ZEPPELINS to replace Goodyear blimps in American skies

The first of the new, hi-tech German-made zeppelins which will replace the iconic Goodyear blimps in the skies above the USA has been unveiled at the Goodyear airship base in Ohio. The zeppelin in question is a "Neue Technologie" (NT) type produced by the modern-day German company descended from the Graf von Zeppelin's …

[Chris Miller]

The real blimp

Is the guy directing the "wide load" through the gates near the end of the video. Just average-sized for Ohio, I guess.

[Vladimir Plouzhnikov]

Yes!

Three cheers for our new semi-rigid, helium filled, German speaking overlords!

[Not That Andrew]

Pity that competition is only open to Yanks, I wanted to propose Graf Zeppelin as a name

[Tom 35]

How about Zuckerberg's Ego

[Michael H.F. Wilkinson]

Zeppelin NT?

Will there be an XP version later

Sorry, couldn't resist

Oh, deary me, looks like it's time to go home already

[Bill Neal]

Re: Zeppelin NT?

I guess we missed out on Zeppelin for Workgroups. They should be alright as long as they don't name one Vista.

[Chad H.]

Re: Zeppelin NT?

Wheres the consumer Zepplin 95?

[ElReg!comments!Pierre]

Re: Zeppelin NT?

And Zeppelin ME: the one that can't take off and has to be carried overhead by the crew making motor noises with their mouth.

[hplasm]

Re: Zeppelin NT?

Zeppelin 8x yet to take off...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Zeppelin NT?

Not looking forward to Zeppelin ver 8.... the Start button will be removed.

"How do I turn this ON??!!"

[disgruntled yank]

reverted?

Even with the use of blimps for anti-submarine work in WW II and the radar platforms of the early Cold War, I can't imagine that Goodyear ever made anything like the money on blimps that it did on tires.

[Anonymous Coward]

Blimp.

Funny word. Makes me laugh. : )

[Martipar]

Re: Blimp.

It's an aonomatopœia it's sound it makes when you slap one.

[Captain DaFt]

Re: Blimp.

"It's an aonomatopœia it's sound it makes when you slap one."

That's apocryphal, slightly less so is that it came from the classifications:

Zeppelin Type A. Rigid

Zeppelin Type B. Limp

[kmac499]

Naming the new ship ..

Well as it's an NT Blimp with all new core technology can I suggest "Kernel"..

Coat Please...

[Anonymous Coward]

The most important question is...

What kind of gas are they using to fill it with ?

Hydrogen ?

[Arthur Jackson]

De dur de dur da

I've gotta whole lotta love for this story

[Stoneshop]

Re: De dur de dur da

I suppose it's got this solid-state illumination tech on board.

[drewsup]

Golden Compass

I want the one the evil witch in The Golden Compass had, what a gorgeous piece of engineering that looked to be!

[MacroRodent]

Seen it!

One of the NT:s hung around the Helsinki Malmi airport one summer around 10 years ago. It arrived from Germany, and the idea was to fly it to Japan, but Russia did not give the required permits. So after a month or two it flew back, and was later ignomiously shipped to its buyer by sea.

I live near the small Malmi airport, and saw it arrive, and then sadly grounded there.Funnhy how after a while this exotic ship started looking like a part of the landscape...

[Gareth Jones 2]

Re: Seen it!

That was D-LZNT. I had a fly in it (as passenger) when it was based at Damyns Hall near London. Wonderful machine, have a go in one if you can. Commander (Kate Board) was pretty cool too :-) Now flying a Zeppelin out of Friedricshaffen http://www.regio-tv.de/video/251765.html

[ElReg!comments!Pierre]

Re: Seen it!

> Commander (Kate Board) was pretty cool too

I was somehow hoping to see someone closer to Bangladesh DuPree. I am disappoint.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Seen it! -I was somehow hoping to see someone closer to Bangladesh DuPree

I'm not, I can't imagine why my father keeps her alive.

-Gil.

[Stevie]

Bah!

I think you'll find that Goodyear is a tire company. You were probably thinking of that nice Mr Dunlop's products.

8o)

[Jones]

blimpy boy!

"Hey there, blimpy boy! Flying through the sky so fancy free"

[Alan Esworthy]

@Stevie - I hate to break this to you, but Dunlop is a Goodyear brand. I'm sure they market tyres in the UK, but I assure you they spell it "tires" at corporate headquarters in Buffalo, New York.

Now the good news! DMACK definitely is in the tyre trade!

[Stevie]

Dunlop is a Goodyear brand

Bah! That just goes to show that nothing good comes of allowing colonies out from under the Iron Fist of Benevolent British Rule.

World's gone to the dogs.

[Howard Hanek]

Real American

So it's a German airship with an American logo. Right.

American's are used to things like that. We have a Kenyan citizen with an American logo who's ego is the size of that blimp. And he's seen everywhere.

[Lars]

Re: Real American

You should not take your information from an orangutang.

[Martin Budden]

Yes it's a blimp.

Not because the word is technically correct (it isn't wasn't) but because English is a fluid language which evolves over time: when a word changes in a way that gains widespread acceptance as common usage, the new meaning becomes the correct one.

Some commentards will remember that "gay" used to mean cheerful.

[markw:]

Re: Yes it's a blimp.

I remember that gay used to mean homosexual.

[Stretch]

We like zeppelins

[Dave Bell]

If helicopters had the same media treatment as Zeppelins when they fall out of the sky, the North Sea Oil industry would have a few problems.

[John Savard]

What?

Calling a dirigible a blimp?

Goodyear not making the Goodyear blimp itself but importing replacements from Germany?

Oh, the humanity!

[Anonymous Coward]

GRP and aramid frame? It seems not.

The handy factsheet Lewis Page points us at says the frame's made of carbon fibre and aluminum - kind of not GRP (glass reinforced plastic) and aramid as stated in his article.

I assume the carbon fibre's used as reinforcement for some sort of resin - probably epoxy - so the construction is basically the same as glass reinforced plastic, only with carbon fibre reinforcement.

I see from the Zeppelin NT site that aramid's used in the structure. I don't see any mention of glass, though.