Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Waiting for gas.

Thursday is a big day for #4. The helium arrives. Not quite as big a day as it is for a blimp which would be flat until being inflated. But once the helium is in, then the Zeppelin can be released from the chains holding her airframe up and she'll be moored to a mast in the Hangar. This is the first step in getting her ready to fly.
At more than 8000 cubic meters, we're expecting several large tankers to arrive and the helium fill will probably take 24 hours or so.
For those who prefer non metric measurements, that's about 290,000 cubic feet or, if you assume a party balloon has a volume of about half a cubic foot, close to 600,000 party balloons.
Anyway, I thought you'd enjoy this picture....

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