back to article ZEPPELINS to replace Goodyear blimps in American skies

The first of the new, hi-tech German-made zeppelins which will replace the iconic Goodyear blimps in the skies above the USA has been unveiled at the Goodyear airship base in Ohio. The zeppelin in question is a "Neue Technologie" (NT) type produced by the modern-day German company descended from the Graf von Zeppelin's …

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  1. Chris Miller

    The real blimp

    Is the guy directing the "wide load" through the gates near the end of the video. Just average-sized for Ohio, I guess.

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  3. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    Yes!

    Three cheers for our new semi-rigid, helium filled, German speaking overlords!

  4. Not That Andrew

    Pity that competition is only open to Yanks, I wanted to propose Graf Zeppelin as a name

    1. Tom 35

      How about Zuckerberg's Ego

  5. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Coat

    Zeppelin NT?

    Will there be an XP version later

    Sorry, couldn't resist

    Oh, deary me, looks like it's time to go home already

    1. Bill Neal
      Joke

      Re: Zeppelin NT?

      I guess we missed out on Zeppelin for Workgroups. They should be alright as long as they don't name one Vista.

    2. Chad H.

      Re: Zeppelin NT?

      Wheres the consumer Zepplin 95?

      1. ElReg!comments!Pierre

        Re: Zeppelin NT?

        And Zeppelin ME: the one that can't take off and has to be carried overhead by the crew making motor noises with their mouth.

        1. hplasm
          Devil

          Re: Zeppelin NT?

          Zeppelin 8x yet to take off...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Zeppelin NT?

      Not looking forward to Zeppelin ver 8.... the Start button will be removed.

      "How do I turn this ON??!!"

  6. disgruntled yank

    reverted?

    Even with the use of blimps for anti-submarine work in WW II and the radar platforms of the early Cold War, I can't imagine that Goodyear ever made anything like the money on blimps that it did on tires.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Blimp.

    Funny word. Makes me laugh. : )

    1. Martipar

      Re: Blimp.

      It's an aonomatopœia it's sound it makes when you slap one.

      1. Captain DaFt

        Re: Blimp.

        "It's an aonomatopœia it's sound it makes when you slap one."

        That's apocryphal, slightly less so is that it came from the classifications:

        Zeppelin Type A. Rigid

        Zeppelin Type B. Limp

  8. kmac499
    Facepalm

    Naming the new ship ..

    Well as it's an NT Blimp with all new core technology can I suggest "Kernel"..

    Coat Please...

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The most important question is...

    What kind of gas are they using to fill it with ?

    Hydrogen ?

  10. Arthur Jackson
    Coat

    De dur de dur da

    I've gotta whole lotta love for this story

    1. Stoneshop
      Pint

      Re: De dur de dur da

      I suppose it's got this solid-state illumination tech on board.

  11. drewsup

    Golden Compass

    I want the one the evil witch in The Golden Compass had, what a gorgeous piece of engineering that looked to be!

  12. MacroRodent

    Seen it!

    One of the NT:s hung around the Helsinki Malmi airport one summer around 10 years ago. It arrived from Germany, and the idea was to fly it to Japan, but Russia did not give the required permits. So after a month or two it flew back, and was later ignomiously shipped to its buyer by sea.

    I live near the small Malmi airport, and saw it arrive, and then sadly grounded there.Funnhy how after a while this exotic ship started looking like a part of the landscape...

    1. Gareth Jones 2

      Re: Seen it!

      That was D-LZNT. I had a fly in it (as passenger) when it was based at Damyns Hall near London. Wonderful machine, have a go in one if you can. Commander (Kate Board) was pretty cool too :-) Now flying a Zeppelin out of Friedricshaffen http://www.regio-tv.de/video/251765.html

      1. ElReg!comments!Pierre

        Re: Seen it!

        > Commander (Kate Board) was pretty cool too

        I was somehow hoping to see someone closer to Bangladesh DuPree. I am disappoint.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Seen it! -I was somehow hoping to see someone closer to Bangladesh DuPree

          I'm not, I can't imagine why my father keeps her alive.

          -Gil.

  13. Stevie

    Bah!

    I think you'll find that Goodyear is a tire company. You were probably thinking of that nice Mr Dunlop's products.

    8o)

  14. Jones

    blimpy boy!

    "Hey there, blimpy boy! Flying through the sky so fancy free"

  15. Alan Esworthy

    @Stevie - I hate to break this to you, but Dunlop is a Goodyear brand. I'm sure they market tyres in the UK, but I assure you they spell it "tires" at corporate headquarters in Buffalo, New York.

    Now the good news! DMACK definitely is in the tyre trade!

    1. Stevie

      Dunlop is a Goodyear brand

      Bah! That just goes to show that nothing good comes of allowing colonies out from under the Iron Fist of Benevolent British Rule.

      World's gone to the dogs.

  16. Howard Hanek

    Real American

    So it's a German airship with an American logo. Right.

    American's are used to things like that. We have a Kenyan citizen with an American logo who's ego is the size of that blimp. And he's seen everywhere.

    1. Lars Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: Real American

      You should not take your information from an orangutang.

  17. Martin Budden Silver badge

    Yes it's a blimp.

    Not because the word is technically correct (it isn't wasn't) but because English is a fluid language which evolves over time: when a word changes in a way that gains widespread acceptance as common usage, the new meaning becomes the correct one.

    Some commentards will remember that "gay" used to mean cheerful.

    1. markw:

      Re: Yes it's a blimp.

      I remember that gay used to mean homosexual.

  18. Stretch

    We like zeppelins

  19. Dave Bell

    If helicopters had the same media treatment as Zeppelins when they fall out of the sky, the North Sea Oil industry would have a few problems.

  20. John Savard

    What?

    Calling a dirigible a blimp?

    Goodyear not making the Goodyear blimp itself but importing replacements from Germany?

    Oh, the humanity!

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    GRP and aramid frame? It seems not.

    The handy factsheet Lewis Page points us at says the frame's made of carbon fibre and aluminum - kind of not GRP (glass reinforced plastic) and aramid as stated in his article.

    I assume the carbon fibre's used as reinforcement for some sort of resin - probably epoxy - so the construction is basically the same as glass reinforced plastic, only with carbon fibre reinforcement.

    I see from the Zeppelin NT site that aramid's used in the structure. I don't see any mention of glass, though.

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