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World's Largest Airship Inflated to Create Monster 'Stratellite'
Space.com ^ | 5/20/10

Posted on 05/24/2010 10:48:42 AM PDT by NormsRevenge

A huge inflatable vehicle as long as a 23-floor skyscraper is tall has become the world's largest airship in its bid to serve as a stratospheric satellite, or "stratellite," according to its developers.

The 235-foot (72 m) long airship, known as the Bullet 580, has a top speed of 80 mph (129 km/h) and can serve as a high-flying sentinel that stays aloft for long periods of time. Getting the new sky behemoth inflated required six hours inside Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Ala.

"Our airships are radically different designs that move beyond the performance limitations of traditional blimps or zeppelins by combining advanced technology with simple construction and the ability to fuel with algae, protecting our environment," said Michael Lawson, chairman and CEO of E-Green Technologies.

The airship is designed to carry payloads of up to 2,000 pounds (907 kg) at altitudes of 20,000 feet (6,096 m). Any cargo aboard the airship would sit within an outer envelope made from a new type of Kevlar, or the same material used to build bulletproof vests. That allows the envelope to have a width just one-sixteenth of an inch thick, but still be 10 times stronger than steel.

Airships have undergone a resurgence of interest as both military and civilian operators eye their cost-efficient operations compared to traditional fixed-wing aircraft. But even the modern record-holder for size dwindles in comparison to airships back in their heyday, such as the 804-foot (245 m) Hindenberg.

E-Green Technologies considers the Bullet 580 as the first in a wave of airships in production for commercial use. It acquired the airship's developers, 21st Century Airships, in November 2009.

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: airship; inflated; monster; stratellite
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To: steveo

Tylenol usually has wings?


21 posted on 05/24/2010 10:57:09 AM PDT by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: JoeProBono
Ping to aisle 12.
22 posted on 05/24/2010 10:57:10 AM PDT by houeto (Get drinking water from your ditch - http://www.junglebucket.com/Jungle-Bucket-1.htm)
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To: Scythian

Such a pity that thing never flew. Would have been impressive, even if it was a commie machine (they had some really...imaginative aeronautical engineers).


23 posted on 05/24/2010 10:57:54 AM PDT by Little Pig (Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Now that’s a big suppository.


24 posted on 05/24/2010 10:59:11 AM PDT by Sudetenland (Slow to anger but terrible in vengence...such is the character of the American people.)
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To: 1776 Reborn
Anyone want to give me odds this project is supported by one, possible multiple, earmarks?

Getting commercial airship production up and running is expected to create hundreds of textile industry jobs in Alabama, according to a statement by E-Green Technologies. It might also lead to aerospace and aviation jobs in Central Florida and Northern California, where the company hopes to set up operational centers.

Textiles and Aerospace. QED.

25 posted on 05/24/2010 11:01:17 AM PDT by awestk (gimmeh.)
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To: Cvengr
Great Godzilla Suppositories, ...now you’ve inflated it, how are you going to get it out?

The solution to the Deep Horizon oil spill has presented itself.

26 posted on 05/24/2010 11:01:52 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: Little Pig
Maybe the coliseum is ballast?


27 posted on 05/24/2010 11:04:02 AM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: from occupied ga

For an airship that is 235-ft long, that is not a bad payload. My question is how many cubic feet of lifting gas is in the lifting cells. The ratio of lifting gas to weight is the real determining factor of whether this puppy has some serious lfting capability.


28 posted on 05/24/2010 11:04:44 AM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: NormsRevenge

29 posted on 05/24/2010 11:04:53 AM PDT by Adams
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To: Dallas59
New UFO pictures to come!

The focus is about right, but shouldn't the picture be jiggling wildly?
30 posted on 05/24/2010 11:09:02 AM PDT by Grut
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To: NormsRevenge
235 feet long and it can only carry 2000lbs?

Those don't seem like particularly commercially viable statistics to me.

That's like 4 guys, some beer, and a few rifles to hunt deer from the air with.

The more I think about it, it might actually make a great hunting blind.


Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

31 posted on 05/24/2010 11:09:58 AM PDT by The Comedian (Evil can only succeed if good men don't point at it and laugh.)
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To: Scythian

i l’ll bite. what the heck is it?


32 posted on 05/24/2010 11:10:07 AM PDT by beebuster2000
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To: Scythian

Must be French!


33 posted on 05/24/2010 11:10:25 AM PDT by catman67
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To: Army Air Corps
For an airship that is 235-ft long, that is not a bad payload

Irrelevant. My point is that there are a lot of materials/wealth invested in a vehicle with a very small payload. I'v guessing that this thing cost a lot more than a couple of semi's with a payload of 80,000 lb each.

34 posted on 05/24/2010 11:10:29 AM PDT by from occupied ga (Your most dangerous enemy is your own government,)
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To: awestk

A few years ago there was an announcement about a company in the SE that was suppose to build airships to move oversize cargo. I haven’t heard a peep about this since.


35 posted on 05/24/2010 11:10:35 AM PDT by 1776 Reborn
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To: Grut

It was a tripod....


36 posted on 05/24/2010 11:10:50 AM PDT by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2013)
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To: NormsRevenge

Does it come with batteries?


37 posted on 05/24/2010 11:13:27 AM PDT by 70th Division (I love my country but fear my government!)
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To: Travis McGee

I think they’ll be WAY above small-arms range.

I sure hope so.

I’m sure this is being looked at by DHS as a border tool, surveillance and such.

Maybe strap a few HeLLfires on ‘em to sexy ‘em up and watch for Mexican Army helis making guns&dope runs..


38 posted on 05/24/2010 11:13:27 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed .. Monthly Donor Onboard .. Chuck DeVore - CA Senator. Believe.)
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To: Scythian

Not enough engine and prop area to get that thing off the ground, not even ‘accidentally’ like Hughes did with the Spruce Goose.


39 posted on 05/24/2010 11:16:01 AM PDT by valkyry1
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To: from occupied ga

And those semi’s do not have to lift any of their load off the ground. Also, an airship does not have lifting surfaces (wings) to provide lift. All lift in an airship comes down to the amount of mass that a volume of lifting gas can lift; the more cu-ft of gas, more lift.


40 posted on 05/24/2010 11:16:34 AM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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