Floating on Air
illustration, airshipventures.com /Artwork: designslinger]
Supporters of Barack Obama have been floating on air the past 2 days. For anyone willing
to pay $495, you have the opportunity to float through the air in a zeppelin. The airship had its heyday in the 1920s and 30s, until a horrific crash in New Jersey in 1937 spelled the end of zeppelin air travel. But now, Airship Ventures is hoping to lure people to the unique experience of air travel in a helium filled balloon. Holding up to 12 people in the passenger gondola, the zeppelin can travel up to 500 miles at around 77 mph. At 246 feet it is the longest zeppelin in the country and one of only three in the world. Based at NASA's Moffett Field in the San Francisco Bay area, Airship Ventures will soon add the Oakland and Sonoma County Airports as arrival and departure points. The 1 hour ride will take you on an aerial tour of the greater Bay area.
via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]
Back in the late 1920s zeppelin air travel was capturing the publics attention. Promoted
as a viable alternative to the airplane, the airship was seen as a chic, modern, (and most importantly) comfortable mode of transport. Architects were asked to incorporate a mooring mast into the design the Empire State Building. Since it towered above the rest of Manhattan the top of the building provided lots of roomy airspace for the zeppelin to dock. When the building was completed in 1930, the mast would allow passengers to disembark from the zeppelin, descend a staircase within the tower and exit into the observation deck area. Unfortunately, the first landing test proved to be a harbinger of bad news. The building was so tall and exposed to updrafts, that the big helium balloon couldn't make it's targeted landing at the top of the mooring mast. The landing plans were abandoned, and eventually the handsome art deco spire was covered with antennas and made the tower taller with the addition of an steel antenna spike.
with dome and mast, moheroy via flickr; Intercontinental Hotel, Michigan Avenue, Chicago, DDanzig via flickr;
Artwork: designslinger]
In 1929, Chicago's Shriners Organization built an athletic club on Michigan Avenue designed
by architect Walter Ahlschlager. The Medinah Athletic Club was composed of several architectural styles, but most of the detailing was Moorish inspired due to the Shriners' Masonic roots. The golden dome at the top of the building was a tribute to that heritage and also included a decorative tower that looks like a chimney of some sort and has been rumored to have been designed as a zeppelin mooring mast. The Athletic Club fell on hard times during the Depression and the Shriners gave up the building. Today it houses the Intercontinental Hotel which has spent millions of dollars renovating and refurbishing the historical architectural legacy of the 42-story structure.
I'm not sure that many architects or developers will be incorporating mooring masts for the
latest zeppelin into their designs. But if the airship proves to be popular with the public, we may see some interesting zeppelin landing and departure ports in the future.
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