Are Zeppelins about to take off again - or is it just hot air?
By JANE FRYER Last updated at 1:20 AM on 18th September 2010
As we soar up into the grey skies above Lake Constance - propellers whirling, seat belts tightly fastened and everyone brandishing their cameras in excitement - something feels ever so slightly strange.
It could be the gentle breeze coming in through the wide open windows and the long ropes dangling in front of the cockpit in an alarmingly relaxed way.
Or perhaps it's the fact that the twin 200hp engines are so quiet I can hear my fellow passengers unwrapping toffees and whispering, and Hans-Paul the pilot clearing his throat and swallowing.
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Stunning: Writer Jane Fryer enjoying the panoramic views seen from on board a Zeppelin Airship over Lake Contance in Germany
Or maybe it's just the fact that we're in a tiny blue-and-white gondola dangling from the underbelly of a helium-filled aircraft that is bigger than a Boeing 747 and hails from another era.
I am in an airship - an engine-powered navigational balloon, or a Zeppelin, to be precise.
And we are cruising silently over the German/Swiss/Austrian border, peering down at ducks swimming, children running, people playing tennis - and an enormous grey gherkin-shaped shadow that follows us everywhere we go.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313132/Are-Zeppelins--just-hot-air.html#ixzz107ZSpJZs
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