, the British experience with the R100 and R101, and a chapter on the ‘globetrotting’ Graf Zeppelin. But from page 141 onwards the book is all about the Hindenburg. Starting with its development, and including some beautiful cut-away drawings and photographs, the book tells the story of the ‘ Ship of Dreams ’ and is full of fascinating detail, including diary entries and excerpts from reports and documents of the time. The book then comes to its tragic finale with the details of the final flight, the crash and the aftermath. There is a good discussion of the possible causes of the crash but, wisely, the author avoids drawing any firm conclusions. This probably isn’t the definitive history of the Hindenburg but it is, in my opinion, the most beautifully illustrated one.