I’m a big fan of science fiction. The genre has instilled some high expectations in me for the coming decades, as well as tempered my imagination against vaporware that works only on paper. But it is good to loosen the grip of reality sometimes.
This flying sailboat concept is just such vaporware, although it is neat to look at and speculate on. Designer Damien Grossemy concocted the ship for a supposed around-the-world race by car maker Renault.
While I can’t find any information on this would-be race (said to be slated for 2015), there is supposed to be a World Sky Race happening later this year that will cross over four continents. Damien’s design, called the Zep’Lin, was concocted while he interned at Renault, and it features an unusual vertical design. There are solar panels and fuel cells aplenty, though where exactly people are supposed to sit, isn’t made clear.
Steering is accomplished via a “flexible wing” and propulsion seems to come from a single propeller engine. I like the design, but again, it is little more than fancy right now.
Still, if ever there was a good time to bring back zeppelins, now is that time. Plane tickets are getting more expensive while giving less room (not to mention all those baggage fees) and they cause their fair share of pollution too. A zeppelin or other type of airship, while slower, would have the advantage of much more space to move around, so the extra time on board is more leisurely than cramped. Who knows, maybe Damien’s idea will one day come to life, though in a more toned down fashion. I just really like looking at it.
Source: Design42Day | Damien Grossemy
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Oh, it’s the golden age of the rigid airship, all right. Heaviest competition for hydrogen gas in 50 years, Texas helium market upstructured by new federal policies, and a new forecast of the worst storms in history from Global Climate Changers each and every season. Other than an even more flammable fabric dope, what could possibly go wrong?
Up Ship, my brother! Crowd the World!
yingyingyingyingying
Oh, it’s the golden age of the rigid airship, all right. Heaviest competition for hydrogen gas in 50 years, Texas helium market upstructured by new federal policies, and a new forecast of the worst storms in history from Global Climate Changers each and every season. Other than an even more flammable fabric dope, what could possibly go wrong?
Up Ship, my brother! Crowd the World!
yingyingyingyingying
Pipe-dream BS! As a lifelong sailor and pilot, this is nothing more than BS. Move along folks, nothing to see here.
Pipe-dream BS! As a lifelong sailor and pilot, this is nothing more than BS. Move along folks, nothing to see here.
Zeppelins and othere LTA aircraft are slow, very slow. The zeps of the 1930s topped out at about 75 to 80mph and cruised around 50 to 60. Zeps were rigid airships and highly vulnerable to thunderstorms and high winds. Non rigid blimps are safer but even slower.
A 30 mph wind makes them impossible to moor. And a 30 mph headwind would double your travel time.
They are good signboards for advertising and good platforms for ASW and the best of the blimps could stay aloft for over a week. They may find a use in surveillance of urban areas and logging operations, but very little beyond that.
Zeppelins and othere LTA aircraft are slow, very slow. The zeps of the 1930s topped out at about 75 to 80mph and cruised around 50 to 60. Zeps were rigid airships and highly vulnerable to thunderstorms and high winds. Non rigid blimps are safer but even slower.
A 30 mph wind makes them impossible to moor. And a 30 mph headwind would double your travel time.
They are good signboards for advertising and good platforms for ASW and the best of the blimps could stay aloft for over a week. They may find a use in surveillance of urban areas and logging operations, but very little beyond that.
As Corky said, I can’t imagine our “gotta have it now – gotta be there yesterday” lifestyle can be shoehorned back into the temporal realities of LTA for anything other than leisure (think cruise ship vacation vs. ocean liner travel). Of course, with LTA so much of the vehicle is required to keep it in the travel medium (i.e. air) that the passenger capacity to conveyance cost will be prohibitively expensive for all but the most affluent.
As Corky said, I can’t imagine our “gotta have it now – gotta be there yesterday” lifestyle can be shoehorned back into the temporal realities of LTA for anything other than leisure (think cruise ship vacation vs. ocean liner travel). Of course, with LTA so much of the vehicle is required to keep it in the travel medium (i.e. air) that the passenger capacity to conveyance cost will be prohibitively expensive for all but the most affluent.