# Ship, train, dirigible, or aeroplane?



## Fogey (Aug 27, 2005)

If time and resources were not a concern, and one had a choice of the finest example of each. My ranking is:

1. Ship
2. Train
3. Dirigible
4. Aeroplane

And yours?


----------



## n/a (Sep 4, 2002)

> quote:_Originally posted by JLPWCXIII_
> 
> If time and resources were not a concern, and one had a choice of the finest example of each. My ranking is:
> 
> ...


Very much agreed, my friend- and in that order too. And let me guess: your ship of choice would be the Normandie?


Rarely, rarely, comest thou,
Spirit of Delight!
Wherefore hast thou left me now
Many a day and night?
Many a weary night and day
'Tis since thou art fled away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley: _Song_​


----------



## Fogey (Aug 27, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Jason Evans_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


[:I], no Sir, the _RMS Olympic_:









'Old Reliable'


----------



## n/a (Sep 4, 2002)

> quote:_Originally posted by JLPWCXIII_
> No Sir, the _RMS Olympic_:


Point well taken. (Nice picture BTW.) But alas we will never know how beautiful the RMS Britannic would have been had she not been denied the career she was intended for.[V]

Edit: I have saved that picture to my desktop. It is beautiful. And thank-you for the link to the website in your post below.


Rarely, rarely, comest thou,
Spirit of Delight!
Wherefore hast thou left me now
Many a day and night?
Many a weary night and day
'Tis since thou art fled away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley: _Song_​


----------



## Fogey (Aug 27, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Jason Evans_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sadly, no. [V] The fate of _HMHS Britannic _ was almost Gothic. Here is a website of a (relatively) recent dive to her wreck:


----------



## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

anybody here flown on a dirigable or a blimp (or balloon)? I do planes and trains all the time (including a dozen times on the orient express, not as glamorous as one would hope) and ships every now and again. never on a lighter than air device.


----------



## [email protected] (Jan 12, 2005)

yeah i have zach.

few years ago when i was back home in Melbourne i was doing PR for a major oil company, the lightship people were in town for the Australian Open and then the Grand Prix, were shopping the blimp around to potential advertisers for the next year.

They took me and my then-girlfriend for an hour long spin all around Melbourne. One of the coolest things I have ever done. So much fun.


----------



## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

cool. I gotta do that sometime. my father had flown in a glider a few times and said that part of the cool factor was the silence, I am guessing that a dirigable must be really quiet, too?


----------



## [email protected] (Jan 12, 2005)

quite the opposite actually

the little cabin thing is tiny and has no noise insulation, so the engine in behind you is crazy loud. you have to wear helmets with microphones to talk to each other in there.

they are crazy maneuverable though - its like the biggest rollercoaster on earth in there.


----------



## rws (May 30, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by globetrotter_
> . . . . I am guessing that a dirigable must be really quiet, too?


Would that I had flown in any airship! At least, though, I've been able to speak with and read memoirs of crew and passengers of blimps (non-rigid airships), dirigibles (semi-rigid), and zeppelins (rigid -- _i.e._, fully framed). A major factor in whether travel is quiet is the size of the ship (that is, the distance that engines are placed from the passengers): the Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg both were very, very quiet for their passengers, one of whom stated that he heard less noise aloft than he made walking or swimming below.

I'd rank travel for myself a bit differently: ocean liner, airship (especially zeppelins), train, airplane. You can see that I'm an enthusiast of lighter-than-air craft!


----------



## dorian (Mar 31, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by JLPWCXIII_
> 
> If time and resources were not a concern, and one had a choice of the finest example of each. My ranking is:
> 
> ...


1. Benetti bespoke ~400'
2. huh?
3. definite pass
4. Spitfire - or, more practically, a Boeing BJ


----------



## Nantucket Red (Jan 26, 2006)

1. Thorazine (wake me up when the trip's over)
2. Morphine (see above)
3. Percodan
4. A joint and a martini
5. A leisurely sailing vessel with a well-stocked bar.

No, please . . . anything but another train!

-------------------------------------------------
God gave us women; the Devil gave them corsets.
- French proverb


----------



## Yckmwia (Mar 29, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by JLPWCXIII_
> 
> If time and resources were not a concern, and one had a choice of the finest example of each. My ranking is:
> 
> ...


The conveyances you suggest are excellent for lengthy journeys; however, for shorter trips shouldn't one avail oneself of a less . . . _industrial_ vehicle, and favor one that discreetly reveals one's rank and station to the assembled throng? After all, one does need to get to the passenger quay, train station, Zeppelin port, or air terminal. Something, perhaps, along these lines:

Or, perhaps:










Or even:

Bon Voyage!

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." Thomas Jefferson


----------



## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by Yckmwia_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


hey Y, I would have thought that at least the last 2 would be considered oppresion, no?


----------



## eromlignod (Nov 23, 2005)

> quote:
> hey Y, I would have thought that at least the last 2 would be considered oppresion, no?


...depends on what they're getting paid, I guess.

Don
Kansas City


----------



## Fogey (Aug 27, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Yckmwia_
> The conveyances you suggest are excellent for lengthy journeys; however, for shorter trips shouldn't one avail oneself of a less . . . _industrial_ vehicle, and favor one that discreetly reveals one's rank and station to the assembled throng? After all, one does need to get to the passenger quay, train station, Zeppelin port, or air terminal.


Answer: Private dock, private train, private airstrip, private helipad. Avoid the fickle throng. One should never forget the lessons of the French Revolution. [xx(]


----------



## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

I can remember as a child the navy blimps still in service. Limited tickets are available on the Goodyear fleet. I rode once and it was marvelous.Our Captain told us the cabin was navy surplus, in fact, the very same that crashed unmanned in WW2. It is believed the crew suffered some external problem and both fell out trying to fix it. Derrigables are making a hopefull comeback, as modern engineering and their advantages make them again viable. Large elctronic dishes can be contained inside the envelope and flown for long periods. The still standing sheds proved usefull again when large aircraft such as the Guppy fleet came into service. Ironically, when NASA built the Shutttle hangers they never thought to look at them. Huge hangers actually create a micro climate and can RAIN inside from condensation. Suprise! quess what had to be retro fitted[B)]I always wanted to be a zeppelin observer in WW1. They were lowered via cable in a small gondola literally almost above the rooftops. One miraculously survived his ship being destroyed. He fell out of the gondola, through a roof and into the bed of the monastery abbess- occupied


----------



## eromlignod (Nov 23, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Kav_
> 
> I can remember as a child the navy blimps still in service. Limited tickets are available on the Goodyear fleet. I rode once and it was marvelous.Our Captain told us the cabin was navy surplus, in fact, the very same that crashed unmanned in WW2. It is believed the crew suffered some external problem and both fell out trying to fix it. Derrigables are making a hopefull comeback, as modern engineering and their advantages make them again viable. Large elctronic dishes can be contained inside the envelope and flown for long periods. The still standing sheds proved usefull again when large aircraft such as the Guppy fleet came into service. Ironically, when NASA built the Shutttle hangers they never thought to look at them. Huge hangers actually create a micro climate and can RAIN inside from condensation. Suprise! quess what had to be retro fitted[B)]I always wanted to be a zeppelin observer in WW1. They were lowered via cable in a small gondola literally almost above the rooftops. One miraculously survived his ship being destroyed. He fell out of the gondola, through a roof and into the bed of the monastery abbess- occupied


Maybe we'll finally get to use that dirigible mooring mast on top of the Empire State Building.

Don
Kansas City


----------

