Scenario: Enlightened Transition
Newspaper for 1st June 2015
Airships to fly over Ireland Again
An Irish-Dutch consortium launch a new cargo service next week operating between Dublin and Amsterdam and what is different about this service is the method of transport, not seen for 60 years, the Airship.
In 2001,
Dutch and international market research indicates that on the basis of their price performance ratio, airships could be successful in the field of passenger transport over distances of between 500 and 1500 kilometres. These distances are presently covered by means of charter flights, motor coaches and short distance flights. Airships could also be successful in the field of freights transport and cargoes with exceptional dimensions and transporting bulky cargo, for example Dutch flowers.
The large trade with Holland in fresh fruit and vegetables has been under threat with increasing transport costs, so a partnership of vegetable growers, airship builders and cargo providers worked together to overcome this challenge. The project was supported by both governments who see the Airship as a sustainable mode of transport for the future. The consortium have plans to start providing long distance cargo service to many areas in China, still struggling with infrastrastrure to support tranditional modes of transport.
Posted by on 07/20 at 11:11 PM
Advantage of airships:
- use less power because they use little energy for vertical movement, main energy is for forward movement.
- quiet
- require less infrastructure as they have near vertical takeoff and landing,
- use different airspace from commercial aircraft, typically 1500-4000 feet.
Disadvantages of airships:
- slower than aircraft - travel about 100km/hr
- more sensitive to weather - can be delayed by strong headwinds.
- public perception that they are dangerous (whereas the opposite is true - Hindenburg explosion caused by skin of aircraft not the hydrogen)
Modern Airships:
Heavy Lifter - http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/cargolifter/
Zeppelin NT built in 1997 - The airship has a top speed of 125 km/h (77 mph) , with 70 km/h (44 mph) being a more typical cruising speed for tourist flights. It is capable of travelling about 900km (560 miles) without refueling, and staying aloft for almost 24 hours. - http://www.zeppelin-nt.com/pages/E/luftsch_u_zepp.htm
http://www.21stcenturyairships.com
While not nearly as fast as conventional aircraft, they can deliver cargo significantly faster than is possible by sea, and they are much, much more economical to operate than are either aircraft or ships. This would make airship transportation a viable and attractive alternative to more expensive air transport, or slower sea transport.
http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_Walrus,,00.html
Airships to the Arctic Symposium
Paper on viability of airships.
http://www.umti.ca/index.asp?sec=81&too=100&dat=7/20/2005&sta=3&wee=4&eve=8&npa=387
Canada seriously considering airships: The Chamber of Commerce, Manitoba - the middle strip of Canada - are pushing for an airship solution for transportation to the scattered population in the north, to transport fresh produce and support mining operations. They see airships as not only cost effective but has having having little environmental impact on this sensitive area.
http://www.mbchamber.mb.ca/resolutions2003-2004/finalreport2004-05resolutionreport/lighterthanairtransportationsystemfornorthernmanitoba.htm
Report on various technologies to power airships. Includes good intro to case for airships.
http://aerostation.archivale.com/27_2/27_2b.pdf
More airship links at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.rentell/net.html
Posted by on 07/21 at 01:28 AM
Civilian applications for the 21st Century airship are countless. They include:
Tourism Cruises: for short sightseeing trips and “Orient Express” type luxury tours as well as for long haul transportation. These applications includes bringing visitors to such inaccessible sites as Ayers Rock/Uluru National Park, Pinnacles of Mulu in Sarawak, the Antarctic, the Taklamakan, Sahara and Gobi deserts, the Grand Canyon, the Three Gorges Dam and the Great Wall of China. Airships also offers capabilities for island-hopping tours in locations like Phuket, Langkawi and Penang or among the thousands of islands in Indonesia, thus enabling eco-tourism to flourish in places which were difficult if not impossible to reach before as well as preserving the ecology of the sites.
Intra & Inter-city travel: the airship offers cost competitiveness and is convenient for short to medium distance. The fact that large-scale ground infrastructure is not required means passengers can be delivered direct to city-centre sites, not at airports far away from the ultimate destination.
Bulk Cargo: low unit cost transportation from point of production to point of delivery, and transportation to hard-to-reach areas. This application can transform the economy of many under-developed regions of the world.
Mass Exposure: from mass advertising to corporate hospitality events to dissemination of information within remote regions. Airships are also ideal as a stable filming platform for the movie and TV industries.
Humanitarian applications: fully-equipped flying hospitals for both emergency response and routine visits to inaccessible regions; search and rescue for victims of natural and man-made disasters – earthquakes, floods, fires, hurricanes, ship collisions
Scientific/ecological applications: the ability to remain safely and silently on station, with complete stability for instrumentation, enhances the airship’s role in bio-canopy studies, studies of game herd and marine migration, fishery monitoring, weather pattern monitoring, global warming, cloud-seeding, archaeological investigations etc. The airship also serves as the perfect aerial platform for photonics and other experiments
Forestry: the airship allows logging of mature trees without damage to the surrounding forest
Power industry: airships permit the insertion and maintenance of power transmission towers and lines in difficult and inaccessible territory without the financial and ecological cost of building, maintaining and using a road transport network, or using expensive short-mission helicopters
Telecommunications: the stratospheric airship has the capability to augment or even replace conventional, and highly expensive, telecommunications satellites. Dramatic cost savings are possible since the airship is wholly reusable.
Posted by on 07/22 at 01:10 AM
