Blimp of the Future

PRETTY WILD LOOKING, ISN'T IT?

 

 

 

 

Even  though the Aeroscraft dwarfs the largest commercial airliners, it requires less  net space on the ground than any plane because it doesn't need a runway The  airship takes off and lands like a   helicopter - straight up and down This is not a  blimp. It's a sort of flying Queen Mary 2 that could change the way you think  about air travel.

 

It's  the Aeroscraft and, when it's completed, it will ferry pampered passengers  across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin,  or relax in their staterooms.  Unlike its dirigible ancestors,the  Aeroscraft is not lighter than air.  Its 14-million cubic feet of helium  hoist only two-thirds of the craft's weight.  

 

The  rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body, driven by huge rear-ward propellers,  generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload  aloft while cruising During takeoff and landing, six turbo-fan jet engines push  the ship up or ease its descent. This two-football-fields-long airship is the  brainchild of Igor Pasternak, whose privately funded California firm,  Worldwide Aeros Corporation, is in the early stages of developing a prototype  and expects to have one completed by 2010. 

 

Pasternak  says several cruise ship companies have expressed interest in the project, and  for good reason - the craft would have a range of several thousand miles, and,  with an estimated top speed of 174 mph, could traverse the continental United  States in about 18 hours . During the  flight, passengers would view national landmarks just 8,000 feet below,or, if  they weren't captivated by the view, the cavernous interior would easily  accommodate such amenities as luxury staterooms, restaurants - even a  casino.  To minimize noise, the aft-mounted propellers will be  electric, powered by a renewable source such as hydrogen fuel cells  .. 

 

A  sophisticated buoyancy - management system will serve the same purpose as trim  on an airplane, allowing for precise adjustments in flight dynamics to  compensate for outside conditions and passenger movement. The automated system  will draw outside air into compartments throughout the ship and compress it to  manage onboard weight

 

 

 

(On  a pressurized plane, windows like these would explode outward. The Aeroscraft  would not fly high enough to need pressurization..)

 

The  company envisions a cargo-carrying version that could deliver a store's worth of  merchandise from a centralized distribution center straight to a Wal-Mart  parking lot, or, because the helium-filled craft will float, a year's worth of  supplies to an offshore oil rig.

 

'You can land on the snow , you can land on the  water,' Pasternak says. ' It's a new vision of what can be done in the  air. '

 

Aeroscraft:  Purpose - Long-range travel for passengers who are more concerned with  the   journey than the  destination..  

 

Now  this is really neat!!! 

Dimensions  (feet): 165 H x 244  W x 647 L

 

 

 

 

Skeptical Review

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