Posted on 11/27/2023 1:21:51 PM PST by DFG
The world's largest airship has been unveiled, as the enormous Pathfinder 1 begins its first round of flight tests.
Measuring 400 ft (121.9 metres) in length, this gargantuan blimp is nearly twice the length of a Boeing 747-8 quadjet, the world's longest aircraft.
The blimp uses approximately one million cubic feet of helium and 12 electric motors to achieve vertical take-off and speeds of up to 75mph (120km/h).
The vast airship has been created by LTA Research, a company backed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
Its creators say that craft like this could one day reduce the carbon footprint of air travel and shipping.
The Pathfinder 1 is the largest aircraft produced since the 800ft (245 metre) Hindenburg was went up in flames in 1937.
It is as large as three Boeing 737s and even dwarfs the Statolaunch plane used to carry rockets into orbit.
While the Hindenburg was filled with extremely flammable hydrogen, the Pathfinder 1 uses safe, non-reactive Helium stored in 13 airbags.
With the price of helium fluctuating amid shortages, filling the Pathfinder 1 could cost between $250,000 (£197,877) and $1 million (£791,500).
Each of the 13 rip-stop nylon bags is held in place by a skeleton of 10,000 carbon fibre-reinforced poles and 3,000 titanium hubs.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
What is the point? No functional value - can’t haul cargo, can’t haul many passengers...
I guess all the other billionaire pet projects were taken.
“What is the point?”
One of the use cases for craft like this is moving objects that are larger than road capacity. So you don’t have to have power lines disconnected, signage taken down and tie up traffic along the delivery route while it’s moved, which adds significant expense, not to mention the specialized equipment needed to not damage the roads. Some items that might need to be built in multiple pieces to be moved via road could be built whole and moved by airship.
Not to mention if the delivery location, or any point along a road-based route hasn’t sufficient roadways, or has an overpass or tunnel that can’t be moved, or is under storm damage. Some of the speed is mitigated by being able to travel point-to-point, plus moving large objects via road isn’t exactly a fast process either.
Can also loiter nearly indefinitely compared to a helo, which could have many uses for search/rescue or observation.
As always, much will depend on the overall capacity and, most importantly, the cost.
What could go wrong..."
Flunked chemistry, did we? (helium is INERT)
“Baby got back!”
Bezos makes rockets that look like a flying penis, this guy build a blimp that looks like a giant ass. What is wrong with these men?
It cannot fly above the weather. The U.S. Navys dirigible program was abandoned after several ships were downed bt bad weather.
If only Led Zeppelin were still on tour........................
If only Led Zeppelin were still on tour........................
Man if one of those helium tanks ruptured the crew would be running around barking out orders sounding like Alvine and the Chipmunks.
Make it longer. So long that the tail is at the airport and the nose at the destination.
When you get on, just walk up to the front, use the bathroom, and get off. That takes about 5 minutes.
Does this have that kind of lift capacity?
I seem to think I’ve seen this type of transportation in history before...granted they’re using helium now instead of hydrogen, so I guess one lesson has been learned. /s
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