Cocoon: For People Who Want to Live in a Blimp

Cocoon is a house shaped like a zeppelin in Australia. It sits propped up on the edge of a steep drop off, as if it's tempting people to make Hindenburg jokes. I'll resist the urge. [Designer Choice via Inhabitat] More »

Zeppelins Return to the US This Halloween, $785 Gets You On Board

We first learned about Airship Ventures plans to bring airship travel back to the US after a 70 year absence back in May when they secured 8 million in funding for the project. Now it appears that their dream of filling the skies with huge, slow balloons once more will become a reality this Halloween when they will embark on their first ever passenger flight. More »

Zeppelins Return to US, Slightly Less Flammable Now

A San Francisco start-up called Airship Ventures has raised $8 million to launch its first Zeppelin this fall, for the purposes of tourism and research. The "flightseeing," as they're calling it, will cost a $250 to $500 for a spin around the Bay Area in a bonafide don't-call-it-a-blimp Zeppelin. What's the difference, you ask? Blimps are basically helium filled baloons with little cockpits attached. Zeppelins are usually rigid structures, larger and faster, achieving higher altitudes with better maneuverability. Before you airship nerds get all uppity, I will join you in saying that not all Zeppelins are Zeppelins (wha?)—it all boils down to the rigidity of your dirigible. Here's a rundown of this particular model, plus an actual photo of it: More »

Strato Cruiser Airship, Floating Along Without Wings or Reality

The rich are different from you and me, so maybe they'll have time to ride in this Strato Cruiser Airship, sitting back and getting pedicures while this helium-lifted carbon fiber blimp lumbers along. The design concept calls for spectacular restaurants inside staffed by star chefs, a spa, private suites, office space, a swimming pool and even a resident DJ. If this all gets too boring for you, the designers also plan to install a bungee-jumping platform. Check out the magnificent set of renderings in the gallery below, but don't start thinking about booking tickets just yet—there's no indication of when or if this fantasy ship, created by art directors Tino Schaedler and Michael J Brown, will ever be built. [Born Rich] More »

Air Ray, the Shiny Remote-Controlled, Wing-Flappin' Critter

More »

Blimp of the Future to be Blanketed with Video Advertising

Those slow-moving, football-shaped blimps of today could be getting a high-tech makeover if designer Tom Shannon has his way. Shannon has just received a patent on a new type of airship called the Air Genie, a spherical blimp whose surface would be covered with 61.5 million LEDs turning the airship into a floating video billboard. The Air Genie's surface would also house 30 video cameras, giving it the ability to record and project its surroundings (in a cool camouflage kinda way). No word on how soon we could see them, though I doubt they'd be hard to miss. – Louis Ramirez More »

Personal Blimp: Eat it Goodyear

So it's been a life long dream of mine to ride inside the goodyear blimp. Sadly though it has still been unfulfilled, hell I haven't even been on a hot air balloon. Sky Yacht Aircraft Inc. is looking to fix that with their Personal Blimp. More »

Walrus of Love Helps Spread the Peace

Originally developed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Walrus is a massive blimp designed to deliver up to 1,000 tons of cargo to land-locked countries with little to no trade. The 140-foot-long airship would vertically lift off and be capable of landing on ground or sea. Due to it slow speed it'd be a sitting duck if deployed during wars, but commercially it'd be able to out perform sea vessels by traveling at a faster pace and for a cheaper price, which sounds good to us. – Louis Ramirez More »

Omniscient Military Blimp to Fly by 2011

Forget highflying spy planes, the US military plans to send an all-seeing blimp to a height of 65,000 feet to spot enemies, watch out for cruise missiles and relay communications using a huge phased-array radar antenna embedded in its belly. Lockheed Martin is figuring out how to make the thing light enough to fly and operate at such a height for over a year at a stretch, and is looking to make it all happen by 2011. More »

Super-Luxury Vacations Aboard Airborne Cruise Ships?

Some members of the Gizmodo team have flown on the Goodyear blimp, and marvel at that thrill of standing on a platform in the air. Now blimp maker Worldwide Aeros Corporation says it plans to offer that experience to paying customers by 2010. It has teamed up with hospitality and leisure firm WATG in an agreement to create a new class of super-luxury blimps that will function as airborne cruise ships and fly long-range routes across oceans. Inside its one-acre cabin will be restaurants, a casino, and lots of fancy hotel rooms. The company says these new airship resorts will have living quarters that rival the luxury cabins of the great ocean liners, and will also be packed to the gills with technological amenities. The concept ship is planned to be over 600 feet long with a top speed of 174 miles an hour. More »