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Announcements
Zeppelin
Luftschifftechnik Press Releases
30 April 2007
Thanks to Sig Geist!
Zeppelin Museum receives rare award
Submitted by Sig Geist, Mendenhall, PA
 On
22 April 2007, Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen was
awarded the rare title FAI-Recommended-Museum by
the Federation Aeronautique Internationale
(FAI). Worldwide, only 24 museums have been honored this way.
The title is indicative of outstanding collections in aviation and
especially valuable exhibitions that further educate the public,
but especially the young people in the area of air and space travel.
Over the years the Zeppelin Museum has drawn attention to itself
through a series of exhibitions on the history of aviation. FAI,
founded 1905 in Paris is an international, non-governmental, non-profit
organization that worldwide organizes and coordinates activities
in the areas of air and space travel in some 100 member countries.
05 April 2007
Thanks to Sig Geist!
„News from Friedrichshafen“
Composed and submitted by Sig Geist, Mendenhall, PA
Photographs © ZLT
Zeppelin NT to measure atmosphere
Hauling out prior to Test Flight, Friedrichshafen © ZLT |
By way of a mid-March 2007 press information, Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik
(ZLT) announced the successful completion of further test flights
with its mission-modified Zeppelin NT. The airship will be used as
an aerial platform to measure the lower atmosphere during a 10-day
period in July 2007. The project will be carried out in cooperation
with Juelich Research Center's Institut fuer Chemie und Dynamik
der Geosphaere. The project goal are tests — never before
carried out — for the distribution of trace gases and radicals
in the lowermost layers of the atmosphere. Specifically for this
mission, Zeppelin NT was equipped for the first time with a top-mounted
platform accommodating an extensive array of measuring devices. Support
for the platform load is provided by the airship's internal framework.
Capturing multi-directional wind currents, a slender boom (see photos)
was installed in the nose of the cabin. Altogether, for the test
flights Zep NT was fitted with 600 kilogram (1,320 lbs.) worth of
measuring equipment and an extra eight kilowatt of power.
Start of Test Flight, Friedrichshafen © ZLT |
As part of the above press information ZLT noted that together with
Juelich's Research Center they are not only entering technologically
new ground, but also new areas in the field of climate research.
Declared ZLT's development manager: "Our test flights have demonstrated
that Zeppelin NT's 'Platform' mode offers a suitable infrastructure
for this and additional complex demands. Preparations for deployment
in July went well".
The press information concluded by stating the above tests are an
integral part of the TRACKS Project. For additional info, see the
article Zeppelin
NT, a new Platform for Atmospheric Studies in the Planetary Boundary
Layer where the whole report may also be downloaded as a 8.5MB
PDF document.
30 January 2007
Thanks to Jim Smith!
Diamonds
from above: How a Zeppelin could hunt for gems in the north
Nathan Vanderklippe in Vancouver, Financial Post
The world's biggest diamond producer wants to use an airship that's
nearly as long as a football field to slowly float over Canada's
tundra and muskeg to discover diamonds in the remotest corners of
the North.
A 75-metre-long helium-filled Zeppelin could do the work of 50 ground
crews, De Beers Canada Inc. president Jim Gowans said yesterday.
The company has already put serious thought into how the plan would
work, from shipping it across the Atlantic in the hold of a steamliner
to housing it in a massive hangar to protect it from Arctic winds.
De Beers, which is accelerating production schedules for some of
its mines and is planning a hefty increase to its Canadian exploration
budget this year, has had considerable success since it began using
the system in Africa in 2005.
Mr. Gowans said it has proven to be three to four times more effective
at peeking beneath the Earth's surface than a competing technology
used by BHP Billiton Plc., owner of the Northwest Territories Ekati
mine.
To see if it would work in Canada, a Zeppelin advance party travelled
to the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and northern Ontario last
year.
"We've just recently got a report back that says it would be
feasible to do it. So now we're trying to figure out how to do that
and the costs that are involved," said Mr. Gowans.
The new-model Zeppelin's slow speed and vibration-free stability
give it a significant advantage over helicopters and aircraft, which
are both commonly used in exploration. Using a proprietary De Beers
sensor suite, the Zeppelin can detect hints of diamond presence up
to 250 metres below the surface by measuring minute changes in Earth's
gravitational pull.
Most gravity measurements have until now been made by crews hauling
delicate instrumentation across the North's often-rugged terrain.
The Zeppelin works much faster.
"If you can imagine trundling over the snow with this instrument
versus gliding over it in an airship, that gives you an understanding," said
De Beers Canada exploration vice-president Martin Doyle.
However, it would take at least a year to build an airship for use
in Canada -- the company's African model is too busy covering 10,000
square kilometres a year in Botswana to make the flight here -- and
the significant hangar infrastructure needed may keep the project
from ever leaving the ground.
The company is nevertheless boosting its exploration spending to
$47.5-million this year, a 50% increase over 2006, and Mr. Gowans
said De Beers has accelerated its construction schedule for both
its Snap Lake and Victor projects, each of which could ship their
first diamonds several months ahead of schedule. Snap Lake, located
220 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, was set to begin production
in October, 2007; Victor, 90 kilometres east of Attawapiskat, Ont.,
a year later.
