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'Cucumber' takes flight at DuPage Airport

Riding in a blimp is more like boating in a submarine than flying - even if the airship looks like a giant cucumber.

The chief pilot of an airship visiting the suburbs Friday described the sailing-like experience of airship flight as onlookers got glimpses of the strange, green blimp above West Chicago.

The Hendrick's Gin flying cucumber took off from DuPage Airport under the guidance of chief pilot Charlie Smith. He flew it low and slow - roughly 1,000 feet above the ground at 35 mph - to Chicago for an overhead view of the Lollapalooza music festival.

The blimp was in the suburbs as the last leg of a cross-country promotional tour for the gin distiller that's hit a dozen cities since April.

Company marketers developed the flying cucumber to highlight the unusual taste of Hendrick's Gin, which is flavored with cucumber essence and rose.

"We say there's no better way to champion the cucumber," Jim Ryan, Hendrick's national brand ambassador, said before the blimp floated into town, "than to let it fly."

Giant flying cucumber descending on DuPage Airport

  The ground crew pushes the Hendrick's Gin flying cucumber airship away from its tether so it can take off Friday morning at DuPage Airport in West Chicago. The blimp flies about 35 miles per hour, 1,000 feet above the ground. Scott Sanders/ssanders@dailyherald.com
  Charlie Smith, chief pilot of the Hendrick's Gin flying cucumber, says flying in the airship is more like being in a boat than a plane. The blimp moves through the air similarly to the way a submarine moves through water, he says. Scott Sanders/ssanders@dailyherald.com
  The Hendrick's Gin flying cucumber takes to the air Friday morning over DuPage Airport in West Chicago. It was in town as the last leg of a marketing tour across the country promoting the unusual flavor in the company's gin, which is flavored with cucumber essence and rose. Scott Sanders/ssanders@dailyherald.com
  The Hendrick's Gin flying cucumber heads toward Chicago Friday morning after taking off Friday from DuPage Airport in West Chicago. Scott Sanders/ssanders@dailyherald.com
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