Two airship mechanics from Friedrichshafen in southern Germany are spending six weeks doing installation work in Japan. They will be doing maintenance work on the Zeppelin NT2 sold to Japan in 2004 and training technicians there. For the first time they will not simply be letting its buoyancy gas helium escape into the atmosphere, but will be storing it in giant sacks for later re-use, thus saving costs. Then the giant airship will be getting a complete overhaul. The mechanics are under time pressure because the upcoming passenger flights over Japan's huge cities are already booked. Mark Miller accompanied the German specialists as they collaborated with the Japanese crew. … mehr weniger