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Can the Airship Rise Again?
- PaulHoule 5y agoNo. It gets killed by capital costs and operating costs. In the time that an airship could do one sortie, an airplane could do several. Thus the capital investment of the airplane is much more productive. The airship also ties up the pilots, flight attendants, and will require high expenses for hospitality. The ocean liner died not just because it is slower than an airplane, but because it's much more expensive. Cruise ships exist, but they compete with hotels, not with forms of transportation.
- mariuolo 5y agoI wonder, if not for transportation could they have other uses? Amazon had patented a flying warehouse to be accessed with drones. Or is there a case use for loitering flying objects? Possibly radio repeaters of some sort?
- readflaggedcomm 5y agoThis is almost entirely about helium. There exist hot-air and hybrid airships that eliminate or lessen the need for helium. They haven't succeeded much yet for other reasons, I guess. But cargo blimps sound very interesting. Maybe self-driving blimps will be more cost-effective.