New British airship set to revolutionise the skies
126 replies, posted
It looks like a whale shark.
[QUOTE=Trumple;27194621]Sure it's great if you don't mind waiting for 3 weeks for your rescue to arrive
Problem is, I would imagine its quite slow and affected by weather[/QUOTE]
then you tow it with a plane and drop it near the area
It looks like someone made it in 5 minutes in spore
[QUOTE=CAPSMAN!;27196708]Dude, you mean like, making it keep up by going fast?
Like, with aerodynamics and such?
Woah, that's new man. Don't think it'd work.[/QUOTE]
[img]http://cncguild.net/pages/ra2/wallpapers/ra2kirov.jpg[/img]
It has vertical engines to compensate for additional weight. Armor-plating the envelope is feasible if you handle it like this: you get a large airship capable of docking other aircraft for extended periods of time as well as serving as an aerial weapons platform. It's slow, but the amount of power you get out of the engines also allows extra armaments. Basically you wind up with a colossal VTOL aircraft using helium/hydrogen as a lifting gas to help save fuel on vertical lift.
Isn't the only problem the huge cost of helium?
That's awesome, it takes off so gently and all on its own and lands like a boss, seems decently fast too, compared to normal blimps. This will be very useful for putting out forest fires and such.
AND SOON, WE'LL LIVE IN THE SKIES!
You know it's officially the future when airships return to the skies.
[img]http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/3606/blimp1.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=lemongrapes;27199957]Isn't the only problem the huge cost of helium?[/QUOTE]
Hydrogen is cheaper and more buoyant (only 1/4 the weight of helium). People are just afraid of it because of the Hindenburg accident.
[QUOTE=teh pirate;27200138]Hydrogen is cheaper and more buoyant (only 1/4 the weight of helium). People are just afraid of it because of the Hindenburg accident.[/QUOTE]
Actually I think people are more afraid of it because it's highly flammable.
[QUOTE=rieda1589;27200263]Actually I think people are more afraid of it because it's highly flammable.[/QUOTE]
Nobody gave a fuck until the Hindenburg exploded due to an accident -- the Hindenburg inspired the fear of hydrogen as a lifting gas and airships in general.
Fun fact: It seems like it'd be impossible to survive a wreck like that, but actually only 35 out of the 97 people on board died. The death toll was only as high as it was due to high winds experienced by the airship and the crew's unfamiliarity with them; the ship was improperly balanced which caused it to tilt, causing severe damage to the superstructure. Even so, it held together long enough for most people to make it out.
Just watched the BBC video on it, 1000 tonnes bloody hell.
[QUOTE=Trumple;27194621]Sure it's great if you don't mind waiting for 3 weeks for your rescue to arrive
Problem is, I would imagine its quite slow and affected by weather[/QUOTE]
It says it can stay in the air for three weeks, not that it takes that long to travel somewhere.
Also: turboprops are so 1930s, let's mount some jet engines instead. :dance:
[QUOTE=teh pirate;27200275]Nobody gave a fuck until the Hindenburg exploded due to an accident -- the Hindenburg inspired the fear of hydrogen as a lifting gas and airships in general.
Fun fact: It seems like it'd be impossible to survive a wreck like that, but actually only 35 out of the 97 people on board died. The death toll was only as high as it was due to high winds experienced by the airship and the crew's unfamiliarity with them; the ship was improperly balanced which caused it to tilt, causing severe damage to the superstructure. Even so, it held together long enough for most people to make it out.[/QUOTE]
Typically no one gives a fuck about any sort of danger until people start dying from it. That doesn't mean there is no danger. We have to assume accidents happen and keep disaster in mind when we design; we can't just slap hydrogen in our airships and pretend there's no chance we'll ever have an electrical failure turning our airship into a fireball.
who would want to be in the air for 3 weeks
i get sick on a plane in 3 hours
[QUOTE=Im Crimson;27202468]Typically no one gives a fuck about any sort of danger until people start dying from it. That doesn't mean there is no danger. We have to assume accidents happen and keep disaster in mind when we design; we can't just slap hydrogen in our airships and pretend there's no chance we'll ever have an electrical failure turning our airship into a fireball.[/QUOTE]
More people survived the Hindenburg than died in it (35 deaths out of 97 people on board), and it's the only Zeppelin accident that ever injured anyone. Not only that but it was most likely caused by a huge chain of coincidences set in motion by lazy maintenance crews, not by any inherent danger with using hydrogen as a lifting gas since it only becomes flammable when mixed with 5% oxygen or more.
More deaths are caused in one 737 crash, or a cruise ship sinking, or a building collapsing than ever in the entire service history of Zeppelins combined.
Our supply of helium is finite and draining fast, so airships are pretty much destined to be extinct.
[QUOTE=teh pirate;27204196]More people survived the Hindenburg than died in it (35 deaths out of 97 people on board), and it's the only Zeppelin accident that ever injured anyone. Not only that but it was most likely caused by a huge chain of coincidences set in motion by lazy maintenance crews, not by any inherent danger with using hydrogen as a lifting gas since it only becomes flammable when mixed with 5% oxygen or more.
More deaths are caused in one 737 crash, or a cruise ship sinking, or a building collapsing than ever in the entire service history of Zeppelins combined.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airship_accidents[/url]
Hydrogen looks pretty dangerous to me. Sure it's only flammable when in the presence of oxygen, but any damage to the lifting cavity is probably going to result in a mixing of hydrogen and oxygen. It's just not worth it with the dangers. Helium is good enough to today's airships because of the lightweight composites they're made of.
Say what you want; staying in the air for three weeks is really groundbreaking. The more familiar we are with the sky, the more effective our transportation becomes. I'm for this.
[QUOTE=petieng;27206429][url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airship_accidents[/url]
Hydrogen looks pretty dangerous to me. Sure it's only flammable when in the presence of oxygen, but any damage to the lifting cavity is probably going to result in a mixing of hydrogen and oxygen. It's just not worth it with the dangers. Helium is good enough to today's airships because of the lightweight composites they're made of.[/QUOTE]
I said Zeppelins specifically, not airships in general. There were plenty of airship accidents resulting from low build standards at the time. Zeppelin was very careful about quality.
Looks like a blimp but flew like a plane. That was a very cool video.
[QUOTE=teh pirate;27207541]I said Zeppelins specifically, not airships in general. There were plenty of airship accidents resulting from low build standards at the time. Zeppelin was very careful about quality.[/QUOTE]
Indeed, and lets not forget that highly flamable component that anyone use almost everyday in ther cars. Blimps sadly died because planes became faster and more efficient at flying in bad weather.
Can I shoot it down with a .308?
It'd be pretty sweet if it was made into a Sky-hotel of sorts.
Count von Zeppelin and his stache would be proud.
[img]http://www.feelnumb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/the_count.jpg[/img]
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