ShareThisBy LAURA MEADE KIRK
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
The Hood blimp is a dirigible _ a self-propelled balloon powered by motors that can be steered, said Mickey Wittman, a spokesman for the Lightship Group.
Some say they're called "blimps" because they were initially classified as balloons, or "b-class limp aircraft," Wittman said. Others say that if you hit the outside of a non-rigid ship like this, it gives off a sound like "blllmmmp."
Either way, the name blimp has been around almost as long as the airships have.
They date to the late 1800s, initially used by the military for scouting missions. Then, around the turn of that century, a German military officer created the first bona fide airship _ a zeppelin with a rigid internal frame designed to transport people and products. It was a popular form of transportation, including making trans-Atlantic flights, during its heyday of the 1920s and 1930s.
It was in 1925 that the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. launched its first blimp, and it continues to operate three blimps today.
But the crash of the Hindenburg in 1937, killing 36 passengers and crew, marked the end of an era for the zeppelins.
The military continued to use blimps _ those with non-rigid frames _ until about 40 or 50 years ago. The former Naval Air Station in South Weymouth, Mass., just south of Boston, was built largely to house the "lighter-than-air" or LTA fleet that patrolled the eastern coastline.
A handful of other blimps survived over the years, including those used by Goodyear. But the past 20 years has seen a resurgence in dirigibles, Wittman said. That's when Jim Thiele, the president of the Lightship Group, invented a quicker and easier way to build them _ and better yet, to illuminate them from within, Wittman said. They've got two-foot-tall lights, powered by generators, that provide about 2,500 kilowatts _ just like an average street light. That's why their blimps are actually called "lightships," as opposed to traditional unlit airships, Wittman said.
They cost more than $2 million apiece, he said. (As for the pilots, Mats Backlin won't disclose how much he's paid to man the ship, but said: "You're not going to become rich, that's for sure.")
In addition to providing advertising on the sides of the blimps, dirigibles also offer a great way to photograph or broadcast sporting events and other activities, because they can quietly hover overhead without causing any great distractions, Wittman noted.
In the latest advance, the Lightship Group earlier this year unveiled its newest blimp, which comes with a 70-by-30-foot high-definition computer screen that can provide play-by-play action of a sporting event or serve as a giant billboard with messages flashing across the screen every few minutes. It's now deployed in Australia, but one is expected here next year.
"It's like a flying television set," explained Backlin.
The Lightship Group is now the largest owner/operator of a blimp fleet, with 19 lightships. All told, fewer than 30 blimps operate in the entire world.
The vast majority are in the United States, mostly in California and Florida, where weather conditions are conducive to airship operations. They're generally can't fly in the winter, or in high altitudes.
As Backlin says: "Aerial advertising only works when people are outside" _ especially when they're congregated at places such as Fenway Park, for sold-out Red Sox games.
