DiriSolar - When do we get dirigibles?

[FutureBoy]

Just ran across the DiriSolar project.

I like that it is solar-powered. I remember as a kid, dirigible projects were talked about but never thought of as something that would be real. Then a few (20?) years ago I started hearing about them again. It was always a project that was up and coming. And there was always some new reason why they would be useful. Super heavy lift, no runways, remote delivery, luxury travel, cell/internet tower replacement, environmental monitoring. And now it looks like solar-powered luxury tourism.

I'd really like to take a ride in something like this someday. But someone might need to wake me up when something is available because I'm getting pretty tired waiting for the chance.

 

[ldjessee]

Fuel prices used to be the only driving factor into these research projects. Now climate change also factors in...

And the land needed for airports is also becoming a factor. I would not be shocked to see not only a focusing on fuel efficiency, but also short take off and landing commercial travel aircraft.

 

[Crissa]

Dirigibles have the advantage of being able to move slowly and cheaply enough to dock with drones. No need to land - drone pops up, grabs the cargo container and the drops back down to an urban distribution point.

-Crissa

 

[CyberOwl]

Huge Airship fan here...

First check out the Airlander. US military developed a huge airship at a cost of something like a billion dollars, then sold it to a British company for like less than 100 million. They've been developing it for a while. It has an emergency 'zipper' along the top in case it breaks free of its mooring, the gas can be released before the thing flies away, which did happen a few years ago.

About ten years ago there was a company called Airship Ventures operating a rigid hull zeppelin out of Moffett Field in Silicon Valley. People could pay $500 to go on a ride. They used to fly over my house on the way down to the site of the Macon wreck. Completely silent and spooky. It could be right above you and you wouldn't know it. Unfortunately they went out of business. One of my biggest life regrets was missing a chance to ride over California in a zeppelin.

Speaking of catching drones, check out the USS Macon (and her sister the Akron), technically the first US aircraft carriers. They would actually launch and retrieve Sparrowhawk planes from the airship! Both ships eventually crashed, the first killing all but two, and the second killing only two. There was in fact a guy who lived through both crashes. Wilder I believe was his name.

Did you know the Germans were able to master airship technology through a little known material science breakthrough. As it turns out Hydrogen (which was used at the time) is very difficult to keep in a bladder. The molecules are so small they passed through any known material, causing eventual deflation over time. The Germans figured out that cow stomachs had a lining that prevented the escape of the gas. Hundreds of laborers were put to work sewing 250,000 cow stomachs together to make huge bladders big enough to fill a zeppelin!

 

[Crissa]

Yeah, the airship company that was out of Silicon Valley was cool. Alas, they didn't get any long-term contracts before the Great Recession. Goodyear stole their technology and didn't pay them a dime.

I miss them. And Hanger One really needs its skin again.

-Crissa

 

[Quicksilver]

I got to visit Zeppelinheim when I was stationed in Germany back in the 70's. It was the center of the German airship industry back in the day and where most of their big airships were built. They even built one for the US military. Due to a shortage of helium most of Germanys airships used hydrogen for lift. This was dangerous and led to the Hindenberg disaster in New Jersey in 1937. US airships all used helium for lift but still crashed due to weather.
This idea seems to pop up every so often with the new promotors convinced they they have solved all the problems that doomed the earlier efforts. Weather is always going to be the enemy of lighter than air craft. Temperature and wind are the arch enemies of the blimps and dirigibles.
As a military journalist I got to watch a defense contractor present their dog and pony show for a system that was jokingly referred to as a "blimp in a can".
Basically it was a small blimp that could be hauled around in a truck inside a container. When needed it could be inflated and sent aloft to do surveillance and recon mission. They were loaded down with complex sophisticated electronic devices and could go up on a long tether.
Since they stuck out like a turd in a punchbowl during the daytime and the drones were being perfected at the time I don't think the military actually purchased any although I'm sure some tax money was squandered in the process.
It would not surprise me if there is someone out there designing an electric version.

 

[SparkChaser]

Just not viable for passenger travel. I could see some specialized use, like a air cruise over the Serengeti or Australian out back maybe? Places that have limited infrastructure and yet you want to take some luxury. Time is just too precious for much of the passengers for this method.
Cargo is another area that could be ripe for this kind of transport. Drone delivery from a blip could be a cool way to go.

 

[FutureBoy]

Just not viable for passenger travel. I could see some specialized use, like a air cruise over the Serengeti or Australian out back maybe? Places that have limited infrastructure and yet you want to take some luxury. Time is just too precious for much of the passengers for this method.
Cargo is another area that could be ripe for this kind of transport. Drone delivery from a blip could be a cool way to go.

I have seen quite a number of expeditionary vehicles that the very wealthy have created to go trekking here or there around the world. Imagine if they added their own airship to the mix. The airship transports their vehicles plus power/fuel plus provides an "apartment" sized living area. So they fly the airship to a drop-off location. Unload the expedition. Drive the expedition for a few days. At the destination, the airship shows up again and loads them up. Then off they go to the next destination.

With the amount of "real estate" on top of the airship, they ought to be able to charge up a pretty large battery bank to allow for remote charging almost anywhere. If they want to automate the airship, it could "hover" above them at a high altitude as they take their trek. Or even take footage and provide support (like mapping, checking weather, as a direct radio connection to a large antenna for long-distance communication, looking out for hazards ahead, being available for quick rescue in the case of emergency).

Now having a few of these for rich people out roaming the planet isn't going to pay the bills for the blimp companies. But as a proof of concept for other more tangible uses, it might just be a way to get a market started.