airships

The Coolest Airship Pictures You’ve Ever Seen

Who doesn’t love airships? Dirigibles, zeppelins and aerostats. They’re just so stately and romantic — and, as it turns out, a completely impractical method of transport. To many of us, the airship instantly symbolizes the romance and wonder of past dreams of escaping gravity — and in many cases, the zepplin is also the infallible…

The Incredible Engineering Behind History’s Greatest Airships

Zeppelins are actually quite an impressive species of aeronautical engineering—you know, when they aren’t on fire. That’s especially true considering the level of technological prowess in the 1920’s. Our friends at Oobject have assembled 12 shots of these magnificent air-borne cruisers before they ever lifted off. Be sure to also check out the hangers that…

An airship emerges from the reddish clouds of dawn

From this distance, it could be a pleasure ship, an apartment complex, or the first stately vessel in a military deployment. But the fortress is none of these things. It is the place where this gas giant’s greatest secrets are kept, hidden in the clouds of the upper atmosphere. It’s rare to glimpse it at…

A gorgeous airship model kit from the sustainable future

We’ve always loved Ian McQue’s incredible jalopy ship designs, and now Industria Mechanika is selling a super limited-edition version of this Remora ship as a model. If you love putting together models and painting them, this beauty could be your next project. Supplies are limited on these $150 kits, so zip over to Industria Mechanika…

Picturing the World Series of the Future

Almost 100 years ago, in the year 1912, Harry Grant Dart illustrated for Life magazine what the World Series of the future might look like. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the scoreboard shows New York is squaring off against London, as it was common for sports fans of the time to imagine that…

The $40 Million Delivery Blimp

The Ice Road Truckers may soon have themselves some competition if Canadian specialty aviation company, Discovery Air, has its way. They want to deliver supplies to the Great White North’s most remote locales via dirigible by 2014. Discovery Air and Hybrid Air Vehicles have announced plans to launch a commercial Heavy Lift Air Vehicle service…

How a Colossal Airship Hangar Became a Colossal Water Park

On the left: a $110 million airship hangar, the world’s largest freestanding building, located 40 miles south of Berlin. On the right: that same building seen today: home to Tropical Islands Resort, a massive water park and indoor rainforest. Huh? The massive hangar, measuring 1,181 feet long by 688 feet wide by 351 high, was…

The future of zeppelin travel – an airship that can move houses

An Australian company is developing the next generation of airships, that work like blimps with lighter-than-air gases to give it lift. These new airships would be capable of lifting an entire house, or even a entire hospital in emergencies. According to the Sydney Morning Herald: Potential uses for a successful commercial model of the SkyLifter…

The airship emerged from jagged peaks, its body swollen with gas

Earlier this year, the Nucleus Gallery in California had a stunning exhibition called “Lift Off: The Art of Airships.” Here are some of our favorite images of zeppelins and other fantastical aircraft from the show. There are dozens more incredible images via Nucleus Gallery By Kazu Kibuishi By Jake Parker By Jason Caffoe By Myke…

Forget Noisy Blimps, Say Hello To the Airfish

The next time you’re at a music festival and see a giant rainbow trout swishing around in the sky, there’s just a chance you might not be intoxicated. It might be scientists testing an airship that moves like a fish. The materials scientists from Switzerland call it the Airfish. The 8-metre-long helium-filled prototype glides through…

Video: world’s biggest airship inflated for the first time

Airships of the future are getting a little closer to reality. A new time-lapse video shows the world’s largest airship being inflated in an Alabama cattle barn, and the ship’s manufacturer says it will be ready for test flights soon. It took six hours to inflate it, but the video is condensed to about two…

Beautiful Concept Airship Looks 85 Years into the Future

This whale-like entry into KLM Indonesia’s aircraft design competition reminds me of the French “Manned Cloud” concept from a few years back. The WB-1010 would seat more than 1500 people, and use a combination of super-jet, helium, and wind power. https://gizmodo.com/manned-cloud-airship-around-the-world-in-three-days-337228 The concept’s designer, Reindy Allendra, imagines the aircraft being constructed from material similar to…

250-Foot Long Hybrid Airship Will Spy Over Afghanistan Battlefields in 2011

Sometimes it feels like I’m already living in the future. The U.S Army’s Space and Missile Defense command plans to have an unmanned spy-ship capable of loitering at 20,000-feet (for up to three weeks) ready to deploy by mid-2011. Dubbed the Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV), the craft will be based on Lockheed Martin’s P-791…

Airships Sail Through Tentacle-Infested Skies

Steampunk artist Myke Amend‘s paintings of airships are almost deceptively serene, with ornate ships sailing through icy skies. But tentacles and sea monsters lurk in the background, hinting at high adventure and grave dangers. The airship paintings are part of Amend’s “Airships and Tentacles” series, in which he combines Jules Verne-inspired technology with Lovecraftian monsters.…

A Future of Petticoats and Personal Airships

While steampunkers imagine that Edwardian technology could achieve improbable feats, Edwardians themselves often did the same. These turn of the century postcards depict a glorious future where phenomenal technologies are powered by electricity and steam. “In Jahre 2000,” a series of postcards curiously released by Hildebrands, a German chocolate company, around 1900, posit a wide…

Spanish Police Foil Remote-Controlled Zeppelin Jailbreak

In a plot that’s crazy (and evil genius) enough to be from James Bond, three people have been arrested after police discovered their plan to free a drug trafficker from an island prison using a 13-foot airship carrying night goggles, climbing gear and camouflage paint. It’s believed that the inmate (of the Salto del Negro…

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…

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…

The Bad Astrology And Universe Today forum has a hilarious list of the Top 5 Sci-Fi Aircraft That Would Fall Like A Rock. Turns out the laws of aerodynamics still apply, even in the future. Image by Franz66

Airship Yachts for Fun and Profit

If you’re looking for a lighter-than-air yacht, 21st Century Airships builds highly advanced craft that can be used for promotions or just for fun. Powered by a hybrid diesel and electric system, the spherical orbs can have a full luxury cabin built inside for their lucky occupants. These airship yachts can be custom built to…