Welcome to Up Ship! The Airship History Podcast. I’m Nick Rogers and I will be your captain on this long-haul flight through the fascinating history of the most awe-inspiring and ethereal aircraft ever conceived – the airship. 

We will navigate from the earliest days of airships, through the violent days of the First World War into the Golden Age of the great airships of the 1920s and 30s, and beyond.

We’ll fly around the world on the Graf Zeppelin, travel to the North Pole with Roald Amundsen, escort World War 2 convoys in US Navy airships and much, much more. And of course, we will examine in the depth the tragic crashes that bedevilled airship history, such as the Hindenburg Disaster.

On our journey we will encounter courageous pilots, crazy inventors, ambitious politicians, visionary engineers; a whole cast of colourful characters. We’ll look at how airships influenced the way we travel now, and at the companies trying to bring them back into regular use.

Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts to join the adventure as we voyage back to a time when giant airships ruled the skies!

'Out of the softening sunset came the airship; and the manner of its moving was beautiful. Few inanimate objects attain beauty in the pursuance of their courses, and yet, to me, at least, the flight of this ship was far lovelier than the swooping of a bird or the jumping of a horse.'

Giant rigid airships the size of ocean liners once ruled our skies. Crossing continents and transporting passengers in spacious luxury, they seemed to be the future of long-distance air travel. But one fiery moment in 1937 over Lakehurst, New Jersey changed aviation forever and robbed the world of these magnificent, otherworldly aircraft.

Join podcast host Nick Rogers as we look at why large airships are no longer in our skies, why that matters and why you should be interested in airship history.

"Nothing will ever equal that moment of joyous excitement which filled my whole being when I felt myself flying away from the earth. It was not mere pleasure, it was perfect bliss. Having escaped from the frightful torments of persecution and of calumny, I felt that I was answering all in rising above all… On whatever side we looked, all was glorious; a cloudless sky above, a most delicious view around."

Imagine the thrill of being one of the first humans to experience flight. Imagine the courage it must have taken to set foot in a balloon and allow yourself to be transported into the clouds, not knowing what it would be like or whether you would survive the experience. Every time we board an aircraft today, we owe a debt to these brave pioneers.

Join podcast host Nick Rogers for episode 2 as we trace the early days of flight, from Greek mythology to the first manned flights in balloons.

Observing the first manned balloon flight, Benjamin Franklin believed that the balloon would be such a potent weapon that it would bring about an end to war. If only that had been the case.

Balloons played a role in numerous conflicts, from the French Revolutionary Wars and the American Civil War up to World War One, but they and their proponents often sat uncomfortably in the strict military hierarchy of their armies, leading to conflict and personality clashes. On this episode, we examine the role that balloons have played in military history and look and why, ultimately, they were not as effective as some hoped they would be.

We also pick up the thread of airship history, looking at attempts, sometimes fatal, at solving the biggest problem of early flight - how to build an aircraft that could actually be steered. We look at the first ever powered flight and the different approaches to building a useful airship.

It was great to interview Thibault Proux from Flying Whales, one of the companies making the biggest strides towards bringing large airships back to our skies. Flying Whales are developing what will be the largest aircraft in the world - the LCA60T, 200 metres long, 50 metres wide and capable of carrying 60 tons of cargo to areas of the world with little to no infrastructure.

Thibault has been there almost since the beginning. We talk about the challenges both of building new aircraft and of developing effectively an entirely new industry, about the problems ‘load exchange’ poses for airship designers and the solutions Flying Whales have developed, and about how you should always follow your passion!

Aviation history is full of outsize characters. But few are as colourful or as interesting as Brazilian pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont.

Born to a wealthy coffee planting family, young Alberto dreamed of emulating the birds in flight. His dreams became reality when he moved to the exciting, vivid world of turn-of-the-century Paris. First building balloons, then airships, then ultimately aeroplanes, he steadily developed his understanding of flight, becoming one of the most celebrated men in the world and challenging the Wright Brothers through his achievements.

In Part One of this two-part series, we trace Alberto's early life and career, from growing up on his father's coffee plantation through his first experiments with balloons and airships, with some bumpy moments along the way.

In the second part of our Alberto Santos-Dumont double-bill, we follow his career as his fame skyrockets and he becomes one of the most celebrated figures in the world.

Embittered by the controversies surrounding the Deutsche Prize, he continues his experiments in Monaco before finally returning to France. His adventures continue; his little airship Number 9 hosts the world's first female pilot and the world's first child to fly.

Interested in all types of aviation, Alberto moves into aeroplane production and becomes the first person in Europe - some, still, maintain the world - to fly a heavier-than-air powered flying machine.

Sadly, the latter part of his life is one of illness, depression and restless travel before his sad and untimely end.

Enjoy this deep dive into one of the most interesting characters in aviation history!

I was delighted to welcome Max Pinucci to the podcast. Max is a designer, pilot, author and teacher. Among many other roles, he is the Cofounder and Head of Design at OceanSky Cruises, an exciting company which aims to operate large passenger airships for luxury, sustainable aerial cruises.

In this wide-ranging interview, Max and I discuss his many airship- and aviation-related projects, from his beautiful book Airships: Designed for Greatness to his board game, Airships: North Pole Quest.

Naturally, we speak a lot about OceanSky Cruises - where the concept came from, why sustainability and good design are vital parts of the company's mission and what it will be like for passengers to experience the first, epic flight to the North Pole.

We also talk about Max's aerial adventures in the skies of Tuscany in his 1930s British biplane!

Enjoy the discussion and please remember to share, like and review!