Terrorism

With Intrepid being an obvious target for terrorists there is always a senior crew member on the bridge along with a senior security officer on the security deck. As a precaution, mounted behind unmarked, break-away portions of the Intrepid's outer skin are insulated missile silos which are structurally connected to the ship’s interior framework. To prevent inadvertent missile launch a two-pronged fail-safe is in place ensuring that no one person has both launch passwords.

When an external terrorist threat requires defense, one password is entered from the Control Deck while the other is entered from Security & Fire Safety. Ship's missiles are set in motion in soft launch/hot launch stages so there will be no disturbance to the ship’s stability should there be any need for them. Attacking missiles can be disarmed with a range of Intrepid countermeasure options from decoys & chaff deployment all the way up to anti-ballistic interceptors & supersonic ballistic warheads.

Boarding

Boarding passengers check their baggage in at the terminal and are then carried up via a wide glass covered escalator into to the five-storey Atrium which serves as the reception area while guests are embarking. This area is entered via a temporary access point above the navigation floor through the glass sidewall near the front of the gondola. Many of the ground staff are required to augment the check-in process by temporarily standing in as Arrivals Hosts along with the on-board staff. Guests arriving at the Atrium are processed at one of two reception points and, via the Atrium's glass enclosed elevators, are shown up to their rooms by the on-board customer support staff. Although guest check-in is a quick process our baggage check-in system ensures that baggage arrives at most rooms before the guests do.

Toy-sized dogs are the only passenger pets permitted on Intrepid. Our policy is that they must be carried or on a leash at all times. Dogs being checked-in are boarded as passengers and accompany guests and their hand luggage while boarding. Our on-board veterinarian is on hand for pet check-in. On-board kennel services are available at the ship's veterinarian clinic.

After Intrepid has ascended and begun its travels one of the reception points becomes the ship's Central Information desk. The other becomes a sandwich shop which offers drinks and light refreshments for guests enjoying the area. The Atrium has become a favorite rendezvous point for passengers.

Airship Access During Flight

At each docking facility is a craft developed especially for the company. Our engineers designed it to combine the best of both the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey and the experimental VSTOL craft: the Canadair CL-84. These vessels serve to ferry company personnel, airlift passengers in emergency situations, as refueling for the prop engines & for the electric generators, and whenever necessary to make deliveries of stock, supplies, & parts to Intrepid while it’s voyaging. Each of these hybrid craft can carry 5 metric tonnes (11,000 pounds) of cargo along with 11,000 litres (2,500 gallons) of diesel, and 11,000 litres (2,500 gallons) of aviation quality kerosene. Predictably these cargo craft are called Ospreys by both guests and staff.

There are two Osprey versions: The first one we designed was the cargo Osprey. The other version, our passenger Osprey, is essentially a cargo Osprey with an interior that's been stripped out, re-designed, and then fitted out with plush interiors, a sandwich shop concession, and comfortable seating for passengers. The passenger Osprey serves as a tender for those locations where Intrepid does not dock but where passengers may enjoy a brief stop-over.

The Ospreys alight and service Intrepid in any of the three hangars located along the top of the airship between Funnels Four and Seven. Each of these hangars is roughly fifty meters by sixty meters. They are covered with glass panels which, only for support aircraft landings and departures, roll away to one side beneath the ships outer skin to allow such access. Whenever the glass panels are rolled aside, blowers ensure that no airship exhaust gases enter the open hangar.

There is usually a passenger Osprey docked in Hangar One and in Hangar Two. Hangars One and Two serve as purpose-built upper lobbies that offer tendered passenger services.

Hangar Three is ordinarily used for the cargo Osprey. When helicopters alight on Intrepid they usually land in Hangar Three. If required, helicopters docked in this hangar can be rolled aside to permit Osprey access.

Staff & Crew

For enjoyment during their time off work, occasionally our staff arrange day trips for which they meet up at one of the passenger Ospreys. Prior to this our pilots organize a draw, with the company presenting the winner an additional day off if he chooses to fly himself and his colleagues out on their day trip. Trips usually leave Intrepid early on the day and return to the airship later that evening. The Ospreys are more than capable of catching up with Intrepid after it's enjoyed a full day's flight. Staff occasionally arrange weekend trips away from Intrepid. Such trips may last two, and on occasion, three days.

About twenty percent of our employees could, at a glance, be considered to be Caucasian in heritage. The remaining 80 percent are made up of a huge number of nationalities which include people of Carib, African, Euro-Asian, Pacific Rim, and Central & South American heritages. Most of our staff are well educated, speak another language in addition to English, and all have been trained to the highest standards of deportment and front-of-house demeanor. Staff employed by on-board concessions are considered as ship employees and enjoy the same benefits as our own people.

