Airship Ventures is the vision of an entrepreneurial husband and wife team who have brought their love of aviation, aerospace and airships to life to create a unique, upstart company designed to bring Zeppelin airships to the skies over America for the first time in over 70 years.

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  Brian Hall – CEO

  Brian is the founder and CEO of Mark/Space, a successful, over 20-year-old mobile software company based in Silicon Valley. He is an entrepreneur, community builder, master of brand development, and has an eye for market opportunities. Brian has an infectious enthusiasm for space, aviation, history and technology, and is passionate about their intersection. His search for a business opportunity involving this powerful combination led him to Germany, where he discovered the Zeppelin NT. After flying on a Zeppelin in Germany during the Soccer World Cup in 2006, he was convinced that this unique passenger flightseeing experience and technology must be brought to the U.S. market. Brian is responsible for the overall strategic direction of Airship Ventures and is particularly excited about the future that lies ahead for airship technology in commercial, government and scientific applications.

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  Alexandra Hall

  Alex is a visionary, creative and entrepreneurial individual with over 2 decades experience growing new business ideas and teams. Her passion for developing an understanding for what an audience wants and actually delivering it has required Alex to develop considerable skills in business strategy and management, marketing, operations and finance. Her previous roles have given her a large network of contacts in local, state and federal agencies, as well as within the sectors of aerospace and aviation. Alex spent six years articulating the vision for, and delivering the National Space Center, the UK's national visitor attraction based on space and astronomy. She then relocated to California to use her talents as the Executive Director/CEO of the Chabot Space & Science Center, and now to co-found Airship Ventures. Academically trained in astrophysics, following a childhood desire to be an astronaut, her diverse talents also include being a published author, planetarium consultant, and former science TV host for the BBC. Alex proudly sits on the advisory board of Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, CA, and hopes to find time soon to learn how to fly.

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  Joanne Fedeyko - Director of Sponsorship

  Joanne brings twelve years experience in finance and accounting; consulting; and project management, plus six years experience in the nonprofit sector, prior to joining Airship Ventures. Although receiving her Certified Management Accountant designation Joanne has always found her way into unique organizations and opportunities. She has worked with a wide range of companies from Deloitte & Touche, to a start-up telecommunications company, to holding the Executive Director position of the nonprofit Girls on the Run San Francisco. Two things have shaped Joanne’s outlook on business and life – running and working with nonprofit organizations. She has volunteered for numerous nonprofit organizations and has been involved with many fundraising efforts to support great causes that include the Burlingame Soccer Club, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, the San Francisco Sheriff Department Women’s Reentry Center, the MS Society, and Tall Ship Education Academy. Joanne is also an avid runner and enjoys the Bay Area outdoors as often as possible.

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  Captain Dwayne Oslund, U.S. Navy (Retired) - Director Facilities, HR and Administration

  Dwayne is responsible for insuring that Airship Ventures has in place all appropriate facilities and services for its operations at Airship Ventures' home base at NASA Ames Research Center, as well as at all remote operation sites. With an extensive background in flight operations and project management, he also coordinates the hangar and ramp space needed for the company’s daily flight schedule. Dwayne previously served as Associate Executive Director and Finance Director at the Chabot Space & Science Center, and as Facilities & Leasing Manager for the Oakland Base Reuse Authority. A retired U.S. Navy Captain and helicopter pilot, his Navy assignments included Chief of Staff to the Commander Naval Base San Francisco. In 1990, Dwayne led the first contingent of Navy personnel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During Operation Desert Storm, he was in charge of 32 aircraft, providing Navy air logistics services from six remote bases in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. For more than 15 years, Dwayne also served as volunteer Vice Chair of the San Francisco Fleet Week Committee, where he oversaw the production of an air show featuring the Navy’s Blue Angels that attracts more than 1,000,000 spectators annually.

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  Matthew Kilkerr - Director of Maintenance

  Matthew has over twenty years experience in aircraft and airship maintenance. He has FAA Inspection Authorization, Airframe and Powerplant certification, and has previously run an authorized repair station.

  A private pilot and Englishman, Matthew started his career maintaining historical aircraft for a British war museum.

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  Rachel Loya - Marketing & Communications Manager

  As Airship Venture's Marketing and Communications Manager, Rachel Loya oversees the company's internal and external marketing and communications efforts, including advertising, PR and customer relations communications. She additionally plays a key role in the company's sponsorship efforts acting as client's in-house PR and marketing counsel.

  Her diverse experience is a perfect match to Airship Ventures multi-faceted airship and includes hands-on roles in industries as varied as travel, technology and sports. Prior to joining the company, Rachel served as the lead on the Airship Ventures account as Director of Public Relations at KRT Marketing. While at KRT, she helped build the public relations practice from the ground up, overseeing all of the agency’s public relations activities, as well as rounding out her skills by providing strategic counsel to new business, advertising and direct marketing efforts. Before that, she spent two busy years at A&R Partners (now Edelman) supporting publicity efforts for two high-profile accounts, Adobe Digital Imaging and iRobot. During her time at A&R Partners she played a role in seven product launches, in three countries, winning a silver Bulldog Award for the U.S. launch of the iRobot Roomba Discovery Series Vacuuming Robot, as well as supported her client’s preparations for a $115 million initial public offering. Rachel's PR career began providing media relations support for the Georgetown University Athletic Department, specifically its flagship men’s basketball program.

