Warbird Information Exchange

Awsome pics!

Those K-class blimps were huge..they look to be about twice the size of the modern advertising ones. Is that a machine gun mount on the upper front of the gondola?

SN

...found another one....



Martin

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Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss

some color....









Martin

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Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss

I flew in a one a few years back out of RAF Northolt , the police had been using it for surviellance (sp?) of the Notting hill carnival and they let us up in it , was the most bizzare thing ive ever flown in , the cabin was more like a bus with big slide windows and in the cockpit was a notice to remind the pilot that it was forbidden to do aerobatics .......not sure you need a reminder but oh well.We flew over Wembly stadium (the old one) then sort of hovered over a cricket match , we yelled at the players they had the fright of thier lives when they realised we were above em
Watching the pilot move the controls around was somthing else , normally the control stick is only moved a little bit , with the blimp it was like the guy was trying to steer a cruise ship ....
Think the maker was airship industries??? was a few years back

Here is a gondola at the NEAM. I was really surprised by how large it was.

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That's one of the K-ship gondolas. I HAVE seen a picture of the L-8 gondola somewhere...

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

I was offered a K class USN Blimp gondala by a collector in the UK "free to good home", as it was at risk of being scrapped,. It was outside my capabilities at the time to take it on, (busy with Lincolns and PBY's) it may have found a good home in the UK, or still be available?

I am not sure how it came to be in the UK, perhaps it was from this Mahalchik auction? in the US?

regards

Mark Pilkington

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20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

There are about 4 gondolas stored out at AMARC. They were rescued from the scrapper at the last minute.

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

double post

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

As far as I know, they all went to museums. I knew John V. Mahalchik for several years before he passed away- I felt honored to have the "run of the property" for quite a while- I could go over, and he'd let me go looking at whatever I wished, unescorted. I'd also go over and help him move stuff around, run up to Lakehurst & DRMO McGuire for more stuff, or just hang out and chat. Very interesting individual. After he passed away, I found some of his military records, showing him as a Lt. down at Charelston, SC. He trained B-17 & B-24 crews as I recall. He also was in a mountain crash in South America, where he earned his nickname of "Lucky" by being the only survivor.

I still say "Hi" whenever I drive past the remains of his property. He may not be there in person...

Robbie

Last time I saw them up close, they were upside down, in a row of 5 or 6, with the engine mounts beside them, unmounted. I remember looking in and seeing some marking about RADAR on one of the inside panels. I also remember looking straight up- into the head! They really didn't interest me much at the time... Now I'd love to have a chance to play with them... They were the largest structures(besides the locomotives) on the property.

I went with John once up to Lakehurst to see a friend of his who was an engineer with Piasecki, and got to see their big "Helio-Stat" monstrosity under construction... I saw the four choppers mounted to the big "Crossed W" framework, and got to go inside the gas bag, while they were inflating it. I was awed by the immense size of the thing! They were building it in one of the newer blimp hangars.

Robbie

Not to get too far off topic (Still looking for some drawings!), but here was an interesting article about a blimp possibly being used by the Coast Guard.

Aero News Story

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

Iteresting, Ryan. It's interesting that the Coast Guard wants to reevaluate the blimp's use in coastal patrol. All they have to do is check the archives of the US Navy, it worked, no reason to reinvent the wheel.

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

I know it's just dreamin', but wouldn't it be neat to be able to restore one of those old blimps and take it to airshows and such? Yeah.....I'm just dreamin.'

Gary

I'm with ya Gary! I'd love to see that...

I am not that familiar with the materials used on these ole gas bags... But would it be possible to "paint" a modern blimp in a comemorative style scheme?

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Share your story: Rutgers Oral History Archive http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/