# Airships in Films/Books/Games



## Kostmayer (May 28, 2007)

I'm probably alone in my love of airships, so  I don't expect many if anyresponses to this but, these are my fave airships. If anyone can think of anymore..

1. The Soviet Airships in C&C Red Alert 2.  I just love the cutscene where the ships are attacking America in the beginning
2. That thing out of Final Fantasy 7 - Haven't played any of the other FF games but I'm told airships feature prominantly in them, so maybe I should.
3. The Blimp out of Black Sunday. Not condoning it of course, but sticking a bomb in a Blimp to attack a Superbowl game is awfully clever IMO. But I'm *not* condoning it!


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## gully_foyle (May 28, 2007)

One very cool short story by Arthur C Clarke called _Meeting With Medusa _features an airship, and a variant on a balloon.


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## Pyan (May 28, 2007)

Kostmayer said:
			
		

> I'm probably alone in my love of airships, so  I don't expect many if any responses to this


Never assume _*anything*_ about this place, KM!

How about the one in *" Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"?
*Shows the size and luxury of the big passenger airships, compared to the pre-war airliner.


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## Kostmayer (May 28, 2007)

Aye, not sure they'll ever be as popular again for passenger transport. Although I have seen new ones that have been designed for Cargo transports.


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## Anthony G Williams (May 28, 2007)

I managed to fnd a good excuse to include airships in *Scales*. A parallel Earth, with an advanced, high-tech civilisation but a small and dispersed population, making other forms of long-distance transportation uneconomic. So the airships lower lifts to drop off and collect passengers anywhere on the planet, and only need a few bases for maintenance/refuelling.

Even the need for refuelling is eliminated by one class of airships - they use power beamed at them by satellites. I was a bit concerned about the passengers being cooked   so these are "tandem" airships, with a remotely controlled drone ship following some distance behind, connected by a power cable. The drone has a huge internal aerial to collect the beamed power and convert it to power the motors of both ships.


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## chrispenycate (May 28, 2007)

Anthony G Williams said:


> Even the need for refuelling is eliminated by one class of airships - they use power beamed at them by satellites. I was a bit concerned about the passengers being cooked   so these are "tandem" airships, with a remotely controlled drone ship following some distance behind, connected by a power cable. The drone has a huge internal aerial to collect the beamed power and convert it to power the motors of both ships.



Oh, what a waste. you could make the top of the airship transparent to microwaves, and make the bottom reflective, and a near perfect parabola that focusses the waves onto the receiving antenna, with a laser beam aimed back to the satellite so the maser beam is always tracking the ship (interesting in a storm) with your main restriction (not as easy as it sounds) that the airship doesn't fly over inhabited regions; aerostatoports outside the cities and weather forcasting a precision science (there's a lot of surface area on a big airship, and the onboard motors can't compete with a strong wind, so you have to find the wind that's going your way…


Oh, yes. Two short stories; one, I believe, in Algis Burdry's "Blood and Burning" with biplanes and the like taking off and landing on a lighter than air dirigeable airstrip, so they never need to approach the ground, and a supersonic Zeppelin in - ¿Maxwells demons? from Ben Bova. 
And in "Orion shall rise" by Poul Anderson, aren't they policing the planet from lighter than air craft at the beginning, before Orion does?


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## Pyan (May 28, 2007)

Does the _Jerle Shannara_ count, in the* Terry Brooks* series?

And , of course, one of the great-grandaddies of SF authors, Rudyard Kipling,: With the Night Mail and As Easy as A.B.C. (1905 and 1912, respectively)


http://www.forgottenfutures.com/game/ff1/abc.htm


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## Who's Wee Dug (May 28, 2007)

And there is Moorcock's The Warlord of the Air,one of the Oswald Bastable books.


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## j d worthington (May 28, 2007)

Who's Wee Dug said:


> And there is Moorcock's The Warlord of the Air,one of the Oswald Bastable books.