  Outside of the office, Rachel is an active member of the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay and enjoys dedicating her talents to their efforts in support of family self-sufficiency. A self-proclaimed news junkie and clothes horse, she enjoys spending her downtime reading about and debating the latest headlines and fashion trends, as well as "conducting media research" with the help of the latest reality TV craze. During the fall, she takes a break from these strenuous activities so she can dedicate Saturdays to loudly cheering her alma mater's football team to victory.

  Rachel holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California.

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  Brian Metzler - Flight Operations Manager

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  Francis Govers - Special Missions Manager

  Francis grew up in a small town called Houma, Louisiana, sixty miles south of New Orleans. He started his career as a Satellite Communications specialist in the Air Force, and after getting out of the service and finishing college at Texas State University, he worked at NASA as one of the lead engineers on the International Space Station.  Other notable positions have included Director of the Advanced Simulation Laboratory, Head of Flight Simulation for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and inventor of the Decision Support Center for SGI.  Francis has an extensive background in unmanned vehicles, as the Deputy Chief Engineer for Unmanned Ground Vehicles for the US Army’s Future Combat Systems, a participant in the DARPA Grand Challenge race, and as Chief Engineer for Elbit Systems of America.  Recently he served as Vice President for Engineering at Sportvision, the company responsible for the “yellow line” first and 10 markers seen on NFL games.  He is a commercial rated pilot, and was on the Board of Directors of the National Space Society.

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  Ben Travis - Pilot

  For Ben, his interest in aviation began with skydiving. It grew from there, and in 2004 he became motivated to get his pilot license.

  Starting as a ground crew member at The Lightship Group, Ben trained up to handle blimps, and soon thereafter started learning to fly them. For him some of the most rewarding and exciting parts of his job are being able to cross the country back and forth with some of the best views imaginable.

  After several years with blimps, Ben joined Airship Ventures in 2009. After experiencing the Zeppelin, he's hooked!

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  Andrea Deyling - Pilot in Supervision

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  Lars Pentzek - Consulting Pilot

  As a child in Eastern Germany, Lars grew up in a small village, dreaming of flight. Spending his days playing at the local airfield, when night fell, his parents always knew where to find him!

  Later on, his love of aviation brought him first to learn to fly gliders, then ultralights, and later hot air balloons. At the age of 18, Lars took the step to become a licensed pilot flying fixed-wing aircfraft. Banner towing providing a foot in the door, and after accumulating experience he progressed to a commercial pilot license, then an instructor license, and even a aerobatic license.

  After a short stint in the banking industry, Lars returned to aviation. How could it be otherwise? An initial 2 year run with a local hot air balloon company led to an opportunity to work for Cargolifter, a project that raised several hundred million Euro to develop a cargo airship, but ultimately shut down in 2001.

  When one door closes, another opens, and Lars found himself able to parlay his experience into an opportunity at Zeppelin. First as ground crew, then earning a coveted spot to be selected for Zeppelin NT pilot training.

  Since 2006, Lars has been flying the Zeppelin NT. First in Germany, then in Botswana, and now, in the United States.

  Lars flew for Airship Ventures on the 2011 Covering Communities Tour.

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  Oliver Jaeger - Consulting Pilot

  Oliver started his aviation career at Hillsboro Aviation in Oregon. It was there that he became a Commercial Pilot for Helicopters and also gained an instructor rating. After working for a year in Oregon he moved to Ft. Lauderdale to work for Heliflight Inc. and trained for and receiveed his instrument rating and Instructor instrument rating for helicopters. After 2.5 years in America, he took the chance to join the Zeppelin NT Company in 2002. Since then he has flown the Zeppelin NT in many different countries including Japan, Botswana, the US, and Europe.

  Oliver has flown with Airship Ventures for the Pacific Northwest Tour 2010, and the Covering Communities Tour 2011.

  Currently Oliver is in training to become a Test Pilot for Zeppelin NT airships.

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  Katharine Board – Consulting Pilot

  Kate holds several distinctions, including being a member of an elite group even more rare than female astronauts -- female airship pilots. Kate however, holds an even more prestigious title—the first female Zeppelin pilot in the world. From her first instruction flight at the age of 18, Kate has risen fast in the male-dominated world of airships. One of her first aviation positions, with Virgin Hot Air Balloon flights, led to her first airship position, with Virgin Lightships. Beginning as a ground crewman, she eventually worked her way up to pilot, and has CAA, LBA and FAA commercial airship licenses. Kate has flown extensively in Europe and America, logging more than 5,000 flight hours. At 5-feet 2-inches tall, she commands the largest commercial airship in the world.

Airship Ventures Board of Directors is composed of founders Brian and Alexandra Hall, and valued investor, believer and advisor, Esther Dyson.

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  Esther Dyson

  Esther Dyson is a long-time catalyst of start-ups in information technology in the US and other markets, including Russia. Since selling her company EDventure Holdings to CNET Networks in 2004, she has taken on newer challenges in private aviation and space as well as in health care (as a director of 23andMe, a consumer genetics company). Her IT investments have included Flickr and del.icio.us (both sold to Yahoo!), and Medstory (sold to Microsoft), as well as Meetup Inc., Eventful.com, Boxbe and Voxiva; she sits on the boards of the latter four companies. Dyson is also an active investor in air and space, with holdings in Space Adventures and Zero-G Corporation, as well as XCOR Aerospace, Constellation Services International, Coastal Technologies Group, Airship Ventures and Icon Aircraft. Esther hosts the "Flight School" conference, which brings together investors and entrepreneurs from the Air Taxi, "New Space" and aviation sectors and blogs for the Huffington Post. She does business under the (reclaimed) name of EDventure Holdings.