It's different from a zeppelin in a couple ways. First, its not totally rigid (it relies on pressure to keep it's shape), and it is negatively buoyant in the atmosphere (it relies partially on lift generated by the shape of the aircraft to stay up).
Re: negatively buoyant, that might not be true. Their FAQ states:
> Being Lighter-Than-Air, the characteristics of the Airlander bring many safety benefits. It has four engines and can fly on just one. Even if all engines fail, which is extremely unlikely, it can still float or glide under pilot control.
> As a unique part of the design, 60% of the lift
is produced aerostatically by being Lighter-Than-Air and a further 40% lift is generated aerodynamically by
having a wing-shaped hull. The engines can be rotated to provide an additional 25% of thrust up or down, to
help landing, take-off and hover.
It may technically be "lighter than air" when only considering the dry mass (I'm not sure about that), but they're definitely relying on aerodynamic lift in normal usage (so, it will glide in the same way a heavier than air plane can glide)
I have very little difficulty with English, but this word is hard to pronounce in English for me. The funny thing is that it's very easy for me to pronounce in other languages, including my native language.
Why is this an important distinction though? Zeppelins still need to be full anyway in order to float, so why does it matter that they keep their shape when not full?
All Zeppelins are airships but not all airships are zeppelins. Iirc the term ”Zeppelin” is used for rigid-frame airships only. The term usually used for non-rigid ships is ”blimp”.
So aside from the fact that this is a hybrid that needs power to lift, it’s also a Blimp rather than a Zeppelin.
I got to ride on one of their last Bay Area flights. It was one of the most fun things I've ever done. See [2] for photos. The lake with houses around it is Larry Ellison's home.
Passenger boarding was interesting. The zeppelin is hovering when you board, so they don't have everyone get off before the new passengers get on. The zeppelin would float away! Instead, they swap passengers one by one to keep the weight stable.
Once on board, the passengers are in the same cabin with the pilots, so we could talk with the pilots, see how they fly the airship, and ask for little sightseeing detours along the way.
Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei still operates tours in southern Germany. [3] If you ever get a chance to ride on one, do it!
I remember seeing them go overhead once in a while. I hadn’t realized they ceased operations. Just a couple of days ago I saw a blimp overhead, I thought it was them, but it must have been the Goodyear blimp moving between football games. I believe Goodyear uses Moffet Field as a staging stop on occasion.
> they manufactured them by themselves with parts and know how from Germany.
They assembled the zeppelins in germany. Because it's pretty certainly simpler to ship the parts and a few engineers than to make the trip in assembled blimps.
