In the announcement I read that the airship launch was scheduled for five o'clock in the evening - and I had no chance to arrive at Tsarskoye Selo by the appointed hour. I would not be free until four o'clock! To get to the station - half an hour; to buy a ticket, go up to the platform and wait for the suburban train - fifteen minutes; half an hour by train; another half an hour from the station in Tsarskoye Selo to the meadow, which was to be the starting point... In general, I arrived at six rather than at five.
I had resigned myself in advance that I would miss the main event that motivated me to visit the festival of reenactors. So I just walked around the Ratnaya Palata Museum and looked at old cars, counters with museum things, information stands and - only surprised that there were many people settled on the steps of the museum and on the grass around. They were not watching a movie shown in the courtyard of the museum, they were not standing in line for trdelniki or ice cream, they did not look like tired sightseers who sat down to rest a bit.
All these people seemed to be waiting for something. I passed by one of such groups and heard a fragment of a phrase: "they said that the start was postponed to six, but it's already half past seven!". Are they really discussing the blimp launch? Was I really not late, but, on the contrary, had arrived early due to a fortunate coincidence?
Later I found a more extended announcement, in which it was very detailed that the condition for the airship flight was suitable weather. And that the launch would take place no earlier than five o'clock - but possibly later, by an hour or two. In case of strong winds, the flight could be postponed to the next day.
A vast meadow behind the museum, on the edge of the park, was set aside for the preparation of the airship flight. When I approached this clearing, I saw that the blimp cover was already spread out on the surface of the meadow and a pump was connected to it. Soon the balloon of the blimp began to grow and rise higher and higher. It was not possible to get close to the airship for safety reasons, so the audience settled down at a small distance.
The hull of the airship had completely unfolded and it was clear that it was not a balloon - the hull had an elongated shape with wings and a tail at the rear. Several men stood around the airship and took hold of the ropes to prevent it from taking off before all preparations were completed. The pilots took their seats in the gondola. Everyone froze in anticipation - and then the airship took off!
The airship circled over the museum grounds, and soon returned to the starting point. I think it was really similar to those first flights of airplanes and airships, which attracted crowds of spectators in the early XX century. By the way, this very flight was timed to a memorable date - in August 1912 the airship "Hawk" set in the sky of Tsarskoye Selo the world record of the flight height of this type of aircraft - 1800 meters, which was witnessed by the International Balloon Federation.
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| Smartphone | Google Pixel 3a |
| Location | Tsarskoye Selo, Saint Petersburg, Russia |
This is my entry for the #BeautifulSunday challenge by 
