“Calm winds, clear skies, bright sunshine. It’s a wonderful day to fly.” The Flight Service Station specialist was delighted to be giving such a favorable weather report. “No,” I thought to myself. “It’s a lousy day to fly.” This surprising thought illustrates there are special considerations and risks for every aircraft you fly.
You see, on that day I was flying the Skyship 600 blimp — over six stories tall, nearly two-thirds the length of a football field, and weighing over 15,000 pounds without the lifting gas. Upon landing, my job would be to deliver this behemoth gently into the hands of the 13 or so ground crew members who would then use the handling lines and gondola railings to walk it over and attach it to the mast. If I did a bad job of this I would put the ground crew at risk by dragging them across the landing area as they struggled to bring the airship to a stop.
