The Airship of Tomorrow!

Post by **Tsukiyumi** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:21 am

As I am a big fan of airship technology, and would love to see a resurgence in the field, this article makes me hopeful for the future.

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Thompso ... a_999.html

Monroe · Post by **Monroe** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:36 am

That's awesome news.
And super ironic that nearly 100 years after they disappeared from the military they reappear. Who would have thought it.

Post by **Mikey** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:50 am

How great an idea is that? And so simple, that it fell under the radar for so long. It's like "the purloined letter" of military thinking.

Enkidu · Post by **Enkidu** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:16 pm

There was a piece in the paper this week that (very expensive) tourist airship flights are to start in Japan shortly; The airships are manufactured by the Zeppelin company.
If in the future some lightweight, flexible, highly efficient solar panels where to be invented that could cover the dirigible, you would have a very green, very cheap to run, (and very slow!) form of air travel....

Post by **Mikey** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:02 pm

One of the great points of the airship described in the article is that it powers the electronics through solar power.

Post by **Mikey** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:03 pm

One of the great points of the airship described in the article is that it powers the electronics through solar power.

Enkidu · Post by **Enkidu** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:47 pm

If it could power the engines you would have a transport method without emissions and the evils of fossil fuel. I'm far from an expert but I don't think that solar panels are powerful enough to do that yet.
Between posting my first reply and now, I've read today's paper, and was surprised to see an obit of Steve Fossett, whose wife (widow) started procedures to have him declared dead yesterday; Anyway, the piece mentioned the Zeppelin Company, the second, separate, mention I've seen this week of a company I thought went the way of the Dinosaur before the war. Funny how often coincidences like that happen.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 4:52 pm

Very cool, I always wanted to take a trip on an airship when I was a kid...

Post by **Mikey** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:56 pm

Hmmm.. anyone ever read Michael Moorcock's The Nomad of Time?

shran · Post by **shran** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 4:22 pm

ty the film 'the thunderbird 6'. Yes, it is thunderbirds, yes, it is supermarionation, but it does feature a huge luxurious back then trendy-styled interior and more.