Comments on: USS Akron ZRS-4

By: Sheldon Woo\lpin

Sheldon Woo\lpin — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:51:20 +0000

Bill,

Please send me your telephone number….I would like to speak to you.
Tell me best time to call.

Thank you.

Sheldon Wolpin

By: Chris Moore

Chris Moore — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:47:11 +0000

Thanks for the interesting info, that is exactly what I would love to do! It would look pretty cool too, cycling around in the air, landing whenever you needed a tea break etc. Definitely what I would call living! (As long as you had a house and hangar too, of course)

By: Michael Wm Kaluta

Michael Wm Kaluta — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:52:30 +0000

Hey there, Chris… noting your wish for your personal airship, have you read up on, or watched the PBS documentary on Alberto Santos-Dumont (Wings of Madness)? He invented a number of “personal” airships he’d power with pedals geared to a propeller while sitting comfortably under the gasbag. He was known to fly from cafe to cafe in Paris, c 1895-1901, tying up at the roofs of same, climb a rope ladder to the street, drink/dine/hold court and then cycle away through the sky… now THAT was living!!! Good articles all over the internet. Great photos over on earlyaviators dot com.

By: Stu

Stu — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 03:09:59 +0000

Keep hoping Bill. The dream is not that far away. It can be a reality both for civilian as well as military scouting use. What better way to patrol the pirate-infested waters of the western Indian Ocean but with airships? Their long range scouting abilities and loitering duration can vector in force where it’s needed.
Passenger service would be based on the experience of flying at 3500 feet, with the windows open, sipping a drink and watching the coast drift by at a leisurely pace, not crammed into a tight seat at 35,000 feet looking out a porthole with a bag of peanuts in your lap. The mere act of flying would be the draw for airships, not as a means to get there, but as the act of getting there and stopping to “smell the roses”. The romance of flight would be what future airship travel would be about, not as a means of just “getting there”.

It would be a luxury alternate type of adventure in travel and probably promulgated through one of the major cruise lines and / or airlines. All that’s needed is a little spark and some American ingenuity. We are certainly ready to fly again! Let me know if anyone want’s to start working on it. I am ready!

By: Stu

Stu — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 03:03:06 +0000

Hanger One is still at Lakehurst. I had the pleasure of going inside back in the late 80′s. They had the control gondola from the movie “Hindenburg”. The Navy also had a mock up flight deck of a carrier built inside for training purposes. It was an amazing structure, and had a soul to it. I’ll never forget the experience and the privilege of sharing a room that once housed the Shenandoah, Los Angeles, Akron, Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg.

By: Chris Moore

Chris Moore — Fri, 27 May 2011 20:17:37 +0000

Definitely. I am quite obsessed with airships myself. I wish I had one though. Just a small one you could use to live and fly around in, with almost complete freedom. Apart from licenses and regulations and health and safety and such.

By: Chris Croteau

Chris Croteau — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 07:08:24 +0000

Wonderful site, and a true tribute to these rare vehicles. I grew up in San Pedro, California and remember the very subtle hum of one the Goodyear Blimps floating over my house more than a few times. Never failed to take my breath away; thank you again for the site.

By: Lopez

Lopez — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 09:06:18 +0000

Our grandfather use to work on those back in the day.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:25:43 +0000

I just saw something on TV about past Navy Airships and decided to do a little research again on the Akron & viewed this site for the first time and loved it. Was also drawn to it because I have spent the past 2 weekends with my father Vernon and we were reminiscing about his childhood because his father, my grandfather, Harold Lamkin (who he never knew) was a Seaman 1st Class on the Akron & perished on that dreadful morning of April 4th, 1933.
Can anyone tell me if the hanger at Lakehurst, NJ is still there as a memorial to this arirship and it’s crew and is it open to the public? I would love to take my father and visit for myself?
Thanks and God Bless America & all our past , present & future men / women of the military!

By: Bill Severyns

Bill Severyns — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 23:48:13 +0000

Love your site, my great uncle, Joseph Severyns, died on the Akron but family lore says he was serving on the airship but your site states he was a guest. Do you have anymore information on this? Thanks.