4 ms·

Airships just seem so unappealing to me. Their benefits over all other modes of transportation seems to boil down to "they look cool".

detritus 3y ago
I've been dreaming for years that in some future I might be able to take an enjoyably-slow 'cruise' across Europe in such a thing. YMMV. - ed - for the record, the idea of going on an actual ship-based cruise does not at all appeal to me.
- JimtheCoder 3y ago
  "the idea of going on an actual ship-based cruise does not at all appeal to me." What happens when all the "traditional cruise going people" migrate to airship cruises? Then would going on a traditional cruise be appealing?
  - detritus 3y ago
    I'd presume the experience would be ... smaller? If we get to the point where there's the possibility of thousands of passengers, supported by thousands of attendant crew, on a single airship, then we've got a different discussion. And a massive success for LTA tech. But at that point, I'd probably just want whatever the 'sky sleeper train' equivalent is.
WorldMaker 3y ago
Without jet engines or jet fuel and in general being much less useful for mass destruction [1] there's a lot less need for "airplane security" and the modern American TSA apparatus. I still feel like that alone provides some benefits over current air travel modes. It would be nice to again have a form of more leisurely air travel with fewer security checkpoints and armed marshals involved. Beyond that, Airships can be more "luxurious" in terms of cabin space utilization, given the differences in safety needs during takeoff/landing and turbulent environments in comparison to other aircraft. They can be more social and humane. That can be a fun trade-off for the differences in travel time. An airship cabin could be a bar/casino/lounge and give you something to do while you travel (in the old ways of train transportation and river transportation). They can give your legs some space to walk around rather than remain uncomfortably trapped in a single seat for hours (risking embolisms and related problems). [1] Even when filled purely with Hydrogen. We all know the pop culture images of the Hindenburg disaster, but that disaster was incredibly relatively safe. It was "slow motion" enough that very few casualties occurred. Made for spectacular film coverage, of course, but overall everything about it was on a very different scale from modern jet liner crashes and pop culture has over the decades done nothing but ballooned the idea of the danger much beyond what it actually was.

detritus 3y ago

I've been dreaming for years that in some future I might be able to take an enjoyably-slow 'cruise' across Europe in such a thing. YMMV. - ed - for the record, the idea of going on an actual ship-based cruise does not at all appeal to me.

JimtheCoder 3y ago
"the idea of going on an actual ship-based cruise does not at all appeal to me." What happens when all the "traditional cruise going people" migrate to airship cruises? Then would going on a traditional cruise be appealing?
- detritus 3y ago
  I'd presume the experience would be ... smaller? If we get to the point where there's the possibility of thousands of passengers, supported by thousands of attendant crew, on a single airship, then we've got a different discussion. And a massive success for LTA tech. But at that point, I'd probably just want whatever the 'sky sleeper train' equivalent is.

WorldMaker 3y ago

Without jet engines or jet fuel and in general being much less useful for mass destruction [1] there's a lot less need for "airplane security" and the modern American TSA apparatus. I still feel like that alone provides some benefits over current air travel modes. It would be nice to again have a form of more leisurely air travel with fewer security checkpoints and armed marshals involved. Beyond that, Airships can be more "luxurious" in terms of cabin space utilization, given the differences in safety needs during takeoff/landing and turbulent environments in comparison to other aircraft. They can be more social and humane. That can be a fun trade-off for the differences in travel time. An airship cabin could be a bar/casino/lounge and give you something to do while you travel (in the old ways of train transportation and river transportation). They can give your legs some space to walk around rather than remain uncomfortably trapped in a single seat for hours (risking embolisms and related problems). [1] Even when filled purely with Hydrogen. We all know the pop culture images of the Hindenburg disaster, but that disaster was incredibly relatively safe. It was "slow motion" enough that very few casualties occurred. Made for spectacular film coverage, of course, but overall everything about it was on a very different scale from modern jet liner crashes and pop culture has over the decades done nothing but ballooned the idea of the danger much beyond what it actually was.