 
Actually, Moorcock makes use of airships in quite a few of his stories, even from his earliest work (Sojan); they crop up in the Cornelius books, in *The City in the Autumn Stars*, the Bastable books... quite a few places.

And there's the _Aeromunde_, from the _Doc Savage_ story *The Lost Oasis*:

The Lost Oasis

 ... as well as numerous other airships from that series, such as the one in *The Motion Menace*:

The Motion Menace


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## Anthony G Williams (May 28, 2007)

chrispenycate said:


> Oh, what a waste. you could make the top of the airship transparent to microwaves, and make the bottom reflective, and a near perfect parabola that focusses the waves onto the receiving antenna, with a laser beam aimed back to the satellite so the maser beam is always tracking the ship (interesting in a storm) with your main restriction (not as easy as it sounds) that the airship doesn't fly over inhabited regions; aerostatoports outside the cities and weather forcasting a precision science (there's a lot of surface area on a big airship, and the onboard motors can't compete with a strong wind, so you have to find the wind that's going your way…


A neat idea that - but the non-human race who devised the airships are very cautious people and don't want those microwaves anywhere near them, thanks  . They actually have a measure of weather control, which removes one of the main hazards to airship operations. And I had built in a feedback system which instantly shut off the satellite beam if it began to stray from the centre of the drone's collecting aerial.


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## Rosemary (May 28, 2007)

I thought the Windships in 'The Ill Made Mute' by Cecilia Dart-Thornton were great!  
They had 'wheels& sails' like a ship, aileron levers like a plane. A dragonheaded three masted clipper, with 4 wooden wings on each side of the hull.


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## Kostmayer (May 29, 2007)

Heh, love this board 

Just been looking on Wikipedia, theres some very exciting airship projects in the works. Basically low level satellites, above the jetstream. They'd act as phone masts or GPS transmitters - being low level reduces lag. There's also talk of using them for carrying payloads to Low Earth Orbit.


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## Tim R. Mortiss (May 29, 2007)

The rail-guided airships that travel betwen the cantons in *Durdane*, by Jack Vance:


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## cljohnston108 (May 29, 2007)

There was a cool airship design I first saw in Jane's All the World's Aircraft about 25 years ago, called the Magnus...











That design didn't take off, so to speak, but the company has a bunch of other cool projects in the works...
Magenn Power Inc.

Another company is going the spherical route, though...
21st Century Airships


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## Quokka (May 30, 2007)

Did you check out the _Airships in Culture_ page, Kostmayer? Looks like a lot of anime use them as well.

I gotta say i'm a fan of them myself, I remember they played a part in the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson (I think they were the only practicle option initially because of the conditions) and I'm sure I used to play a game where one of the forms of travel was by airships run by goblins but I can't remember what it was and it's not the warcraft series mentioned on the Wiki page.


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## Somni (May 30, 2007)

I seem to remember a scifi/action novel based in the antarctic, where there is a "secret" permanent population of eco- and wilderness lovers.  They used airships to travel around I think so that they would leave no tracks.  Was an interesting book anyway, if only I could remember it.




> 1. The Soviet Airships in C&C Red Alert 2.  I just love the cutscene where the ships are attacking America in the beginning


Hooray for Kirovs! Virtually unstoppable when promoted.


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## iansales (May 30, 2007)

Airships are used throughout Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy (*Red Mars*, *Green Mars* and Blue Mars) for transport about the Red Planet. I seem to recall they also make an appearance in his *Antarctica*.

One of the (many) narrative threads in Hal Duncan's *Vellum* is set in an alternate pulp sf/action adventure world with huge airships.


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## Somni (May 30, 2007)

Thanks, iansales. Kim Stanley Robinson's "Antarctica" was the one I was thinking of.


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## that old guy (May 30, 2007)

Been a looongg time since I've read any of the books in the series, but at least one book Farmer's Riverworld series makes heavy use of dirigibles.


