Lockheed airship video with epic music

This video of the weird Lockheed P-791 airship is transformed into a film of epic proportions by the addition of a bombastic soundtrack. (Thanks, Kenny Montana!)

[#1 posted by Xenu teh WunderKat , February 25, 2009 5:11 PM]

I watch this, I'm thinking one thing:

Cross the beams!

Looks retro-future rad, but very Stay Puft.

Soundtrack: wouldn't some Led be better?

[#2 posted by cory , February 25, 2009 5:19 PM]

Led was probably too on-the-nose.

Honestly though, they probably spent as much developing this thing as any feature film. Why not give it a soundtrack? Some credits would be nice too.

[#3 posted by teuthis , February 25, 2009 5:21 PM]

Piggy!

[#4 posted by obeyken , February 25, 2009 5:24 PM]

THAT'S A REAL THING?

[#5 posted by Bekah , February 25, 2009 5:28 PM]

# 3 Teuthis my thoughts exactly - this thing is seriously anthropomorphic - if it is part of WALRUS - HULA how apt ;)

[#6 posted by digit , February 25, 2009 5:30 PM]

ITS THE FUTURE! FUCK YA! /airguitar

[#7 posted by Brainspore , February 25, 2009 5:33 PM]

Pigs in Space!

C'mon, I can't be the only muppet show fan out there...

[#8 posted by MCM , February 25, 2009 5:41 PM]

Looks like something that would be flying over the crowd at a Pink Floyd concert...

[#9 posted by Spike the Dingo , February 25, 2009 5:41 PM]

Sounds like the soundtrack from "24".

[#10 posted by Fludzone , February 25, 2009 5:53 PM]

I've always wanted a blimp-house, floating from state to state. Thank you Lockheed for making my dream just one step closer.

[#11 posted by the Other michael , February 25, 2009 5:58 PM]

gimme a double-double animal-style

[#12 posted by the Other michael , February 25, 2009 6:01 PM]

yawn. just another triple-blimp with furniture casters.

seriously. furniture casters?!??

[#13 posted by skrewgun , February 25, 2009 6:01 PM]

From the front it looks like a someone stuffed into tights.

[#14 posted by Takuan , February 25, 2009 6:09 PM]

can they light it up from inside?

[#15 posted by Rodney , February 25, 2009 6:27 PM]

I think this is the original "make anything epic" video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrZUfKk_mPc

[#16 posted by J France , February 25, 2009 6:34 PM]

Rodney: That video was great. I sometimes wonder what i'd do at work all day if it weren't for the below-the-fold boingboing kids.

[#17 posted by acipolone , February 25, 2009 6:36 PM]

Could they have tried any harder to make it look like a drifting manatee?

Heh. Awesome.

[#18 posted by TheAmazingYeah , February 25, 2009 6:39 PM]

Somehow this looks obscene, like there should be hidden genitalia on the backside, although what sort of genitalia and from what beast I have no idea.

[#19 posted by TheAmazingYeah , February 25, 2009 6:43 PM]

As soon as I posted I figured it out - I feel like this is what the proctologist sees when he examines that alien girl from Total Recall.

[#20 posted by afo , February 25, 2009 6:44 PM]

Looks like something that would be flying over the crowd at a Pink Floyd concert...

or a Spinal Tap concert. except scaled to inches, not feet.

[#21 posted by airshowfan , February 25, 2009 6:46 PM]

My company's is cooler:

http://www.skyhookintl.com

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q3/080708c_nr.html

Okay, maybe it's not (since it doesn't exist yet). Close enough.

PS: #4, LOL :)

[#22 posted by KurtMac , February 25, 2009 7:05 PM]

Head-on it looks like a giant hotdog. Just paint the outer balloons orange and the middle red and you've got one helluva wienermobile.

[#23 posted by Robbo , February 25, 2009 7:18 PM]

I want a shot of this over at the Battersea Power Station!

[#24 posted by Scuba SM , February 25, 2009 7:26 PM]

I want to see somebody edit this video... it's begging for lasers and enormous explosions.

[#25 posted by igpajo , February 25, 2009 7:30 PM]

They need to mount massive speakers inside that thing that would pump out that music as it flies around. Would scare the hell out of people on the ground.

[#26 posted by Sunfell , February 25, 2009 7:36 PM]

Ah, they just swiped the soundtrack stuff from Airbus.

This Airbus A380 in 7 minutes video has one of the coolest soundtracks ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbEiHGZtCFA

I'd like to know who did it- especially the wings and wheels sequence.

And this Boeing 777 film has some great music, too- they go for a jazz-gospel sound. The vocals about one minute in rock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsv_50C2yQE

[#27 posted by zuzu , February 25, 2009 8:13 PM]

Lockheed Martin, eh? So how does this drop bombs on people?

[#28 posted by oohShiny , February 25, 2009 8:15 PM]

#15 -- I still don't think anything illustrates the profound impact of Requiem for a Tower as well as the snail video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdHqdvb4qB4&feature=related

[#29 posted by Takuan , February 25, 2009 8:19 PM]

it IS a bomb Zuzu. Fuel/air hyperbaric, drone or suicide mode.

