A Google founder is building Airships, but you can ride one now in Germany
Some very wealthy people have mega yachts. Some have personal blood boys. Some have entire islands. Google co-founder Sergey Brin, however, appears to be the only billionaire building a fleet of airships, and the latest episode of Hello World brings you inside one.
Over the past few years, Brin has been quietly funding the construction of a new, very large airship in Silicon Valley. We take you behind the scenes for an exclusive look at said airship and try to explain why Brin would want to spend $250 million on the creation of such a machine in this day and age.
The arrival of a new airship provided the perfect excuse to examine the history of these wonderful creations and even to fly on one in Friedrichshafen, Germany, where airships still rule the skies.
Speaking of Friedrichshafen — as one does — the city has an incredible and odd history tied to airships.
Airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin performed some of his earliest experimental flights on the shores of Lake Constance, which lies at Friedrichshafen's edge. When Count Zeppelin died in 1917, he laid the groundwork to transfer his intellectual property to a foundation. That foundation has since become quite lucrative with the IP fueling aerospace and automotive empires. A large chunk of the money is funneled back to Friedrichshafen, which bestows its largesse on its citizens.
As a result, Friedrichshafen is an idyllic place to visit, with lakeside restaurants, walkable streets and beautiful scenery all around it.
Away from Friedrichshafen, back in the US, airships have a long and storied history, too. About 90 years ago, the US military funded the production of giant airships at a facility in Akron, Ohio. Some of these aircraft were flown to what is now NASA Ames in
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