+and-then Posted January 12, 2013 #26 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Lets bring backe commerial at a gasZepperlin for world wide cargo and tourist travel what a way to tour the world what a gas and lets use Hydrogen as the fuel safer than gasoline and more plentyful. I also wonder if it could be profitable for "cruises". Transatlantic/Pacific travels with beautiful vistas. Shore excursions could be a bit dicey though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenobite Posted January 12, 2013 #27 Share Posted January 12, 2013 is this actually real? i find this video quite bizarre, why would the military advertise new tech? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Sam Posted January 13, 2013 #28 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I wonder how it would hold up against air-defenses... Guessing it will only be deployed after all anti-air defenses are taken out and we have air superiority. Being a hydrogen craft that is basically one giant balloon floating in the sky, it would be quite easy to be downed and means tons of equipment lost in battle. Once again our government isn't thinking about what could happen and how to protect such a precious aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aztek Posted January 13, 2013 #29 Share Posted January 13, 2013 it doesn't matter, what matters is to secure funds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+and-then Posted January 13, 2013 #30 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I wonder how it would hold up against air-defenses... Guessing it will only be deployed after all anti-air defenses are taken out and we have air superiority. Being a hydrogen craft that is basically one giant balloon floating in the sky, it would be quite easy to be downed and means tons of equipment lost in battle. Once again our government isn't thinking about what could happen and how to protect such a precious aircraft. When you think of it, cargo aircraft are just as vulnerable. The key will be to only use them in situations for resupply not too close to a hostile area. Massive amounts of supplies could be staged and all that would need be done is inflate and sail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod222 Posted January 13, 2013 #31 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Lets bring backe commerial at a gasZepperlin for world wide cargo and tourist travel what a way to tour the world what a gas and lets use Hydrogen as the fuel safer than gasoline and more plentyful. Hydrogen is "safe"? You better ask the Hindenburgh crew about that! Maybe you meant to write "helium". Helium is safe alright, but it is also prohibitively expensive to produce. The military, being goverment (i.e. tax-payer) funded, has of course no budget qualms... they do not have a market place to answer to. But for private travel and transport, the zeppelin age is gone. Unless you find a way to produce cheap helium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod222 Posted January 13, 2013 #32 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I also wonder if it could be profitable for "cruises". Transatlantic/Pacific travels with beautiful vistas. Shore excursions could be a bit dicey though I think for luxury cruises, zeppelins could find a market niche. The question is if the market is big anough to develop and produce enough of these things to make it viable. I suspect the market niche is too small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DieChecker Posted January 14, 2013 #33 Share Posted January 14, 2013 (edited) Unless you find a way to produce cheap helium. That is not going to happen, unless they figure out cheap nuclear fusion. Most helium, AFAIK, comes from natural gas deposits were it is pulled up with everything else and seperated in an early stage of refinement. Otherwise helium is very rare in Earth's atmosphere and would be impossible to get cheaply in any real amounts. Hydrogen on the other hand can be made from water. Speculation on the Hindenburg is that the skin of the ship was actually a major factor in why it was not safe. Hydrogen when it burns is almost colorless and burns so fast as to basically not do much damage. If the skin was not so flamable, the ship simply would have flashed hot, and then quickly settled to the ground. Probably people in areas with no hydrogen would have not been killed, unless by the fall. Use of kevlar fabrics with sealing layers added would make fireproof, tear proof, piercing proof, lightweight hydrogen coverings. So it could now be done much safer then 100 years ago. Plus hydrogen has 4 times the lifting ability of helium, which has much more lifting ability then anything else. So hydrogen, within suitably safe balloons/cells, would be the best bet. Edited January 14, 2013 by DieChecker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Supertypo Posted January 26, 2013 #34 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Not front line maybe but imagine if you wanted to move all your military to an allied country next door, such as what they did during the Gulf wars. Rather than dozens of cargo planes flying in and out, it would just require one or two blimps to carry all the equipment in. Everything would be on site incredibly quickly, all together, ready to operate much faster and most of all in these economic times, much, much cheaper! I am not sure on the height limits of the vehicle but most enemies of the state tend to countries with military limitations rather than Russia or China who could counter it! It therefore could be possible for it to hover over a country like Afgahnistan, Yemen, maybe Syria and survelliance at a safe height while also carrying a compliment of fully fuelled and armed Drones on board for attacks. Yes I agree, not for front line, but more for cargo landings in safe zones. A good idea, no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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