[#30 posted by Takuan , February 25, 2009 8:25 PM]

kinda
http://media.urbandictionary.com/image/large/manatee-20192.jpg

[#31 posted by Ian70 , February 25, 2009 8:25 PM]

This just in: Giant Flying Eggshell-Coloured Ass seen flying over the desert.

[#32 posted by AirPillo , February 25, 2009 8:35 PM]

The music had me expecting to see it blow up.

I think they may have given me the wrong message, there.

[#33 posted by shinyone , February 25, 2009 8:51 PM]

OK, the obvious comment is that this looks suspiciously like it was influenced by Thunderbird 2, don't you think?

Now here's the awesome, strange part. Back in the 80's, I was an engineer in the super-secret skunkworks at Lockheed. As a bit of a joke, I found an Andy Warhol-style art print of Thunderbird 2 and hung it in my office. People would often come in and study the print, saying things like, "what is that?" or "that would never fly!"

Imagine my surprise...

[#34 posted by Daemon , February 25, 2009 8:53 PM]

Somebody needs to give one of these to Abney Park.

[#35 posted by d4g33z , February 25, 2009 9:05 PM]

A Quinn Martin production!

[#36 posted by artbot , February 25, 2009 9:06 PM]

#26 - Wow, that time lapse 777 video is amazing. It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen on u-toob, which is odd considering one of the worst videos I ever saw was produced by Boeing for their plant tour. A real stinker.

[#37 posted by Johnny Cat , February 25, 2009 9:07 PM]

That soundtrack wasn't stolen, it's required listening to all military pilots. If you were to walk into any random air force pilot's home and pushed play on his or her CD player, that theme would play...loudly. Navy pilots would have it remixed as drum/bass of course, and it'd be on mp3, and there'd be more people there.

[#38 posted by Tom Hale , February 25, 2009 9:17 PM]

This reminds me of a PC magazine ad several years ago, that had a photo of several cows walking towards the camera - they were spread out, some close to the camera, some maybe 50 yds away. The caption at the bottom said, "Now imagine them with the theme music from Jaws." -or something similar. Without the Jaws music, of course the photo was very mild - pleasant - what could be more harmless than a few cows? Add the Jaws music and the photo was totally different. The cows might as well have been zombies.

Its amazing how much music can add to what the viewer gets from a video.

[#39 posted by thickdot , February 25, 2009 9:50 PM]

That's about 1/16th the size of the one that flew over my house a few years back.

[#40 posted by Superfluous Moniker , February 25, 2009 9:52 PM]

Sounds like the music from Metal Gear Solid 2.

[#41 posted by dididangerlove , February 25, 2009 10:00 PM]

Bitchin. Totally bitchin.

[#42 posted by mdh , February 25, 2009 10:10 PM]

I don't have the tools to edit it myself, but I just sync-ed it up with Yakkity Sax and it works rather well.

[#43 posted by vorpalsword , February 25, 2009 10:57 PM]

My immediate reaction was, "Where did the hippopotamus's head go???"

Somebody should intercut this with the footage of that uncanny-valley military robot that jogs about on what looks like two people's tight-clad legs. And then add Yakkity Sax :)

[#44 posted by mrmopwater , February 25, 2009 11:40 PM]

most epic take off and landing for a vulgar looking aircraft...ever.

[#45 posted by Ratdog , February 26, 2009 1:32 AM]

Well, there's my life's dream right there.

[#46 posted by Bekah , February 26, 2009 1:40 AM]

#43 I second that move - all I could think of was that ceaseless buzzz of the generator for the robot

[#47 posted by Ratdog , February 26, 2009 1:46 AM]

I've always thought the cure for our world's problems would be every person has their own personal blimp. Then we could just fly/float around and be happy. Problem solved.

[#48 posted by Anonymous , February 26, 2009 5:40 AM]

And so the mighty airship carried the desperate band of adventurers into the fell land of Xel'tar'noth...

[#49 posted by afo , February 26, 2009 5:53 AM]

#42, here you go:

http://james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier/speedup.php?id=hVNV-FFUOnc

[#50 posted by Scatter , February 26, 2009 5:54 AM]

Lockheed Martin's design appears to have been "inspired" by (or should that be nicked from?) a UK company, ATG who had been working on the Skycat for ages. LM then proceeded to sue ATG for copyright infringement. Nice!

Skycat went bust, but appears to be back from the dead in some form:

http://www.hybridairvehicles.net

Looks kinda similar no?

There's some good info on the saga here:
http://airshipworld.blogspot.com/search/label/SkyCat

These heavy lift airships are definitely going to be gracing our skies again once oil supplies start to tighten and we get serious about climate change. I, for one, can't wait!

[#51 posted by phillamb168 , February 26, 2009 6:45 AM]

These things will prove useful in the coming zombie apocalypse.

