Lighter-than-air and hybrid airship concepts

taalismn said:

I remember long (at least 25 years) ago seeing an issue of a magazine associated with the NOAA featuring a cover and interior diagram of a massive triangular multi-role(including aerial boat/aircraft/sounding rocket/weather balloon launch platform and flying astronomical observatory) airship based on the 'flying deltoid pumpkin seed' design scheme, but for the life of me I've been unable to find that magazine and its images again.

Click to expand...

Airships may soon soar in the cold skies of northern Canada and Alaska, bringing supplies to remote mining communities where planes can’t always fly and roads are cost-prohibitive.

British airship manufacturer Hybrid Air Vehicles has announced a major contract with Canada’s Discovery Air Innovations to build airships capable of lifting as much as 50 tons, delivering freight at one-quarter the cost of other alternatives. Though various militaries have expressed interest in airships, this is HAV’s first commercial contract. The first ship is expected by 2014.

Click to expand...

“I worked on and off for Airships International from the late 1970s through the late 1990s. My work was triggered by political/military defense strategies that the Principal at AI had 1st hand information about, and when government funding was allocated to ‘alternate forms’ of defense systems. My work was to support presentations to be made showing various roles a metalclad airship could play in various ‘theatres.’”

Click to expand...

Grey Havoc said:

I'm probably going to kick myself, but I can't place her...

In other news: http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a17858/chinas-new-spy-airship-cruises-near-space/

Click to expand...

...Advanced airships will enable passengers and cargo traffic between the Northern Sea Route and the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Russian Kommersant newspaper said Thursday, citing a copy of a letter written by the team behind the project and addressed to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

A single airship, which can cost about $30 million, will be able to replace five Mi-8 helicopters, currently used in the Far North, the daily added.

The main goal of the project, which also envisions the creation of ship networks and aviation hubs, is to create conditions "for the country to move to a new social and economic level through the deep exploration of Siberia, the Far East and the Arctic," according to the letter.

The Augur-RosAeroSystems Holding is set to build the futuristic airship Atlant by the end of 2018.

Click to expand...

Grey Havoc said:

Could Giant Airships Replace Cargo Ships? | RealClearScience

An international team of scientists primarily based out of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna, Austria has painted a radical vision for the future of...

www.realclearscience.com

Click to expand...

The Age of the Airship May Be Dawning Again

Dirigibles ruled the skies once. Can they make a comeback?

foreignpolicy.com

For decades, the Goodyear fleet of blimps have been the only working airships most people had a chance of seeing in real life. But a handful of companies are looking to bring back the spectacular dirigibles.

The government of Quebec will be pitching 30 million Canadian dollars (23 million in U.S. dollars) to Flying Whales, a French company, to start building its massive zeppelins. The company has only been around since 2012, and it hasn’t gotten any of its airships off the ground—yet. The plan has been derided by opposition parties, not as a flying whale but as a white elephant.

But cargo airships may actually make a tremendous amount of sense. They are relatively cheap, they can carry enormous amounts of material, and they emit significantly less greenhouse gas than other modes of transportation.

The compelling arguments for dirigible travel put these airships in a class of technology, with nuclear power and lunar colonization, that is experiencing an unexpected modern renaissance.

Flying Whales’ LCA60T model, according to the company, will be able to carry up to 60 metric tons of goods, travel up to 62 miles per hour, and serve remote areas with ease. If all goes according to plan, the company hopes to get the first airship off the ground in 2022.

There’s still a healthy dose of skepticism around the company’s lofty promises. Its main backers, prior to Quebec’s financial endorsement, have been the French National Forest Agency and the Chinese government.

Flying Whales’ website is enigmatic, and the section of the site explaining the airships’ structure isn’t particularly helpful—the description of its structure reads “what else… – Hi George ” while if you’re looking for details on their “safe lifting gas” it reads, somewhat snarkily, “helium obviously.”

It’s that last point that might make the whole idea completely untenable: There might just not be enough helium left.

Click to expand...

Grey Havoc said:

Via CDR Salamander:

The Age of the Airship May Be Dawning Again

Dirigibles ruled the skies once. Can they make a comeback?

foreignpolicy.com

For decades, the Goodyear fleet of blimps have been the only working airships most people had a chance of seeing in real life. But a handful of companies are looking to bring back the spectacular dirigibles.

The government of Quebec will be pitching 30 million Canadian dollars (23 million in U.S. dollars) to Flying Whales, a French company, to start building its massive zeppelins. The company has only been around since 2012, and it hasn’t gotten any of its airships off the ground—yet. The plan has been derided by opposition parties, not as a flying whale but as a white elephant.

But cargo airships may actually make a tremendous amount of sense. They are relatively cheap, they can carry enormous amounts of material, and they emit significantly less greenhouse gas than other modes of transportation.

The compelling arguments for dirigible travel put these airships in a class of technology, with nuclear power and lunar colonization, that is experiencing an unexpected modern renaissance.

Flying Whales’ LCA60T model, according to the company, will be able to carry up to 60 metric tons of goods, travel up to 62 miles per hour, and serve remote areas with ease. If all goes according to plan, the company hopes to get the first airship off the ground in 2022.

There’s still a healthy dose of skepticism around the company’s lofty promises. Its main backers, prior to Quebec’s financial endorsement, have been the French National Forest Agency and the Chinese government.

Flying Whales’ website is enigmatic, and the section of the site explaining the airships’ structure isn’t particularly helpful—the description of its structure reads “what else… – Hi George ” while if you’re looking for details on their “safe lifting gas” it reads, somewhat snarkily, “helium obviously.”

It’s that last point that might make the whole idea completely untenable: There might just not be enough helium left.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...