Red Zeppelin
October 4th 2006 07:30
Well, I saw my first airship today. I know, I know. It’s not really something to write home about, but hey, I’m shallow. Anyway, my first thought when I saw it was “Wow. So that’s a blimp.” My next thought was “Damn, I’m underwhelmed.” I was expecting the first airship I saw to be like the Hindenburg – majestic, huge, breath-taking (but not quite as explosive). Instead, I was treated to the sight of what looked to be a misshapen pregnant puffer fish drifting across the sky. That’s right, drifting. That’s not what real airships are supposed to do. Airships are supposed to… well, fine, they’re supposed to drift, but they’re supposed to do it swiftly. The one I saw was barely moving. Plus, its color scheme wasn’t really my type. I didn’t know if it was the official blimp of Vodafone or whether a crazed Sydney Swans fan just went berserk with some cans of paint (hence, the title of my post). At this point, I was thinking that it was a good thing airplanes eventually replaced these lumbering bags of gas (I wasn’t talking to you, Kim Beazley). These things used to transport people across oceans?! It would have been better if you walked. You’d get there faster. I couldn’t get my head around the fact that blimps – the same machines that fly around dragging corporate banners – were once used as commercial aircraft, so I did some research about airships. It turns out that, surprise surprise, blimps were different from zeppelins. D’oh!
Zeppelins are rigid framed airships. It has an internal steel framework that gives it its shape. These were the airships used for transporting passengers and cargo. The zeppelin was invented, of course, by a guy named Zeppelin in 1900. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was a German military officer who found time from professional soldiering to put gas in an enclosed area. Forty years later, his compatriots would do the same thing, except their results weren’t quite as amusing. The Hindenburg was a zeppelin.
Blimps, on the other hand, are nonrigid airships. They don’t have a metal framework in place and, instead, rely on air bags to keep their shape. Kinda like Pamela Anderson. The origin of the word “blimp” is unclear. According to wordorigins.org, there are several theories. One is that, in the past, airships were classified according to their rigidity: Class-A Rigid and Class-B Limp. Another theory says it is from the sound produced when the gas bag is hit. Still another possibility is from J.R.R. Tolkien who theorized that it was the product of “blister” plus “lump”. The red and white abomination I saw was most likely a blimp, not a zeppelin.
Now that I know a bit about airships, I can now begin to appreciate their finer points. Like whether the pilots ever get high on helium.
*Reference: About.com
Zeppelins are rigid framed airships. It has an internal steel framework that gives it its shape. These were the airships used for transporting passengers and cargo. The zeppelin was invented, of course, by a guy named Zeppelin in 1900. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was a German military officer who found time from professional soldiering to put gas in an enclosed area. Forty years later, his compatriots would do the same thing, except their results weren’t quite as amusing. The Hindenburg was a zeppelin.
Blimps, on the other hand, are nonrigid airships. They don’t have a metal framework in place and, instead, rely on air bags to keep their shape. Kinda like Pamela Anderson. The origin of the word “blimp” is unclear. According to wordorigins.org, there are several theories. One is that, in the past, airships were classified according to their rigidity: Class-A Rigid and Class-B Limp. Another theory says it is from the sound produced when the gas bag is hit. Still another possibility is from J.R.R. Tolkien who theorized that it was the product of “blister” plus “lump”. The red and white abomination I saw was most likely a blimp, not a zeppelin.
Now that I know a bit about airships, I can now begin to appreciate their finer points. Like whether the pilots ever get high on helium.
*Reference: About.com
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