As will the soundtrack.

[#52 posted by Ratdog , February 26, 2009 7:05 AM]

@ #50

I believe they mention the use of blimps during the zombie apocalypse in the book World War Z, and according to the book, that's a pretty good idea.
If we had blimps, we would be able to forget all of our worries, including the zombie apocalypse, and just float around.

[#53 posted by pkarpenko , February 26, 2009 7:12 AM]

They forgot the film part of film editing. Music alone doesn't do it. Cutting does. Observe:

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7564/c068de69cb7475120c8387eoq1.swf

[#54 posted by Ratdog , February 26, 2009 7:33 AM]

#52

That is the coolest, most epic, thing I have ever seen.
And it would make one heck of a great movie:

"One cube - on a mission- against all odds"
Cube Wars

Coming this summer

[#55 posted by Filekutter , February 26, 2009 7:40 AM]

Very nice, but I am just dying to hold a lighter to the rear.

[#56 posted by GregLondon , February 26, 2009 8:01 AM]

cool. I wonder how many of the test pilots have taken these things out at night,put on a martian mask, and terrorize the locals. hang some bright spotlights on it to "beam" people up. Oh yeah, you could have fun with this.

[#57 posted by mdh , February 26, 2009 8:26 AM]

AFO @ 48 - win. TY!

[#58 posted by phillamb168 , February 26, 2009 8:45 AM]

#51 @RatDog

Spot on good fellow, spot on. I was hoping someone else would catch the WWZ reference. Also, they're making a WWZ movie! It's going to be released in 2010.

[#59 posted by phillamb168 , February 26, 2009 9:04 AM]

Also - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU #48 @AFO. How great is this thing? The prez's speech from a few nights ago is pretty hilarious when run through the Hill-ifyer: http://james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier/speedup.php?id=3MVtE7C-YVc

'specially the clapping!

[#60 posted by VICTOR JIMENEZ , February 26, 2009 9:32 AM]

I´m seeing a giant inflatable flying ass, with epic music. WINS.

[#61 posted by Anonymous , February 26, 2009 10:40 AM]

I'm too lazy/untalented to do the mashup, but this reminds me of the aliens who are keepers of the Fifth Element.

[#62 posted by eclectro , February 26, 2009 10:52 AM]

@26 Sunfell - the skyhook doesn't have any cool music, and doesn't look any better than the lockheed design. But maybe I can help out when you go to apply for that DOD contract;

http://james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier/speedup.php?id=v2Xs0mvJLK0

[#63 posted by ill lich , February 26, 2009 11:09 AM]

"Oh the HUMANITY!"

[#64 posted by Bucket , February 26, 2009 11:48 AM]

Yesssss.... one step closer to my dream of becoming an air pirate.

Now I really need to start looking for a nice leather flying helmet and goggle combo.

[#65 posted by Anonymous , February 26, 2009 1:02 PM]

Oh my God--a flying butt!! It only thing that would've had me rolling on the floor would be if the music was from "The Final Countdown." Terminator-esque music doesn't work here. Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" (Monty Python theme) would've been priceless.

[#66 posted by bat21 , February 26, 2009 2:21 PM]

The phrase "butt ugly" comes to mind. It looks like something from Futurama except those ships are supposed to look stupid.

[#67 posted by Duffong , February 26, 2009 3:26 PM]

Looks like it's powered by cheeseburgers.

[#68 posted by CopyrightMe , February 26, 2009 7:17 PM]

Like watching a fat kid run to the lunch room. Not pretty.

[#69 posted by Anonymous , February 26, 2009 9:01 PM]

A professor of mine was working for Lockheed at the time this behemoth was built. Crazily enough, the monster you see in the video is merely a scale model of a design exercise aimed at replacing superheavy cargo lifters with massive lighter-than-air type vehicles. The original, if it had ever been realized, would have dwarfed this guy by a factor of 3!

[#70 posted by Chuck , February 27, 2009 8:37 AM]

This is the teaser trailer for Low-Altitude Attack Zeppelin II, right?

[#71 posted by Cochituate , February 27, 2009 10:52 AM]

From inside Lockheed Martin's firewall, I can't get to some of the videos referenced above, but I hope to look at them from home this weekend. When I first saw this thing, months ago, I thought it looked like an inflated coffee table. I thought the legs should lengthen at some point, to help it achieve flight. That would also help with the whole Benny Hill soundtrack thing, I'd imagine.

It's also so damned big that you should be able to land planes on top of it, but I do think that lighting it from inside while flying outside Area 51 would lead to some outrageous videos from other people. The current soundtrack is very much like an NFL films special (maybe Joe Montana could stand on top and throw flaming footballs at the ground?).

[#72 posted by Oren Beck , March 6, 2009 6:33 PM]

I always wanted to see Dean Ing's Delta airships...

[#73 posted by tubethief , March 6, 2009 7:49 PM]

I nominate this as the new Oscar Meyer Weinership, after it is repainted, of course.