A Trip in a Blimp

[redthroatedloon]

Things 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.

The Blimp There are about 25 people whose job it is to help keep the blimp steady while it's close to the ground (technically, it never actually lands once it's inflated). They hold on to these long ropes until the very last minute; while it's on the ground, they're constantly pulling and correcting and signaling to each other. They're more coordinated than a group of Busby Berkeley dancers.

Coney Island Looking in from oceanside. The Cyclone roller coast in just right of center; on the other side of the walkway to the right of the picture is the parking lot for the Acquarium (I'm sorry I missed getting a picture of that; it would have been fun to see if I could catch one of the whales).

Southern tip of Manhattan Most people are far more interested in Manhattan than in Brooklyn, so I included this. It looks a bit weird because I had to correct for color and brightness; it was a misty day, and it was actually a bit hard to see Manhattan at all.

Verrazzano Bridge I think this was one of my nicest photos. The bridge runs from Brooklyn to Staten Island; you're looking at it from the Brooklyn side.


Anyway, it was lots of fun.

Comments

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool! And hey, now you know about the Secret Society, too.

[barkley.livejournal.com]

Coolness, both the experience and the pictures!