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## that old guy (May 30, 2007)

Anthony G Williams said:


> I managed to fnd a good excuse to include airships in *Scales*. A parallel Earth, with an advanced, high-tech civilisation but a small and dispersed population, making other forms of long-distance transportation uneconomic. So the airships lower lifts to drop off and collect passengers anywhere on the planet, and only need a few bases for maintenance/refuelling.


 
Sounds vaguely like Wild Jack by John Christopher, which had a similar setup, down to the dirigibles. Though that was set in the ever popular in the 1970s post nuclear war world, not a parallel Earth. It was also aimed at a YA audience, IIRC.

Edit: Hmm, maybe it wasn't exactly a "post-nuclear" world, but it was definitely post-something.  Since I last read this going on 25 years ago I'm surprised I remember it at all.


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## Winters_Sorrow (May 30, 2007)

Kostmayer said:


> Aye, not sure they'll ever be as popular again for passenger transport. Although I have seen new ones that have been designed for Cargo transports.


 
Oh, I hope they do. Conventional air travel is arguably more dangerous and you're certainly less likely to walk away from a plane crash. Are airship fuel sources (did they use Hydrogen in the past?) any less dangerous than aviation fuel?
The speed thing is the main reason for their demise I think rather than safety considerations. I personally would love to travel by airship somewhere - the views would be incredible.

As to airships in fiction, I can't really add much to those books already suggested


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## that old guy (May 30, 2007)

Winters_Sorrow said:


> Are airship fuel sources (did they use Hydrogen in the past?) any less dangerous than aviation fuel?


 
The Hindenburg used hydrogen. At the time most of the known sources for helium were in the USA and Roosevelt wouldn't sell them any. 



> The speed thing is the main reason for their demise I think rather than safety


 
I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the top of the Empire State Building is as it is due to plans to use it for the "docking" of airships. Not sure if any actually did dock there, but that doesn't seem all that safe to me.


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## Winters_Sorrow (May 30, 2007)

Well there's two major airports in New York so that's not much safer!
The Empire State Building was built with that in mind but I think most 'docking stations' were away from major urban centres. I don't rightly remember but I think the Hindenberg crashes at a small airstrip converted for the purpose. If that had happened at the Empire State Building....well, doesn't bear thinking about does it?


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## iansales (May 30, 2007)

that old guy said:


> I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the top of the Empire State Building is as it is due to plans to use it for the "docking" of airships. Not sure if any actually did dock there, but that doesn't seem all that safe to me.



They do this in *Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow*, IIRC.


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## j d worthington (May 30, 2007)

Yes, the ESB was built with a dirigible mooring tower above the observation deck, but it was never used. It's interesting, in that it has some elaborate anchoring that eventually is embedded in the bedrock below the building, from what I understand.....

And yes, I'd forgotten all about Farmer's books there... sheesh! How could I forget that -- let alone the Robinson books. I really am losing brain cells.....


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## that old guy (May 30, 2007)

j. d. worthington said:


> And yes, I'd forgotten all about Farmer's books there... sheesh!


 
Since it seems like Farmer himself is kind of forgotten these days that's understandable. Weird that he was huge during the 1970s, but seems kind of lost in the shuffle over the last decade. Those lame Dayworld books probably didn't help things, either.


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## scribbler (May 30, 2007)

You are not alone Kostmayer! Anime definitely has a strong airship tradition. One of my favorites is _Steamboy._

Airships figure prominently in Philip Reeve's YA series _The Hungry City Chronicles._

Wasn't there also an airship in one of the Brandon Fraser _Mummy_ movies?

I know there are more, but that is all I can dredge up at the moment.


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## Wyrm Publishing (May 30, 2007)

Tobias Buckell has airships in Crystal Rain.  It's an excellent first novel that should be out in paperback about now.  

An anthology you might like is All-Star Zeppelin Stories edited by Jay Lake and David Moles.  

 -Neil


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## gully_foyle (May 31, 2007)

that old guy said:


> The Hindenburg used hydrogen. At the time most of the known sources for helium were in the USA and Roosevelt wouldn't sell them any.



