[Elecraft] Blimp

[windwing1 at juno.com]

I can relate to porpoising in a blimp. Friends of mine were volunteer pilots of the Fujifilm blimp, and I got to fly it twice. There's a yoke control for pitch and rudder steering, and to keep it flying level, you are always moving the yoke slowly--often to full extremes--to counter the natural unstable wanderings of the nose in two axes. Even without any boost, moving the garage-door-size elevators and rudders at the 26-knot cruising speed was not difficult, but it sure isn't anything like flying an airplane. The British AKS-600 Fujifilm blimp was the largest blimp ever manufactured, and the company is out of business now.
--Dave Martin, W6KOW, K2 05120