Companiesandme

The first time I saw the "Zeppelin grin” was on the face of my husband, Brian, in June 2006. He had just returned from taking a flight in Cologne, on a modern day Zeppelin airship. To say that he didn’t know where to start in order to properly convey his expression and impressions to me would be somewhat of an understatement. In England, we’d say he was gobsmacked. In American terms, awestruck. Whatever you want to call it, I’ve seen that face, that joy, several thousand times since then, on everyone who flies aboard our beautiful Zeppelin, the Eureka.

It was that depth of emotion a flight on a Zeppelin inspires that got me hooked. I was deeply impressed by the degree to which cruising along at 35mph and 1000ft above the ground could so profoundly move someone. Sure, I’d hogged the window seat on an airplane to enjoy the few moments in the sweet spot as you come in to land, a place where you can see startling details and notice features that are hidden to you at ground level. But spending more than just moments with that view was the domain of birds. Or was it? 

If a company could run a successful ‘flight-seeing’ business with a Zeppelin cruising above a lake in Germany, or soaring above a Japanese metropolis, why not the USA? Certainly, California/the Bay Area has some of the most iconic and dramatic scenery on earth. What would it take to bring Zeppelins back to the USA given that the last one flew in 1937, and that didn't end too well? Who would pilot it? Where would we park it?? More critically, how would we raise the money to do something this, err, crazy?

Our journey took two years from idea to maiden flight and would be many hours in the telling. But all the red tape is forgotten with each unique moment - the wedding on board, the proposals, the anniversaries, the reunions, the birthdays, the lovers excursions, the client cultivation trip, the sales reward, the golf tournament camera team, the soap powder commercial, even the group of SETI scientists looking for extreme life. 

Whenever I see the airship flying, I now get a big grin on my face. I love talking with people about the airship and getting them to think about taking a flight. The question I always ask is "who are you going to experience this treat with?"