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Tags: Zeppelin Travel / Ballooning / Adventure Travel / → All Tags

Zeppelin Rules: California to Welcome New Era of Lighter-Than-Air Travel

Don't call it a blimp. A company named Airship Ventures hopes to usher in a new era of Zeppelin travel as it starts offering aerial tours of San Francisco Bay in its 246-foot-long Zeppelin NT, one of only three functioning rigid-framed Zeppelins in the world. Zeppelins haven't been seen in American skies for more than seventy years, in part because many people became scared of the lighter-than-air flying machines after the Hindenburg disaster of 1937. However, Airship Ventures execs want to ensure everybody that modern zeppelins use nonflammable helium gas rather than hydrogen, and that thousands of people have already enjoyed safe, slow, and low flights over Germany in these majestic aircraft since 2001. The tours begin on Friday, and visitors hoping for a bird's eye view of the Big Sur coastline and San Francisco will need to show up at Moffett Field with $495 for a seat on the one-hour flight. Demand must be looking pretty good, as the company is already planning its expansion, with two more zeppelins on order from a German manufacturer for similar tours in New York and Florida. We'd be game for a zeppelin ride over New York, though at nearly five hundred bucks a ticket, it'll have to be a very special occasion.

[Photo: airshipventures.com]

Related Stories
· Airship Ventures [Official Site]
· Californians Float a Plan: Return of the Zeppelin [AP via Yahoo! News]
· Adventure Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Ballooning / Odd Travel / → All Tags

Balloon Rides in Central Park Offer a Bird's Eye View of the City

Usually we find out about things going on in New York by word of mouth, or browsing the local papers and websites. This one, however, just sort of floated into view from our office building about a week ago, and we've been dying to try it ever since. An outfit called Aero Balloons is offering balloon rides in Central Park, and all it takes is $25 to enjoy an unparalleled view of New York from the gondola of a big green-and-white balloon. True, the tethered balloon never rises more than a couple of hundred feet, nowhere near the height of most skyscrapers in Midtown, but it's the highest point in Central Park by far.

Not surprisingly, the rides have proven popular with locals and tourists alike, so the lines can be brutal. Two-hour waits for an eight-minute ride are common, and gusty winds will prompt operators to ground the balloon for the rest of the day even if hordes of people are waiting. The gondola holds groups of up to four people along with one balloon operator, so grab your friends and cameras and get going. Twenty-five bucks for eight minutes might seem like a lot of money, but one can easily spend twice that on a couple of rounds at the bar for an experience that will be far less memorable. The balloon rides will operate until August 22, and can be found at Cherry Hill in Central Park, just west of Bethesda Fountain at 72nd Street and Central Park West.

Related Stories:
· Central Park Balloon Ride [Official Site]
· Ballooning Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Victor Ozols]