As nearly all of our employees live on-board in their own quarters they're encouraged to have small pets. Cats are the most common of staff pets followed by hamsters & gerbils. Some of our staff keep dainty-sized birds and there are even a few aquariums. Whether for passengers or for employees the only dogs permitted on Intrepid are those that are toy-sized which must always be carried or on a leash. Our staff are permitted to keep any pet fish, pet bird, and any small four-legged animal except mice and rats. Many of our staff keep house plants, some of which do remarkably well beneath the LED ceiling lights inside the ship's air-conditioned spaces. When our people are away for holiday they may request that the on-board veterinarian stands in to care for their pets. In such situations some staff may choose for colleagues to care for their pets, or to maintain the watering of their plants while they're away.

Food for employees is prepared alongside the food that is prepared for passengers. All employees access food from the Staff Cafeteria which, although always open, serves plated food from six in the morning until ten at night. Lunch breaks have been extended to make up for the time it takes our people to get to the cafeteria. Quite often, food that is embellished for guests which does not get served up within a reasonable interval is promptly passed along to the Cafeteria for our people to enjoy. Outside of cafeteria serving hours employees may enjoy dispensed hot & cold beverages, have foods from the vending machines, and make use of the microwaves for any prepared foods that they've gotten from the on-board employee store. Staff may take food to their rooms if desired. After obtaining a security pass our employees may shop in or enjoy any of the guest areas during their time off work provided they are out of uniform.

It was never our intent when designing Intrepid that our employees live in a dormitory environment. While we are pleased to have been able to provide all our people with their own living quarters, regrettably only senior staff enjoy en-suite bathing & toilet facilities. Staff who do not enjoy this privilege use shared shower and toilet facilities which, happily, have been compartmentalized for privacy. As an extension of our policy of extreme hygiene the ship's Housekeeping department cleans all staff areas including their quarters. Staff uniforms, whether for laundering or dry cleaning, staff bedding, and staff bathroom linens are processed at the docking facilities along with guest housekeeping & restaurant linens. A staff laundromat is available on board so that staff may conveniently launder personal items.

A strict policy of personal hygiene and grooming is in place for all our employees.

Docking

So far the company has secured some twenty docking facilities in different countries around the globe. In addition to there being space enough for this craft to land, each site needs to provide arrival/departure facilities (built and financed by the Company), freight haulage, passenger transportation services, diesel & kerosene refueling, laundering services & clean laundry replenishment, stores & supplies replenishment, treated waste removal, and water & waste water services.

Landing

There are fifteen mooring reels built at various points into the lower half of Intrepid's hull.

The following slideshow simulates the various stages of Intrepid's mooring process.

Servos built into each tether reel on the ship enable the Aerojets to be set on auto so they'll know just when to create the occasional blast of air in order to conteract the effects of any excess tension that may build up on any of the mooring cables. With all fifteen mooring lines thusly secured the ship's buoyancy is then slightly increased so that it is always snug against its tethers.

With the mooring tension spread evenly at different heights along the length of the hull and with the automated Aerojets bursts relieving any undue tension, in all but the worst of weather Intrepid is quite safe moored there in this manner. After the mooring process has been completed the ship’s freight, supply, and maintenance needs are attended to while passengers disembark and board.

In view of our responsibility to each of the people on board Intrepid at any given time, we understand that ship & passenger safety are far more important than keeping to schedule. Our passengers who are happy to voyage with us although there are faster methods of travel available, understand this to the extent that most will make connecting travel arrangements that accommodate flexibility. It is our policy that passengers are welcome to remain on board without any additional charge whenever Intrepid needs to bypass a scheduled landing. The crew of Intrepid will postpone landing, or fly it well out of the area whenever stormy weather is expected. Avoiding rough weather is the only time Intrepid is flown at high speeds.

The Main Hangar

Construction and maintenance of this airship would have required an above-ground structure that is a mile long and nearly a tenth of a mile in height & width as a result of which it was decided to excavate and build a covered facility nearly a tenth of a mile deep. This hangar, located in Nevada, has a glass paneled top that rolls up into place when necessary to protect the structure interior from weather and from blowing desert sands.

Most of Intrepid's tethers are connected directly to the interior steel framework of the hangar while it is moored there. Features to ensure Intrepid's security were included in our Nevada hangar while it was being built so Intrepid is as secure moored and enclosed in the main hangar as it is while moored elsewhere and while in flight.

A top to toe inspection, gas bag & ballonet pressure checks, intensive repairs, extensive remodeling, and asset replacement are carried out while the ship is moored in Nevada.