The Hindenburg was hydrogen filled, to be sure, but it was the coating they used on the skin that really combusted. Or so the theory goes, (see LZ 129 Hindenburg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.





that old guy said:


> I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the top of the Empire State Building is as it is due to plans to use it for the "docking" of airships. Not sure if any actually did dock there, but that doesn't seem all that safe to me.



Docking with the Empire State Building was probably safer than docking with the ground. Which turned out to be not very safe. The speculation goes that one cause of the ignition was a bolt of static when the Hindenburg got close to the ground.


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## Wyrm Publishing (May 31, 2007)

> Docking with the Empire State Building was probably safer than docking with the ground. Which turned out to be not very safe. The speculation goes that one cause of the ignition was a bolt of static when the Hindenburg got close to the ground.



Actually, they never used the Empire State Building because of the winds. It just turned out to be impractical. They did try to use it for mail delivery, but even that proved unreliable.

The static that caused the fire (supposedly) was only a problem because the dissipation system in place failed.  Some of the panels maintained their charge and sparks were jumping the gap.  Those sparks set the highly combustible aluminum power in the panel's coating on fire.  The current theory holds that if they had not been delayed en-route, the conditions that caused the accident would not have been present that day.

A good program on this was aired on PBS here.  Some of the details are on this website: PBS - Secrets of the Dead

  -Neil


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## chrispenycate (Jun 4, 2007)

Winters_Sorrow said:


> Well there's two major airports in New York so that's not much safer!
> The Empire State Building was built with that in mind but I think most 'docking stations' were away from major urban centres. I don't rightly remember but I think the Hindenberg crashes at a small airstrip converted for the purpose. If that had happened at the Empire State Building....well, doesn't bear thinking about does it?



Actually, one of the things about the Hindeburg disaster was that there was no explosionn and the vast majority of the heat went straight ut, hydrogen flames being like that. It probably wouldn't have done much damage to the Empire state building, except melting the mooring mast. A few roast pigeons and some blistered paint.
We're accustomed to thinking of hydrogen as explosive, but that's a hydrogen/air *mix*, not the stuff pouring out into the atmosphere.


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## Wyrm Publishing (Jun 5, 2007)

I posted a message here but it seems to have not shown up.  Anyhow, the winds were an issue for the Empire State Building, that's one of the reasons it was never used that way.  Also, had that happened at the ESB, the wreckage would have come down onto the building and to the people below.  It was still burning when it hit the ground, so a fire could have spread to the building.

There's a great PBS show on this.  Website is here:
PBS - Secrets of the Dead


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## Wyrm Publishing (Jun 5, 2007)

I posted a message here but it seems to have not shown up. (Happened again, must be the url) Anyhow, the winds were an issue for the Empire State Building, that's one of the reasons it was never used that way.  Also, had that happened at the ESB, the wreckage would have come down onto the building and to the people below.  It was still burning when it hit the ground, so a fire could have spread to the building.

There's a great PBS show on this.  Website is here:
www pbs org/wnet/secrets/html/e3-about html

Just replace the periods with .'s


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## JDP (Jun 5, 2007)

Another *hurrah* for the Riverworld books - they're awesome. Lots of dirigibles and even a balloon too - plus dogfights between the greatest pilots who ever lived. Definitely worth a look if you've not read them. In fact, I think I'm gonna borrow them to read again...


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## Taltos (Jun 5, 2007)

Futuristic airship is in Peter F Hamiltons *The Nano Flower
*Also IIRC, there is a airship crash at the beginning of the computer game called *Arcanum *Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Also if you like flying ships (and I mean literally ships ) such things exist in Greg Keyes *Age of Unreason* serie and also you can make such things in *Master of Magic *computer game (where they were practically unstoppable )


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## Thadlerian (Jun 5, 2007)

Make sure to watch anime like Hayao Miyazaki's movies. There are airships in at least half his stories.


