Buzz
The Dilemma: Imagine you're at a football game, and there's a giant, cigar-shaped object floating ominously overhead. So, what’s the deal? Is it a blimp or a zeppelin? And while we're at it, why are your seats so far away?
People You Can Impress: Whoever’s sitting next to you in the upper deck.
The Explanation: Blimps and zeppelins both float because they’re lighter than air. Filled with a gas that’s lighter than oxygen, they rise like hot-air balloons. But unlike balloons, these airships can be steered. German Count (Graf) Ferdinand von Zeppelin recognized this limitation and in the 1890s invented the "dirigible [or steerable] balloon" for military reconnaissance. Over time, these dirigibles came to be known as zeppelins and were used in World War I as bombers and scouts. However, their use didn’t stop there. In the years between the wars, zeppelins became an important mode of transportation, making regular transatlantic journeys, with the famous Graf Zeppelin even completing a circumnavigation of the globe in 1929.
How popular were zeppelins? So popular that the spire atop the Empire State Building was initially designed as a docking mast for them—though that plan was abandoned, as the severe updrafts made it impractical (not to mention, who’d want to disembark 1,300 feet above Manhattan?).
For anyone who’s seen footage of the Hindenburg disaster in Lakehurst, N.J., 1937, the key difference between zeppelins and blimps is clear: zeppelins have rigid metal frames, allowing them to endure longer flights and more challenging weather conditions (which also makes them more expensive). Blimps, however, are simply flexible balloons with fins and engines. And as for the name ‘blimp’? It was coined in 1916, echoing the sound made when the balloon is tapped.
Led and Other Zeppelins Led Zeppelin remains the greatest band ever named after a flying machine (take that, Jefferson Airplane). The band’s name came courtesy of Keith Moon, the legendary drummer of The Who. He jokingly remarked that the band, initially called the New Yardbirds, would "go over like a lead zeppelin." The band embraced this challenge, altering the spelling just slightly, and thus the iconic name was born.
Excerpted from What's the Difference?