Each mine will cost about $1-billion to build, and together they
will produce two million carats a year.
In its search for more rich deposits, De Beers has already taken
samples from 40% of Canada's most prospective diamond territory.
The Zeppelin could be an ideal way to search the unexplored remnants,
said Mr. Gowans, who also said he expects more big finds in Canada,
which already produces $1.6-billion of diamonds a year.
"There's some still outstanding areas," he said. "I
just keep looking at the Precambrian shield and saying, well there's
1.5-million square miles in the N.W.T. and if we've covered it all
I'd be surprised."
nvanderklippe@nationalpost.com
© National Post 2007
Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest
MediaWorks Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
29 June 2006
Thanks to Sig Geist!
„News from Friedrichshafen“
New German LTA Institute and BTU sign Agreement Composed
and submitted by Sig Geist, Mendenhall, PA
Previously, on August 24, 2005, a Zeppelin
Luftschifftechnik (ZLT) press release reported that Luftschiffbau
Zeppelin GmbH (LZ) had acquired insolvent CargoLifter's (CL)
entire "immaterial goods", read: "technical know-how".
In an accompanying move, LZ was to set up a "Lighter-than-Air" Institute
with offices in Friedrichshafen and Cottbus / Brandenburg to make
CL's former research findings as well as Zeppelin's 'New Technology'
('NT') know-how available to a national grouping of research institutions,
including universities located in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Brandenburg.
Toward that end, a recent Friedrichshafen newsmedia report
provides us with an update. The June 02 article, titled Joint Research
in Airship Aviation reports the signing of an Agreement of Cooperation
between Cottbus University (BTU, Brandenburgische Technische Universitaet)
and the German LTA Institute ("Deutsches Leichter als Luft Institut").
Both parties intend to work together in the area of "Lighter
than Air" pertaining to research and industry projects.
The German LTA Institute was established a few weeks ago by
Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH (LZ) in Friedrichshafen and has now a
second seat in Cottbus at the campus of BTU. The goal of the Institute,
which has full access to former CargoLifter AG development results
as well as historical and actualZeppelin development findings, is
aimed at the cooperation with BTU and industry in the area of "Lighter
than Air" for research and industry projects. In
Germany the entire airship technology know-how is bundled
up in the LTA Institute. In this respect cooperation with BTU seems
reasonable as the university has made a name for itself in transmission technology
and lightweight construction.
The Institute will have two to three scientific employees
who shall be looking after the CargoLifter (CL) data. In addition,
the Institute has also taken over patents from insolvent CL. Following
start-up financing for the Cottbus office, it is expected to pay
for itself within two years.
The cooperative agreement was signed by BTU's president, Prof. Ernst
Sigmund and Michael Schieschke, managing director of the German
LTA Institute and a ZLT official. Also present at the signing was
Dr. Bernd Straeter, former head of ZLT and current Senior Director.
---
Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen
Press notice, courtesy of Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen (on the occasion
of its exhibition "ZEPPELIN'S FLIEGER", June 30 - October 01,
2006)
Submitted by: Sig Geist, Mendenhall, PA
Zeppelin's Planes – The airplane in the Zeppelin group
and its successor companies
June 30 to October 1, 2006
The exhibition Zeppelin’s Planes looks at almost one hundred
years of aviation history in the Lake Constance region and its place
in the international context. In a dramatized exhibition landscape,
the visitors embark on a journey through time and the varied history
of the airplane.
Until now hardly anyone is aware of Count Zeppelin's role in the
development of the airplane. Starting in 1899, at a time when the
first Zeppelin airship was being built, he provided financial support
for the (unsuccessful) efforts of Ludwig Rüb, the first airplane
constructor on Lake Constance.
Count Zeppelin invested in the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH,
which was founded in 1912 by Theodor Kober. During World War I, this
oldest airplane company on Lake Constance built over 40 percent of
the seaplanes.
The Riesenflugzeuge (giant airplanes) of the Zeppelin Werke GmbH
in Staaken superseded the airship during World War I as the main
means of strategic aerial warfare. In airplane construction since
1914, Claude Dornier strove for long ranges and large payloads. Count
Zeppelin took a keen interest in these developments as well, until
his death in 1917. Between 1914 and 1918 Dornier succeeded in finding
convincing solutions to the problems he faced.
In the 1920s and 1930s airplanes such as Dornier's Wal, Komet and
Merkur made their mark on expanding air transportation. In addition,
intensive and clandestine work proceeded on military developments,
preparing the way for the buildup of military air power in the 1930s
and 1940s.
In 1942 the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH again set up its own "Aeroplane
Construction Department", which not only worked on military
projects but on studies for future postwar air transportation.
Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen
GmbH
Seestraße 22
88045 Friedrichshafen
Tel: +49 / 7541 / 3801-0
Fax: +49 / 7541 / 3801-81
26 January 2006
Thanks to Sig Geist
Fourth Zeppelin NT 07 Gets Green Light
Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH (ZLT) shareholders on 1/20/2006 gave the
airship company the green light to build a fourth Zeppelin NT 07. The 12-seat
passenger airship is reported to take to the skies by spring 2008 to coincide
with the annual start of Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei's (DZR) operating season.
By then it will almost double DZR's present passenger capacity. In the meantime
the Reederei has to make do - as it has since summer 2005 - with the current
NT 07 airship (one Zep NT 07 was sold to Japan earlier, the other is in South
Africa since September searching for diamonds).
ZLT's go-ahead was based on the growth of the enterprise (around 10,000 passengers
in 2005) and a steadily increasing number of inquiries for tourism, advertising
and special missions as well. In the past, sometimes such inquiries could
not be followed through. Hence Thomas Brandt, ZLT's new CEO in a quote from
the regional press assuredly said: "It's only through the build of a
new zeppelin that we are going to be able to increase our flight capacity".
Furthermore and critically important, the new build assures the continuation
of ZLT's base of operation at Friedrichshafen for years to come.
According to ZLT's press office - following the procurement of parts and
components from vendor/supplier sources around the world - building and assembly
work for the 4th Zep NT 07 will commence in late fall of 2006. Since the
beginning of the Zep NT project (mid 1990's), US-based ILC Dover, Delaware
has successfully manufactured and installed the envelope for each of the
previous three NT airships.
With ZLT's priorities now being shifted toward a fourth Zeppelin NT 07, its
current 19-seater "Zeppelin NT 14" project continues to be pursued
and in parallel to the smaller NT 07 build. Actually, its status has progressed
well and would be further along had it not been for the temporary assignment
of personnel and resources for special missions in 2005, such as the Paris
Airshow, preparing the Friedrichshafen airship for transport and operations
in South Africa as well as providing traffic monitoring with the remaining
airship during Cologne's World Youth Day with the Pope in attendance.
By-line to Zeppelin NT in Africa: The mission so far has proven to be quite
satisfactory. Flights carried out todate are ahead of schedule. Men and machines
are performing better than expected, often under demanding regional conditions.
In dealing with the region's intense heat, ZLT personnel has devised a helium
management system. DeBeers is pleased with results todate, though understandably,
won't elaborate on details.
With DZR's crowded season begining March 23, 2006, the number of flying days
will now increase from six to seven days a week and airship maintenance will
be performed overnight. In addition to DZR's 2006 multi-destination passenger
flight schedule, the airship will be engaged in aerial advertising missions
as it goes on tour (quite profitable) for a major German car maker in April
and in June will be circling over Munich during the opening ceremonies for
World Cup Soccer 2006.
Note: the above article was composed based on information obtained from ZLT's
press office and regional German language news print.
23 January 2006
Thanks to Marion Berg, Zeppelin Press Office
Fourth Zeppelin NT 07 Gets Green Light
The success story of the Zeppelin type NT 07 during the last few
years, especially in 2005, has lead to an increasing demand of the
renowned Zeppelins worldwide. In order to be able to respond to the
augmented interest at short notice, ZLT’s
'Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co KG' share holders
gave clearance for construction of the serial ship 004 of the Zeppelin
NT 07 past Friday.
DZR 'Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei GmbH' is the only airship
company worldwide that holds the certification of the German authorities
for commercial passenger flights for the ZLT built Zeppelin NT 07.
The new airship which is being designed for home requirements as
well as the international market is supposed to be put into commercial
operation already in spring of 2008. The current 19-seater 'Zeppelin
NT 14' project continues to be pursued parallel to the smaller NT
07 project.
In addition to DZR's 2006 multi-destination
passenger flight schedule, the Zeppelin NT 07 is the most efficient
platform for aerial advertising missions. The non-stop flight time
of up to 24 hours and its’ special
flight characteristics make it the ideal platform for various missions
as TV broadcasting, surveillance tasks as well as for research and
environmental protection jobs. The steady increasing number of inquiries
for tourism, advertising and special missions in 2004 and 2005 are
far above the available capacity of the Zeppelin
Thomas
Brandt, ZLT's CEO, comments with a first statement: "It's only through
the build of a new zeppelin that we are able to quickly double our
flight capacity. This supplementary capacity will enable us to react
to the increasing requests in advertising, homeland security missions
and assignments in the environmental and research area."
The share holder’s state "staff members of ZLT and DZR
have proved the fact that there is a worldwide demand for state-of-the-art
airships like the Zeppelin NT. Both companies have successfully met
the challenge to penetrate that specific market. Our decision shall
pave the way for a further healthy growth of ZLT and DZR and shall
give the production location Friedrichshafen a sustainable safeguard."
Presse-Contact:
Marion Berg
Press Office
Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co KG
Allmannsweilerstrasse 132
D-88046 Friedrichshafen
Tel.: +49 7541 5900 467
Fax.: +49 7541 5900 516
presse@zeppelin-nt.de
www.zeppelin-nt.de
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