Larger Than Life

The airship Big Ed at a landing field nowhere near equipped to properly handle the large ship. Actually, very few landing fields can, and no hanger can hold the titan.

Up until the mammoth ship's launching, most of the old high masts were being scrapped, but with many major air fields now having to accommodate the Big Ed, the tall masts are being reequipped for self-propulsion and anchorage arms to keep the ship on the ground. Seen in proximity to a standard hangar and stub mast, the massive dirigible really shows it's scale.

To successfully construct the airship, an entire (and geographically wind dampening) valley was employed for the grueling task of complete outdoor construction of the vessel. The Big Ed pushed every limit of airship technology, a task which the engineers and construction crews of the Gordon Bros. Airship Works took to with some amount of enthusiasm and relish, and later, stress and frustration. (several senior engineers developed ulcers over the project)

It didn't hurt the company's coffers much either, as United Travel Lines fronted much of the ship's cost along with a slim subsidy from the Aviation Ministry. In return, the vessel is promised to have a fifty-year minimum operating life with Gordon Bros. contractually obligated to cover all major repair and refit costs.