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## ray gower (Jun 5, 2007)

Got to throw in a few classics for the use of airships: 
HG Wells: The War in the Air and The Shape of Things to Come
Jules Verne: Clipper of the Clouds and it's film version Master of the World
Edgar Rice Burroughs: Barsoom series


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## that old guy (Jun 5, 2007)

ray gower said:


> Edgar Rice Burroughs: Barsoom series


 
Now that I think about it, didn't at least one of the Tarzan books (Tarzan at the Earth's Core, I think) make extensive use of an airship?


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## iansales (Jun 5, 2007)

Lin Carter's Callisto series features flying ships - not airships, but ships that fly, with wings.


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## speedingslug (Jun 5, 2007)

The airships in Dr Who the cyberman episode were good.


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## rimworlder (Jul 3, 2007)

A. Bertram Chandler was a huge fan of and advocate for airships - and most of his 'Grimes' novels feature one even if only as part of the scenery.

A few observations on airship design, engineering and history can be found in some of his non-fiction pieces, viewable at A Bertram Chandler - Science Fiction Author and Master of the Rim Worlds (the official website).  Go to the bibliography section and scroll down to below the listings for short stories.

In two stories he presents various methods for providing steerage to a crippled, unpowered dirigible/blimp with methods borrowed from seamanship.

A movie with a nice dirigible scene is The Rocketeer.  The climactic battle at the end takes place aboard the control cab and along the top.


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## Rodders (Apr 10, 2009)

Cloudwalker by Edmund Cooper. A great read.


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## Vladd67 (Apr 21, 2009)

There are a lot of Airships in the Crimson Skies World. This I believe started off as a tabletop game and then moved on as a PC and XBox game. There are also some books set in this alternate history, but I have never read them.


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## Team 2012 (Apr 22, 2009)

Clarke's spaceships that use giant sails to catch the solar wind.   Slow acceleration, but it adds up.


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## reiver33 (Apr 25, 2009)

I've always been a fan of 'proper' airships - we're talking Zeppelins here - as I think they were an idea way ahead of the available technology, despite the obvious 'lighter than air' ethos. 

Some years ago while attending an abortive barbque (couldn't get it to light) I had the 'great idea' of a floating diner cum nightclub which would take you for a night-time tour over the city (and when the novelty wore off it could simply change cities). Glass dance floor, anyone?

I believe the US (Navy?) were looking at an airship as an indefinate endurance early warning radar station, but I suspect that went the way of all budget cuts...


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## Rodders (Apr 25, 2009)

Casshern has airships. Huge lumbering beasts as i recall.


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## Team 2012 (Apr 26, 2009)

Real world trouble with airships, they're a nightmare in wind.   Since there is no air/water line, they can't tack.   And with the huge silhouette they present, even motors have a hard time moving them upwind.

That said, blimps are very cool.  It's like a slow-speed rollercoaster.   One thing cool is that you're flying, but can stick your head out the window, like a car at neighborhood speeds.

So, other than hydrogen or magic, how can a blimp or dirgible type of airship be more navigable?

(One solution, at one time, was to have them towed by a locomotive)


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## Who's Wee Dug (Apr 26, 2009)

Warlord of the Air - Michael Moorcock


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## ktabic (Apr 26, 2009)

Didn't see Bladerunner mentioned anywhere, had the advertising blimps hanging about the city


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## chrispenycate (Apr 27, 2009)

Air Ships in Fitz Lieber's Lankhmar series, with sails, rudders and rigging, riding the clouds (Farewell to Lankhmar, but I think another, too)


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## ktabic (Apr 27, 2009)

Ah, others I have just thought off

Captain Shakesphere's airship in Stardust
Various airships hanging around in the background in Watchmen (comic and film)


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## Rodders (Apr 29, 2009)

What about the Dirigible Blimps in Iain M, Bank's Look to Windward. Do they count?


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## nj1 (Apr 29, 2009)

Anyone mentioned the Hawkmens flying castle in FLASH GORDON?


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