I have a secret love affair with airships. Ok, maybe not so secret. They are in a word, awesome. I wish airships from movies like Stardust or games like Final Fantasy were a reality. I’ve always thought they would be the coolest machines ever built. I have a special place in my heart for complex machinery made out of wood, rope, and brass. This is the essence of steampunk technology to me.
So the Zeppelin may come back to San Francisco. Airship Ventures is a company that hopes to bring commercial airship tours to the US by fall of next year (the stress is on hope). The rides won’t be cheap — about $250-$500 a pop. Also these airships are more like blimps. They are built by Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik (Airship Technologies) in Germany. Already, they are used for tours around the world. There are a bunch of pictures on their website along with a set of draconian copyright rules that prevent me from posting one on my blog.
Fortunately, there is Flickr.
