trans continental dirigible flights - 2010

[greenman3610]

Already in the works is the AEROSCRAFT, an airship propelled with 14 million cubic feet of helium and jet engines. The AEROSCRAFT will have a top speed of 174 mph, and will be able to travel the length of the continental United States in about 18 hours.

Somewhat like a cruise ship in the air, travelers could take in the view (it flys at about 8,000 feet), relax in a luxury stateroom, dine in a restaurant and even try their luck in a casino.

How soon can some of these innovations be expected? The AEROSCRAFT is slated for completion by 2010, and many of the high-tech hotel amenities mentioned above are set to debut by 2025. However, space and undersea travel remains an idea of the future, with plans still in the beginning stages.
http://www.sixwise.com/display/router.aspx?DocID=750

[originalpckelly]

1. None of these airships ever work out...

but I would like to see it work out.

[bryant69]

5. Yeah but nearly all of Edisons attempts to create the lightbulb

resulted in fairlure - over a hundred failures if memory serves.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[originalpckelly]

6. I think the main reason they never work...

is because people have tried to use them for personal travel. They should really be used to replace the seaships that form the bulk of our worldwide cargo system. That would be the only reason in the modern age for such a thing.

[eppur_se_muova]

12. Replace? First try augment, for where ships don't reach.

Bucky Fuller was a big fan of dirigibles, because of the parallel between seagoing ships, which are buoyed up by liquid, and blimps, which are buoyed up by air. In both cases the major energy cost is just fighting friction, which is low at low speeds -- ideal for bulk carriers, not for hurried passengers.

Great minds think alike, eh?

[trotsky]

7. Edison never failed.

He just found a hundred ways that didn't work. Or so the story goes.

[JHB]

2. HAte to say it but: Yawn. Again? I'll believe it when it happens.

Dirigibles have been "about to come back" more often than "the Republicans can't possibly get any worse. :evilgrin:

[Taxloss]

3. The return of airships gets promised again and again.

But it never seems to happen. That's a pity, as it's such a beautifully romantic (and green) way to travel - presumably it's just uneconomic in the era of ultra-cheap energy. Maybe after the oil crash.

[War Pigs]

4. What's the difference between the Hindenberg and Rush

Limbaugh?? One's a flaming Nazi gasbag, the other one's a dirigible!! Heard that on like Letterman years back. Sorry, still funny to me!$##$!:toast:

[Vidar]

8. Eddie Rickenbacker, then the head of Eastern Airlines, was

predicting a return to dirigibles bck in the late 60's. Considering oil reserves, not a bad idea.

[warrens]

9. I've flown a small one (the Fuji blimp)

It would be a great way to travel, at least for non-smokers. For people afraid of airplanes, it would be a godsend. Whether they can make money at it is another question. But I'd use it if only for the sightseeing. What a great way to see the country.

[obreaslan]

10. COMING NEXT: Films with sound!!!! We will call them "talkies"! n/t

:rofl:

[sweetheart]

11. powerpoint wonders

jobs justified,
semantic thunder,
the images lied.

Flying cars jus' round the corner,
popular science, the myth of modernism.

[eppur_se_muova]

13. A reminder: airships crossed the Atlantic regularly BEFORE airplanes.

Beginning in 1919, in fact.