What do you think of this?

We were discussing the disasterous effects that high fuel costs will have on our global economy. A friend mentioned heavy airships as being much more fuel efficient and requiring no new infrastucture. I started checking it out and this is what I found:

A company named Millenium Airship Inc. has posted this press release:

Features

*Hybrid, semi-rigid, amphibious, VTOL heavy lift Lighter than-air (LTA) *aircraft
*Can haul 500 plus tons
*Point-to-point virtually anywhere on the globe
*Speeds averaging 100 mph for 6000 miles unrefueled
*ITAMMS provides VTOL, hover at any altitude, controllability at any altitude
*Today's state of the art computer, propulsion, and advanced materials technology
*Helium and or vacuum lifting gases
*Fly-by-wire, computer controlled operation through all flight regimes
*Operates from land or water
*Easy on and off loading through front, back and side doors
*Air cargo - specializing in oversized, heavy cargo
*Low cost alternative to aircraft and faster than ships
*External ballast not required during on or off loading of cargo
*Air and sea port infrastructure not required
====================================================

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded funding to two contractors for the first phase of a program to develop a heavy lifter of the above specifications for military use.

=====================================================

I had in mind a solution to another problem that we Canadians face every day; heavy-cargo all-weather transport in the north to projects and communities. This could be the solution to that problem and that is why I'm hopeful that it will become viable. There is no reason why it shouldn't become viable; no new, unproven technology is involved.

We have a huge northern expanse and most of it is unpenetrateable wilderness. I say unpenetrateable because it is incredibly frustrating and expensive, not to mention environmentally disasterous, to build roads or railroads in the north. When the land isn't frozen rock-hard, it is a sea of mushy, seemingly bottomless bog. That probably inhibits development of the north more than any other factor.

Sea transport isn't any easier, the Arctic ocean is frozen a good bit of the year and only open long enough for a few fast trips in and out. The rivers and lakes support ice roads in winter but it's slow and hazardous as well as very expensive. In summer there is a brief flurry of barge traffic on northern rivers before winter shuts that down. The only other alternative has been aircraft and there is quite a lot of very expensive air traffic supplying remote settlements and projects.

   

This was diccussed a few months ago and most people agreed with the suggestion you have made. it was also suggested that this type of craft would be excellent for tourism and mass transportation(airlines are extremely expensive and crowded) in the north as well.

   

I retired this year but for the past six years, I worked at a fly-in fly-out camp up north. We went in for two weeks of 12 hour days and the were out for two weeks. We flew in 19 passenger turboprops; noisy as hell and not very fast. Most supplies and fuel oil came in on b-train transports with extra axles over 12 hours of bushroad from the nearest highway. Our product went out the same way to the nearest railhead.

The whole supply problem was very slow, inefficient and very expensive. These airships could have easily made the trip in two hours and carry the same payload as a whole fleet of trucks. I suspect it would have been less expensive to make roundtrips to the nearest seaport which was not too far away. I don't know how well they would handle in our western mountains though with all the tricky air currents. I understand that conventional airships find it troubling to traverse the mountains here. Anyone knowledgable on this?

I was surprised to learn how many Indian Reserves are way out in the bush too. The only way in and out for them are bush planes and all their supplies come in this way too. I can envision airships running a regular freight and passenger service to all the bush reserves. It would sure be a lot more efficient and less expensive for everyone.

   

Air freight costs are ridiculous for isolated northern communities. We were paying $ 12 for a 4 litre jug of milk. The use of rigid body airships(utilizing newer, lighter metal alloys rather than those heavier keels and frames that early zepplins used)), as freight transports would dramatically reduce those costs. There is even the possibility of further cutting fuel costs by utilizing the outer skin as a solar power collector, weather permitting.

Here is a link to a plan for airship construction utilizing non rigid construction for an air ship

   

Airships were essentially a proven technology seventy years ago; they just needed helium instead of hydrogen.

With all the advances that have been made since then there is little doubt that airships would be a worthwhile alternative today. The University of Manitoba has studied this in some detail, I posted some links about this on another thread...

   

Timetrvlr, right now the site is down but you might want to check out umti.ca later. They have some good stuff on airships.

In the meantime there is this:

Link (pdf)

   

Thanks for the links!