Here’s your chance to look see Sacramento from a zeppelin [The Sacramento Bee, Calif.]

July 10--Look to the skies over Sacramento and you'll find it.

Eureka, the Farmers Airship, has returned to the capital city.

The zeppelin, which journeyed Friday from Oakland International Airport to North Highlands' McClellan Park, will be offering "flightseeing" tours today above downtown Sacramento and the city's riverfront.

The airship last appeared in Sacramento in April and is scheduled to return in September.

Owned by Airship Ventures out of Moffett Field near Mountain View, the zeppelin is one of only three flying in the world. The others are based in Germany and Japan, and at 246 feet long, or 15 feet longer than a Boeing 747, it's the world's largest.

(Zeppelins have a rigid internal structure, which differentiates them from the more-common blimps.)

Most of Airship Ventures' tours focus on Bay Area and Southern California destinations. But tough economic times have posed a challenge.

"It's been trying to keep going in the midst of a deep recession. You're asking people to spend money on something that's not at the top of their mind," said Airship Ventures co-founder Alexandra Hall.

"There have been times where we're living from payroll to payroll. We're a weather-dependent business." But, she added, "it's a passion."

About 9,000 people have traveled aboard Eureka since its first flight in October 2008, Hall said. The 12-passenger craft draws about 90 passengers during a day's worth of flights, a mix of 30-minute, one-hour and two-hour flights.

"The experience of flying above the landscape and getting the perspective that birds get touches you in amazing ways," Hall said.

A 2006 zeppelin flight in Germany was enough to persuade Hall's husband, software entrepreneur Brian Hall, to launch Airship Ventures stateside in 2007.

It was a costly enterprise. A zeppelin costs $15 million to $20 million new, "depending on the exchange rate," Alexandra Hall said.

The Halls developed a business plan, secured investors including futurist Esther Dyson and several "six- and seven-figure" contributors, and negotiated a lease-financing agreement with German zeppelin manufacturer ZLT.

Airship Ventures has since partnered with Farmers Insurance, a relationship born when the insurer became a last-minute sponsor of the San Diego Open golf tournament in January. Eureka also collects scientific data and images for agencies such as Cal-EPA.

Hall said the firm's mix is "60-40 passenger," but anticipates more corporate and other work. "It's part of our revenue mix," she said. "This is a unique aviation platform."

FLYING ON THE EUREKA

When: Flights are scheduled to start at 8:15 a.m. today, with a 7:15 a.m. check-in.

How much: Tickets start at $199 for a 30-minute trip.

Contact: For tickets and information, call Airship Ventures at (650) 969-8100, ext. 111. Tickets are also available at Lionsgate Hotel at McClellan Park, 3410 Westover St.

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Call The Bee's Darrell Smith, (916) 321-1040.

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