The future of cargo transport has arrived: airships!
47 replies, posted
[quote]The obsolete past of cargo transport has arrived: airships![/quote]
(fixed the title)
As said in the last thread, this is a solution in search of a problem. The only thing airships do better than helicopters or airplanes is hovering or moving very slowly, and there isn't much practical use for that.
[QUOTE=latin_geek;39425321]Isn't it kind of a bad idea to have this for combat/army operations, since you'll probably need a lot of repairs whenever possible since any bullet could get through it?
Also it's funny how they talk a lot about it being a VTOL when any blimp or air baloon is that anyway.
I still like that idea someone had of using UAVs for fast deliveries and stuff, from specific applications like flying organs to transplant accross the country to normal deliveries. Like, a goddamn Predator dropping off your Newegg order, or dropping off a heart to transplant, that came from half a country away and wouldn't have made it in time otherwise.[/QUOTE]
If I remember correctly, it can fly out of range of any danger for a pretty long time. Ignoring the helium crisis it could be used to drop supplies fairly effectively without coming into any danger.
[QUOTE=OrionChronicles;39415485][url]http://news.yahoo.com/high-tech-cargo-airship-being-built-california-100513071--finance.html[/url]
Edit:
How is this late?[/QUOTE]
Because this has actually been posted on a weekly basis since the story broke.
Also I'm pretty much 1000% positive that yet again, blimps will be shit.
[editline]31st January 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=squids_eye;39425855]If I remember correctly, it can fly out of range of any danger for a pretty long time. Ignoring the helium crisis it could be used to drop supplies fairly effectively without coming into any danger.[/QUOTE]
It flies at something like 5km, it's shit man, it'll get wrecked the second someone with a big gun looks at it funny.
[QUOTE=SamPerson123;39424940]Don't fusion reactors make helium? I don't know much about it but it would be pretty great to have a source like that.[/QUOTE]
You get helium out of deuterium-tritium fusion if that's what you mean, but nobody is doing fusion on a wide scale yet.
[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;39425900]Because this has actually been posted on a weekly basis since the story broke.
Also I'm pretty much 1000% positive that yet again, blimps will be shit.
[editline]31st January 2013[/editline]
It flies at something like 5km, it's shit man, it'll get wrecked the second someone with a big gun looks at it funny.[/QUOTE]
It won't really get wrecked since if you're high up enough most firearms will not have enough power to do more than puncture the ship or will just not reach it, and even with a bunch of bullet holes it should still be able to fly for a while unless it's flying low and meets an enemy minigun or something like that
What I'm saying here is that this will be a pain in the ass to repair whenever people need to
[QUOTE=latin_geek;39425321]Isn't it kind of a bad idea to have this for combat/army operations, since you'll probably need a lot of repairs whenever possible since any bullet could get through it?
Also it's funny how they talk a lot about it being a VTOL when any blimp or air baloon is that anyway.
I still like that idea someone had of using UAVs for fast deliveries and stuff, from specific applications like flying organs to transplant accross the country to normal deliveries. Like, a goddamn Predator dropping off your Newegg order, or dropping off a heart to transplant, that came from half a country away and wouldn't have made it in time otherwise.[/QUOTE]
Cruise speeds too slow, training too complicated, effective range too limited, and maintenance too expensive. The only benefit to using UAVs, at their current level of tech, is the benefit of being able to switch operators mid-flight. Otherwise, it's just inefficient!
[QUOTE=latin_geek;39426476]It won't really get wrecked since if you're high up enough most firearms will not have enough power to do more than puncture the ship or will just not reach it, and even with a bunch of bullet holes it should still be able to fly for a while unless it's flying low and meets an enemy minigun or something like that[/QUOTE]
It's not rifles it has to be worried about, it's AAA and SAMs, both of which will have no problem locking onto its enormous radar cross-section and would likely destroy it in one hit. As a military vehicle this is extremely impractical.
Edit: Zeppelins got messed up by ground troops in World War 1. Anti-air technology has progressed considerably since then. By the looks of things, airship technology hasn't.
Going to need to attach something that will boost their speed if this is going to be a practical means of transporting cargo
well, at least this is getting a nice discussion
[editline]31st January 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=catbarf;39427107]It's not rifles it has to be worried about, it's AAA and SAMs, both of which will have no problem locking onto its enormous radar cross-section and would likely destroy it in one hit. As a military vehicle this is extremely impractical.
Edit: Zeppelins got messed up by ground troops in World War 1. Anti-air technology has progressed considerably since then. By the looks of things, airship technology hasn't.[/QUOTE]
this isn't supposed to be a combat vehicle. Its a supply ship, if its on the front lines someone has fucked up badly
[QUOTE=OrionChronicles;39427170]well, at least this is getting a nice discussion
[editline]31st January 2013[/editline]
this isn't supposed to be a combat vehicle. Its a supply ship, if its on the front lines someone has fucked up badly[/QUOTE]
Sorry man but your average war these days doesn't have typical front lines any more.
[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;39427202]Sorry man but your average war these days doesn't have typical front lines any more.[/QUOTE]
Well then lets hope the military takes insurgents with SAMs and the like into account.
[QUOTE=OrionChronicles;39427227]Well then lets hope the military takes insurgents with SAMs and the like into account.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, somehow I think they're liable to use the transport aircraft they already have, for multiple reasons.
1. They aren't slow as shit
2. Even with a massive amount of fuel in their tanks they'll probably still be less flammable than an airship.
Seriously, a flak cannon would shit on the dreams of any air ship captain.
For civilian and aid purposes then yeah sure, it would be pretty cool to go cruising around lakes and mountains in an air ship but for military purposes you are literally just floating a multi million dollar wad of cash and flammable gas in the sky.
One word: tourism.
Imagine something like a cruise, but you can go to landlocked places. Imagine a three week cruise from London to Moscow, stopping at Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Budapest...
This just seems silly overall. Planes do a better job at transporting cargo anyway, and that uses a resource that's still in supply (for the time being). As much as I'd like to see magnificent airships that are portrayed in fantasy, this is just impractical.
Nobody posted this on the first page?
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq-N3_plNq8[/media]
Facepunch, I am disappoint.
[editline]31st January 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=person11;39427325]One word: tourism.
Imagine something like a cruise, but you can go to landlocked places. Imagine a three week cruise from London to Moscow, stopping at Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Budapest...[/QUOTE]
And then it's slightly stormy out and people get even more seasick than on a boat.
[QUOTE=OrionChronicles;39427170]this isn't supposed to be a combat vehicle. Its a supply ship, if its on the front lines someone has fucked up badly[/QUOTE]
Cool. So what use is there for a supply aircraft that is bigger [i]and[/i] significantly slower than conventional aircraft?
[QUOTE=catbarf;39427381]Cool. So what use is there for a supply aircraft that is bigger [i]and[/i] significantly slower than conventional aircraft?[/QUOTE]
USPS can finally charge low rates for 4-7 week shipping intercontinentally
really though I can only ever see this being utilized like cruise liners.
It's more environmentally friendly than airplanes though.
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