A Trip in a Blimp
Jul. 27th, 2004 08:47 amThings have been a bit slow lately, but I got a chance to do something really, really neat last week: I was given a ride on the Fujifilm blimp. Four of us and a PR person took a 45-minute trip starting from Floyd Bennett Field (the first airfield in the NYC area, now no longer used) and took a flight along the coast of Brooklyn, past Coney Island and Bay Ridge, up past the Verrazzano Bridge and close enough for a view of the Statue of Liberty and the southern tip of Manhattan (although it was too misty to see very clearly).
It was great. Unlike in a plane, we went slowly enough and steadily enough so we could take lots of pictures and locate buildings and places from the air -- and see them from a new perspective. (Never realized there were that many backyard swimming pools in Bay Ridge. And the local high school has a full-sized football field behind it -- who knew?) We got to sit with one of the pilots in front and ask questions about their really neat GPS system. (Both pilots were Australian -- they said it was just a coincidence; we decided there was a secret society of Austrialian Blimp Pilots.)
Anyway, I've put some pictures on line, just in case anyone would like to see what it looks like.
( Right here.... )
Anyway, it was lots of fun.
It was great. Unlike in a plane, we went slowly enough and steadily enough so we could take lots of pictures and locate buildings and places from the air -- and see them from a new perspective. (Never realized there were that many backyard swimming pools in Bay Ridge. And the local high school has a full-sized football field behind it -- who knew?) We got to sit with one of the pilots in front and ask questions about their really neat GPS system. (Both pilots were Australian -- they said it was just a coincidence; we decided there was a secret society of Austrialian Blimp Pilots.)
Anyway, I've put some pictures on line, just in case anyone would like to see what it looks like.
Anyway, it was lots of fun.