In a verdant airfield just north of Seattle, our team stood huddled in the damp dawn obscured on every side by a thick fog.  As the sun climbed into the morning sky, we waited, fingers crossed, for the fog to lift before the winds picked up.  Just as the warmth of the sun began to burn off the mist, a helicopter appeared and circled above.   It was the local news helicopter. They had come to see this thing called an airship

There is no doubt that it is a peculiar craft.  Somewhere between a blimp and a hot air balloon, Greenpeace’s thermal airship, named A.E. Bates, is one of 4 vessels of it’s kind in the United States and one of only 60 in the world. Continue reading →