3 ms·

Cruising speed in an A380: 560 mph (900 km/h) [1] Cruising speed of the Hindenburg: 76 mph (125 km/h) [2] That's a multiplier of 7.2, though the shorter the fl

by mikece 8y ago

Cruising speed in an A380: 560 mph (900 km/h) [1] Cruising speed of the Hindenburg: 76 mph (125 km/h) [2] That's a multiplier of 7.2, though the shorter the flight the more pronounced an airship's time to reach cruising speed and come back down from cruising speed will factor into the overall ratio. And this assumes we can't make airships go faster than the Hindenburg (is 155mph/300km/h unreasonable?). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380#Specifications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380#Specifications [2] https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/size-speed/ https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/size-speed/

dingaling 8y ago
Airships couldn't fly great-circle routes of shortest distance, so the actual distance would be much longer. They did pressure-flying, skirting around weather formations like a helicopter flying through mountains. Sometimes they could get a slingshot by riding a wind as it flowed from a high.
- zepearl 8y ago
  Maybe for airships/blimps the approach would have to be different than for airplanes, meaning more intermediate stops? (maybe their "landing/takeoff"-cycle is more efficient than the ones of airplanes?) Kind of bus/tram vs. trains? Or maybe just complementary? E.g. long routes handled by airplanes, "medium" routes handled by airships/blimps, and the rest handled by trains/bus/whatever?
  - larkeith 8y ago
    I suspect we could do much faster landing/takeoff in airships nowadays than before, with dynamic positioning and azimuth thrusters or similar (rather than relying entirely on tether lines and/or mooring towers). It might be possible to have a faster cycle than airplanes due to VTOL abilities and more on-board infrastructure allowing for landings at smaller airfields than most commercial flights are able to use - though I imagine most local airfields would require some degree of retrofitting before they could support airship landings. While I doubt they will ever be a primary transportation medium, I wonder if there would be enough demand for a cruise-ship-style airship to be commercially viable; I for one would absolutely love to spend a month on a luxury cruise around the world, landing every other day without the limitations of only seaside locations.
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by mikece 8y ago

dingaling 8y ago

Airships couldn't fly great-circle routes of shortest distance, so the actual distance would be much longer. They did pressure-flying, skirting around weather formations like a helicopter flying through mountains. Sometimes they could get a slingshot by riding a wind as it flowed from a high.

zepearl 8y ago
Maybe for airships/blimps the approach would have to be different than for airplanes, meaning more intermediate stops? (maybe their "landing/takeoff"-cycle is more efficient than the ones of airplanes?) Kind of bus/tram vs. trains? Or maybe just complementary? E.g. long routes handled by airplanes, "medium" routes handled by airships/blimps, and the rest handled by trains/bus/whatever?
- larkeith 8y ago
  I suspect we could do much faster landing/takeoff in airships nowadays than before, with dynamic positioning and azimuth thrusters or similar (rather than relying entirely on tether lines and/or mooring towers). It might be possible to have a faster cycle than airplanes due to VTOL abilities and more on-board infrastructure allowing for landings at smaller airfields than most commercial flights are able to use - though I imagine most local airfields would require some degree of retrofitting before they could support airship landings. While I doubt they will ever be a primary transportation medium, I wonder if there would be enough demand for a cruise-ship-style airship to be commercially viable; I for one would absolutely love to spend a month on a luxury cruise around the world, landing every other day without the limitations of only seaside locations.

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