VSF comes to today...

[Conquistador]

Does anybody make something even vaguely like this in any scale or is this a scratch builder's nightmare/paradise?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenertransport/10667081/Worlds-largest-aircraft-unveiled-and-hailed-game-changer.html

"... The 300ft (91m) ship is part plane, airship and helicopter,..."
"... 'luxury' hybrids, with infinity pools stretching across hundreds of feet, and planes being used for things like safaris ..."

The real world is stranger than Victorian Science Fiction?

I can't imagine it being built in anything bigger than 15 mm size ( 1/107 scale per http://theminiaturespage.com/ref/scales.html) but maybe someone on LAF can prove me fainthearted?

Gracias,

Glenn

[Snowdogs]

I saw that on the news this morning, quite the beast isn't it!

[Elbows]

I actually read a number of articles about ten years ago discussing the merits of new lighter-than-air ships.  The gist of it was:

-No longer uses flammable materials or gasses, so if damaged would likely simply float slowly to the ground.
-Can carry around 10-12 "tractor trailers" worth of material...and can deposit it anywhere it can be anchored suitably (ie. no need for roads...think artic expeditions, remote disaster aid, oil platforms at sea, etc.)
-Relatively fast (I think they had mentioned 80-120 miles per hour or so?)
-Obviously can stay afloat for a looong time (weeks) so it could be useful for search and rescue over large areas, etc.

Quite a lot of uses, particularly if someone figures out how to effectively mass-produce them.  I have to imagine they'd be quite fuel efficient by comparison as well.

[YPU]

Yea, I have been reading up on the progress on these things for ages. I think I was twelve when I decided airships would be the future and haven't changed my mind since. Good to see the world is starting to fit that view. 

Under the technical readout it mentions the larger model will have an air cushion landing system. ie, hovercraft landing gear. 

Last week I read something about prosthetics which actually had sensory feedback. With all this talk of doom and gloom the past few years, I think the future is still a very shiny place I want to live. 

[former user]

I talked to a blimp pilot I once met at ballooning, and he told me that all above advantages aside, the problem of loading and unloading the weight, which is the key issue when it comes to gas buoyancy, was still not solved.

with this new thing however, that is a hybrid that uses aerodynamics and propellers to partly cover for staying up in the air, I can very well imagine that they got a step closer to it.

[YPU]

I talked to a blimp pilot I once met at ballooning, and he told me that all above advantages aside, the problem of loading and unloading the weight, which is the key issue when it comes to gas buoyancy, was still not solved.

with this new thing however, that is a hybrid that uses aerodynamics and propellers to partly cover for staying up in the air, I can very well imagine that they got a step closer to it.

It also looks like it has a much wider hull then a normal blimp. One could imagine this providing a more stable ship to begin with and with modern technology I could see it having multiple compartments with a  automated system that can correct for any unbalance in weight.

[former user]

it is not about the unbalance
when an airship loses weight (unloads), it will rise
wenn it gains weight (loads) it will fall.
so either it compensates with buoyancy gas or with weight in order to hold the height while fulfilling it's purpose.
Therefore You have a complicated gas/ballast exchange system, which is not failsafe, or You have rotors, which push it down while it unloads and lifts it when it loads

or so....

[FramFramson]

it is not about the unbalance
when an airship loses weight (unloads), it will rise
wenn it gains weight (loads) it will fall.
so either it compensates with buoyancy gas or with weight in order to hold the height while fulfilling it's purpose.
Therefore You have a complicated gas/ballast exchange system, which is not failsafe, or You have rotors, which push it down while it unloads and lifts it when it loads

or so....

I wonder why they wouldn't use ground anchors then? I mean, that does limit it to places with dedicated landing facilities, but that's no worse than most modern aircraft.

[Silent Invader]

It uses Helium right?

Edit:it does

It is environmentally friendly, being part airship filled with inert helium

But isn't there a bit of a shortage of the stuff?

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24903034

If computer chip manufacturers can't get the supplies they want then availability is also likely to be limited for the airship industry. Which would be a shame, as they are majestic beasties.

[Conquistador]

Stayoing on Topic (VSF):

Back in the VSF historical era (that just seems illogical but hey...) would Helium be the gas of choice?  I would think Hydrogen would be more common/affordable?

Gracias,

Glenn

[YPU]

It uses Helium right?

But isn't there a bit of a shortage of the stuff?

If computer chip manufacturers can't get the supplies they want then availability is also likely to be limited for the airship industry. Which would be a shame, as they are majestic beasties.

I was thinking about it, and then I realized that helium balloons, the party kind, are still being used big time. I'm not entirely sure how the helium is used in the computer industry but I imagine it gets used up somehow. Whereas the airships only require one big fill of the stuff and should be good then. I might be completely of the mark here but I think in the grand scheme of things the airships wont really matter for now. I mean no matter how big that thing is, I'm pretty sure there are more helium balloons in my country right now.

[The_Beast]

Glenn, have you seen the DIY projects on this forum in the past? Mind-numbingly immense, indeed, in 28mm.

Of course, up til very recently, most of the airship 'action' was in a much smaller gondola, and those are imaginable.

The beast in the article LOOKS modern, so a bit of difficulty for the VSF esthetic.

Doug

[Silent Invader]

More specifically, somewhere in this forum are images of a massive airship assembled by the Scottish contingent of BLAMers

[former user]

I wonder why they wouldn't use ground anchors then? I mean, that does limit it to places with dedicated landing facilities, but that's no worse than most modern aircraft.

I was only quoting the airship pilot. I don't have a clue

as to helium vs Hydrogen - Hydrogen is safe enough, the Hindenburg catastrophe was a very small chance and it was media inflated. Noone counted how many planes dropped from the sky afterwards as long as the airplane industry was flourishing.....

[mysteriousbill]

Hopefully they'll have more luck than the Piasecki PA-97.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasecki_PA-97



Though it might have worked with a rigid frame airship (Zeppelin) instead of just a blimp.