blimp

16 Stories

'Baby Trump' Balloon Ready to Roll a Final Time

The blimp will retire to the Museum of London

(Newser) - The "Baby Trump" blimp is being retired as the US president on which it was modeled prepares to leave office. The nearly 20-foot-tall helium balloon has been acquired by the Museum of London, the BBC reports. The blimp was crowdfunded in the UK and used to protest President Trump'...

Blimp Tows Water Skier 6.9 Miles to Set World Record

Kari McCollum was towed across a Southern California lake

(Newser) - Yes, that was a blimp towing a water skier across the surface of a Southern California lake. The Press-Enterprise reports the blimp towed skier Kari McCollum for 6.9 miles at Lake Elsinore on Tuesday. The newspaper says that's a new record, according to Philip Robertson, an adjudicator with...

Fiery Blimp Crash Shocks Witnesses Near US Open

Witness says pilot parachuted to safety

(Newser) - "It started deflating, and then it started going down," witness Bryan Rosine tells the Journal Sentinel . "Then there was a bunch of kabooms and smoke clouds." One person is reportedly injured after an advertising blimp crashed Thursday near the US Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin....

Sad Day: Helium Sucked Out of Last Original Blimp

Don't worry—you'll still spot Goodyear's 'blimps' hovering over America

(Newser) - Goodyear has let the helium out of the last of its fabled fleet of blimps, but the company's flight program will carry on. About two dozen employees witnessed the deflation early Tuesday of the California-based Spirit of Innovation, the AP reports. Not to worry too much, as blimp fans...

'New Age' in Flight? World's Biggest Aircraft Soars

Airlander is part blimp, part chopper, part plane

(Newser) - A blimp-shaped, helium-filled airship considered the world's largest aircraft flew for the first time Wednesday with a short but historic jaunt over an airfield in central England, reports the AP . Engines roaring, the 302-foot Airlander 10 rose slowly into the air from Cardington airfield, 45 miles north of London....

Runaway Blimp Causes Power Outages in Pennsylvania

Unmanned Army blimp broke loose from its moorings

(Newser) - An unmanned Army surveillance blimp broke loose from its moorings in Maryland and floated over Pennsylvania for hours Wednesday with two US fighter jets on its tail, triggering blackouts across the countryside as it dragged its cable across power lines. The bulbous, 240-foot helium-filled blimp finally came down near Muncy,...

New to Maryland Skies: $1B Spy Blimp

$2.8B cruise-missile system finally ready to launch

(Newser) - It's a good year for the military's spy blimp program : After years of delays, a huge blimp-like airship will take to the skies over Maryland sometime in the next week as part of a $2.8 billion project that the military says is designed to spot cruise missiles...

Pilots Warned of Runaway Beer Blimp

Giant hockey light loose over eastern Canada

(Newser) - Pilots in eastern Canada have been warned to look out for one of the strangest hazards they're ever likely to encounter—a 70-foot brewery blimp shaped like a hockey goal light. The Budweiser balloon broke from its tether at a ball hockey tournament in New Brunswick over the weekend...

DC's New Protectors? Blimps

Two will begin radar patrols within a year

(Newser) - At some point within the next year, DC will get a missile shield of sorts—courtesy of two white blimps. Made by defense contractor Raytheon, the $2.7 billion blimps will float 10,000 feet above the city and use their high-tech surveillance systems to keep an eye out for...

Newest Border Agent: a Blimp?
 Newest Border Agent: a Blimp? 
Aug 14, 2012 9:31 AM CDT

Newest Border Agent: a Blimp?

Military seeks new uses for Afghanistan equipment

(Newser) - America's new border agents could be … blimps. The US military is testing a 72-foot unmanned blimp, currently used to locate insurgents in Afghanistan and referred to as "the floating eye," to see if it could also be used to spot illegal border-crossers. If it works, dozens...

Goodyear Blimp Crash Kills Pilot

Blimp called 'The Spirit of Safety' goes down in flames

(Newser) - A sad and ironic ending for "The Spirit of Safety": The Goodyear blimp, which was part of a road safety advertising campaign, went down in flames Sunday night in central Germany. The blimp missed its designated landing spot at Reichelsheim airfield, causing its engine to slam into the ground,...

Pentagon Investing $1B in Spy Blimps

Two huge contracts are in the works

(Newser) - Between Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, the US military will pay out nearly a billion dollars to get spy blimps in the air over tactical areas. Northrop (with a $517 million contract) is due to produce three seven-story blimps, each the length of a football field and able to stay...

Man Plans Race Around the World—in Blimps

Trip would take about six months

(Newser) - Don Hartsell has a dream. He’s put up $2 million in hopes of creating a round-the-globe blimp race. The ships would take off at the prime meridian on Sept. 23, 2011, and wouldn’t cross the finish line until March 20, 2012. “We want to establish an event...

Anti-Earmark Rep. Scores Earmark for Blimp Research

Sessions' $1.6M went to firm not in his district

(Newser) - Rep. Pete Sessions is a vocal opponent of earmarks, but last year he scored one for a company that's not even in his district. Thanks to Sessions, $1.6 million for airship research went to a firm with no experience in either government contracting or blimp-making, Politico reports. Seems that...

Ron Paul 'Tea Party' Nets $6M
Ron Paul 'Tea Party' Nets $6M
Dec 17, 2007 6:52 AM CST

Ron Paul 'Tea Party' Nets $6M

No blimp, but otherwise a steaming success

(Newser) - In an event dubbed "Boston TeaParty07," supporters of quirky GOP candidate Ron Paul rallied in the Boston snow yesterday while donations from across the nation dropped a record-breaking one-day "money bomb" of $6 million into the campaign. Most of the funds were donated over the Internet. To...

Paul Hopes Blimp Gives Him a Lift
Paul Hopes Blimp Gives
Him a Lift
Dec 7, 2007 8:17 AM CST

Paul Hopes Blimp Gives Him a Lift

GOP candidate launches political zeppelin next week

(Newser) - The offbeat GOP presidential campaign of Texas Libertarian Ron Paul is soon to have a zany new form of publicity: a blimp. The blimp will launch next week in North Carolina and sail up the East Coast with banners in support of Ron Paul, Politico reports. Bearing slogans such as...

16 Stories