Zeppelin September 18, 2009

We took a zeppelin ride Friday September 18 out of Moffett Field, Mountain View, nominally from 1 to 3 pm. For us, this was my birthday present. We went with Steve & Barbara, bridge friends.

Since it all happened in a few hours, and we all were taking photos, the photos have the time and a credit, instead of just the date.

11:38 (John): Zeppelin returning to base from a previous flight

This side of the zeppelin was rented for ad space. “23andMe” sells a home DNA test kit.

There are three of these modern zeppelins, one each in the U.S., Japan and Germany, all made in Germany. This one’s only a year or so old; its real name is “Eureka”:

12:52 (Mischel): Zeppelin rolled out of Hangar 2 for our flight

The landing gear consists of two wheels, fore and aft, not retractable. The steps are removable. The ship has radar and radio, and GPS, and leather seats but no cupholders or fold-down trays.

Like a balloon, it needs a ground crew, and also a mast truck:

12:49 (John): Zepellin outside Hanger 2

Actually, they have two mast trucks. Unlike a balloon, which can be folded and shipped on a truck, to move a zeppelin a large distance it has to fly, and needs mast trucks at both ends.

12:57 (John): Left propeller rotated up for lift

It has three 4-cylinder engines, one on each side and one on the tail. The big deal is the gearbox, which allows at least the side propellers to be rotated up (and down, I guess) to control elevation.

Somewhere along the way Mischel got lucky:

Blazing sevens on a quarter slot

But that’s another story.

This story: Airship Ventures called that morning, letting us know the 90-minute flight would actually be two hours. I guess somebody wanted to pay for two hours. For us: more flying time, same money.

Steve and Barbara picked us up about 11:15. We drove to the Airship Ventures office on Moffett Field. The Moffett gate guard only asked for an ID from the driver. We waited in the ready room until about 12:30 for the pre-flight briefing. After the briefing, we 12 passengers were driven in a van around the airstrip and through a locked gate to Hangar 2.

Hangar 1 is the big one, on the west side of the airstrip, built to house the Macon, a huge dirigible (US-built zeppelin). It’s closed while they try to figure out whether to fix the environmental problems or scrap it. Hangars 2 and 3 are not as big, on the east side of the airstrip, and are currently in use.

After a little while, the wind settled down, so the zeppelin stayed pointing in the same direction, and we boarded. We got the on-board briefing from Fritz, the copilot on loan from Germany, and took off.

We followed Middlefield Road through Mountain View to Redwood City, then 101 north for a while.

1:16 (John): Palo Alto: Hewlett-Packard HQs on Hanover St. at Page Mill Road

HP has caused me some grief recently, getting an SSA-131 form filled out.

1:20 (Mischel): Stanford, new stadium on the near right

The road in the foreground is El Camino Real. The new stadium is on the near right.

The one tall building is Hoover Tower, home of “The Hoover Institute on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University”, a right-wing think tank on a left-wing campus. The name is notable because everything else (the graduate schools, the golf course, you name it) is “The Stanford this or that”.

I was on the Hoover Tower observation deck once. Nice view. Glad they didn’t ring the bells.

1:18 (John): Stanford: Palm Drive

1:51 (Mischel): Steve & John

The zeppelin’s shadow is in the parking lot of the Hiller Museum at the San Carlos Airport:

1:30 (John): San Carlos: Hiller Museum

I was there for the first time the previous Sunday for an MIT club function.

The little plane on the roof is one of Burt Rutan’s canard (small front wing) planes:

1:30 (John): San Carlos: Hiller Museum

1:34 (John): The zeppelin cabin

1:31 (John): The view forward

1:32 (John): Oracle HQs

1:47 (John): Millbrae (?): San Francisco Airport

1:46 (John): Millbrae (?): San Francisco Airport

Here’s the view looking back:

1:48 (John): Millbrae (?): San Francisco Airport

1:55 (John): San Francisco: Candlestick Park (SF 49ers)

Occasionally Fritz would come through the cabin, offering bottled water. It was warm (80’s ?), but the windows on the two doors were open, so there was a nice breeze.

We were at 1000 feet altitude, and, at 35 MPH with no traffic, made good time.

2:02 (Mischel): San Francisco (Hunters Point): the Sea Princess cruise ship in drydock

2:02 (John): San Francisco: PacBell Park (SF Giants)

2:06 (John): San Francisco Bay: pilot, Alcatraz Island

2:09 (Mischel): San Francisco Bay: Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge

2:12 (Mischel): San Francisco Bay: San Francisco financial district

2:08 (Steve): San Francisco Bay: Angel Island

2:08 (John): San Francisco Bay: sailboat

2:10 (Steve): San Francisco Bay: copilot; Treasure Island

Treasure Island is flat because it’s artificial, built for a world’s fair. Yep, we’re about 50 yards long:

2:11 (John): San Francisco Bay: Treasure Island soccer field

This is the eastern span of the Bay Bridge, from Oakland to Yerba Buena Island:

2:12 (John): San Francisco Bay: Bay Bridge

This is the part they replaced over Labor Day weekend, to reroute traffic:

2:12 (John): San Francisco Bay: Bay Bridge

This shows the rest of the temporary roadway:

2:13 (John): San Francisco Bay: Bay Bridge

The eastern span of the Bay Bridge was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and temporarily repaired in a month or so. The replacement for the entire eastern span should be done in 2013.

2:13 (John): San Francisco Bay: Bay Bridge western span & San Francisco

Then we went back, hugging the eastern side of the bay. We never got close enough to Oakland for a picture. The Alameda Naval Air Station has been razed. The Oakland Airport looks almost as bad. Mostly we saw mud flats and salt evaporation ponds.