"patrick mitchel" wrote in message
...

Dudley Henriques wrote in message
ink.net...

"patrick mitchel" wrote in message
...
Judging from the film footage of blimp ops during WW2 at New
Jersey, I
was
wondering if there were any midairs between airships/zepps? Don't
seem
to
have run across any on the web or in print...Pat

I believe there might have been when one of the blimps was
performing
aerobatics out over the ocean. I think he was doing a whale roll,
into a
3/4 inverted hissout, followed by the extremely difficult gasbag
Immalmann . I think he collided with the other blimp at the top .
When the MIR was released, the investigative board had asked the
pilot
why he didn't see the other blimp. I believe the answer was, " I
really
don't know. It happened so damn fast!!!!!!!!!"

Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt

Okay, they're slow and yeah, they oughta see eachother, that doesn't
stop
ship from hitting each other and some of them are only doing 15 kts or
so.
As an aside, I witnessed a slow race where the goodyear blimp and I
think it
was the fuji blimp (one of with the vectoring thrusts engines) were
out over
the water just off Long Beach, Cal. where they were trying to maintain
their
position. The goodyear blimp must have dumped some ballast in the
process as
it was pointing severly nose down while the other blimp with the
vectorable
thrust was sitting there level. A funny picture, one craft sitting
there 90
degrees out in attitude and them both hanging motionless. Pat

I guess you could make a case for a mid air between airships. I don't
remember hearing about one, but it's possible that it has happened. They
are fairly blind topside and at angles above horizontal amounting to a
vector that creases the underside of the bag as viewed from the gondola.
FYIW; That little ditty about the blimp aerobatics was taken from an
actual life experience. I was in a preflight brief with the Blue Angels
back in 75 at the Reading Airshow in Pa. when the Goodyear Blimp came by
our window. We broke each other up for the next five minutes relating
what an aerobatic demonstration by the blimp would look like :-)
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt