North Coast inventor has big idea just floating in the air

Published 5:00 pm Sunday, June 10, 2007

A little less latex, a little more helium, and he could have it made: a new design for the modern zeppelin.

If he gets it afloat, it won’t be the first invention Jesse “Chuck” Day has conjured up from his inquiring mind.

He’s already patented a streambed crossing device that he envisioned as a life-saver for the military. Another concept of his – an inflatable air block – would seal fireplace flues to keep more heat in the house and keep birds out.

A former Clatsop state forester, Day’s got plenty of ideas and a workshop in his garage to keep him occupied on his four-acre property off Oregon Highway 202 in Astoria.

His motivation to redesign the zeppelin stems partly from his 24 years working in state forestry. He can see it now: a high-powered vessel that could ply through the air and remove millions of board-feet of timber from the forest floor.

“With the zeppelin the tracks are in the sky – you can go anywhere with it,” said Day. “You wouldn’t need all those logging roads. They’re doing so much more damage to the environment than they need to.”

Day, 58, is also an environmentalist. He remembers the first time he saw a Northern spotted owl and a marbled murrelet in the Clatop State Forest, and started advocating for logging practices that would better protect bird habitat. He now has 23 birdhouses on his property for his “little buddies,” the swallows, starlings and sparrows.

Growing up, Day was the kind of kid who loved to take things apart to figure out how they worked.

“Ideas just flow from me,” Day said. “You give me a problem and I can usually solve it.”

He later got an associate’s degree in liberal arts and engineering at Oregon Polytechnic Institute in Portland and went on to help the Oregon Department of Forestry build roads and bridges and set up timber sales in Clatsop County.

Since back problems forced him to retire from his job as forester, Day has more time for inventing. He also sings with the North Coast Chorale and draws. In past years, he has taken several stabs at running for public office in Clatsop County.

The concept of an aircraft that could swoop into forests and collect felled timber was floated decades ago in Tillamook with the CycloCrane, a helicopter-blimp hybrid that never quite took off. Day said that’s because “the physics wasn’t there.”

Day’s design doubles the width of the traditional zeppelin (i.e. the infamous 800-foot German Hindenburg that crashed in 1937), shortens the length, and adds the power of a Harrier jet engine.

Of course, right now, his zeppelin is actually just an 8-foot-long dome of layered Styrofoam, carefully glued and carved into a two-inch shell. It’s equipped with model steering mechanisms and air intake controls. But his first attempt at lift-off – filling the dome with helium-inflated balloons – was a bust. The latex was too heavy and weighed the model craft down. For his next attempt he’ll enclose the zeppelin before filling it directly with helium.

Day said new materials and new technology – coupled with the cost of traditional fuel – make the zeppelin a possibility for future transport. He thinks the stigma stuck on the zeppelin from past failures can be lifted.

“I’m just throwing out an idea for people to think about,” he said. “I’ve always thought that lighter-than-air crafts were a wonderful idea. …You can burn a quarter of the jet fuel and still carry passengers. It’s large, but efficient-wise, it’s fabulous. Right now, we muscle our way into the air with bigger jets. We may want to start looking backwards in time and using old ideas. It’s time. It’s here.”