Of Blimps and Dirigibles and Dreams

A proposed Cruiser that would need less space than an airplane.

Fantasy, whether steam-punk or basic, is filled with airships.  You can find them all over fiction, science-fiction and even future science (Popular Mechanics and other magazines of those types regularly hype the coming of the new dirigibles).

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I confess to loving the idea of traveling by blimp (or Zeppelin or whatever you want to call it).  The idea of floating lower to the ground and proceeding at a stately pace seems magical.  Watching the world go by. 

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Steampunk version of a airship

You would get (I imagine) a similar feeling as to that of a helicopter - which is a beautiful way to see things.  I have been in a helicopter tour of Capetown and the ruins of Ankor in Cambodia.

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There was, for years, a route of Zeppelins around the world - brought to an end by the disaster in New Jersey.  It occurred because of the Hydrogen used in the gas bag that was flammable.  One of the reasons that the Germans used Hydrogen was because the United States had (and still has) great reserves of Helium that we wouldn't release.  Much of it still stored (in Texas I think).