Who said I didn't care for flying?

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Oh yeah, I said that. I don't mind sailing the skies, though.
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Here are some shots of a little blimp trip over the SF Bay. Click the thumbnails for larger pictures.

PART I

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Oakland near the airport. Check out the guy on the top of the pole for scale.

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Fairly clear view of the Bay, dowtown SF and the Golden Gate. Note the Oakland Bay Bridge, the Transamerica building (pyramid), Coit Tower (near center of photo), a cruise ship near Pier 39 and the GG Bridge.

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Downtown SF

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AT&T Park, former SBC Park, formerPac(ific) Bell Park

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You can see a little of Crissy Field in the bottom left corner in the foreground, the Marin Headlands on the North side of the Golden Gate and the coastal range farther away to the North. On a clear day, you could see the Point Reyes peninsula.

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Alctaraz (Pelican), The Rock, the "home" of Al Capone.
 
Part II:

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Oakland Bay Bridge under construction

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Oakland Bay Bridge -- note Treasure Island in the background, and of course, the cool engine pod!

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The cockpit

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Some East Bay (Oakland, Alamada, Emeryville?) marina

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"NO TOUCH!!"
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wetlands

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Back to the starting point -- again, check out the guy on the pole!
 
Are there more of these SANYO blimps around. There was one just like that at our local airport this summer. I think it was here for the PGA.
 
I hope you had a little Tower of Power playing in there when floating away from Oakland!

JMH
 
quote:

I hope you had a little Tower of Power playing in there when floating away from Oakland!

JMH

Or as I like to call it, Funkland!
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The blimp is actually way too loud to listen to music. Well, you'd have to crank the volume up real loud, because the engines make a real racket. You pretty much have to wear headphones if you want to talk with others. It's like having a leafblower on each side of you.

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Cool pics! That looks like an experience of a lifetime.

I now can die in peace.
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Nice pics!

I didn't realize the blimps have such advanced cockpits. I magined it more like a hot-air balloon with pretty much no electronics.
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What kind of equipment were you taking those with?

I used my 29 Mega Pixel Nikolymcantax Ultra-Zoom XL-9.9s with the Thor XXX Mega strobe. I threw it up in the air and it did the rest while I had a martini.

PS: It was a Canon point&shoot.
 
So you must be a bigwig or press, too.
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SANYO blimp engines:

Two Lycoming IO-360 direct drive, four cylinder, fuel injected, horizontally opposed air cooled engines. The engines are rated 180 HP at 2700 RPM each at sea level. The propellers are five bladed with constant speed, variable pitch, and fully reversing capability. Propeller diameter is 65 inches.*


* from SANYO blimp website
 
Wonderful adventure Mori. Great pix.


Very cool...Toilet. Just like we had on the farm, for those really cold nights when the outhouse was just too far away.
 
I'm envious. Usually you have to be a bigwig or press member to get a ride on one of those things. So I take it you're a bigwig?

I had a chance to tour the Goodyear blimp, Spirit of Akron, when it was visiting Ann Arbor. One thing that struck me was that the backup motors looked very familiar.... they use Lawn-Boy engines!!... same ones as they use in your lawn mower!!
 
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