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CargoLifter[1] tried to bring airships back in the late nineties. They started building a gigantic manufacturing building but ran out of money before they even
by weinzierl 7y ago
CargoLifter[1] tried to bring airships back in the late nineties. They started building a gigantic manufacturing building but ran out of money before they even started to build an airship. The hangar was later turned into an aqua park but ran into troubles because the heating expenses were too high. Not surprising given the hangar was designed to be open at both ends. Another commenter in a previous thread wrote that the aqua park does well nowadays[2].
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CargoLifter https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CargoLifter
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20766309 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20766309
- old-gregg 7y agoInteresting... Based on what I've read about airships, their biggest weakness is inability to deal with inclement weather. Conventional aircraft spend very little time in the clouds and usually fly above most storms (and they're fast/maneuverable enough to fly around with little time loss), and even when they're in, they fare quite well with de-icing equipment and automation to deal with cross-winds. Neither the original article or CargoLifter wiki page mention this.
- _0ffh 7y agoWell, Zeppelin NT [1] _did_ bring back the airship. At least insofar as they have produced a number of actual airships, as opposed to Cargolifer. Also Zeppelin NT existed before Cargolifter, and after - it is still an operating company. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin_NT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin_NT