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Zeppelin Stops At North Perry Airport On National Tour

PEMBROKE PINES (CBS4) -- Look! Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, no it's a Zeppelin. The new Farmers Airship Eureka is the world's largest passenger airship and it's in South Florida until Sunday at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines on the third stop of a national tour.

Unlike a blimp, a Zeppelin can take off and land vertically and there is less engine noise.

"It's totally amazing to look around with 360 degree views," said Alex Hall, a spokesman with Farmers Insurance Company which is sponsoring the six-month cross-country tour of the Zeppelin.

It's also rare that people get to ride on one, until now. The airship is accepting civilian riders, for a price starting at $375 per person for 45 minutes, rising to $750 for 90 minutes.

"This is the only airship in the U.S. you can book a ticket on and experience for yourself," said Farmers spokesman Brian Hall.

It's an experience Dennis Collins couldn't pass up.

"I've been here thirty years and I've never seen this view," said Collins. "This is spectacular."

Collins is one of several passengers and media representatives who got a free ride on the Zeppelin Wednesday during its stop in South Florida where it will be offering tours from North Perry Airport from May 19 through the 22nd.

"It's really like being on a cloud, floating on a personal platform up in the air," said Hall. "You're at an altitude where you're high enough up that you're not intruding on anyone's privacy but, you're low enough where you get to see all of the details."

The Eureka is only one of two Zeppelins currently flying in the world and the only one of its kind in the U.S.

It holds 12 passengers, flies about 35 miles per hour at an altitude of 1,200 feet.

"It's ideal for passengers," said Katharine Board, the pilot. She is the only woman pilot in the world to fly a Zeppelin, which was first manufactured in Germany in the 1920's.

For information, go to FarmersAirship.com.

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