4 ms·

So often tried never successful. What si the difference now? Still wind is the enemy and the airship need to be huge to deliver relevant amount of cargo. Also

• bertil 3y ago
  Money: most projects didn’t have enough investment. Brin presumably can handle a conversation that starts with “We need another billion for…” Wind patterns are actually well understood: hot-hair ballons already move around simply by changing their altitude and going around reasonably freely. I don’t know if those could handle the jet stream, but that would make NY-London a lot faster. Agree with you on how slow previous prototypes have been: I was part of a project that tried to use them for urban transport, and it was not going nearly that fast… 65 knots is the speed of cars on a highway (at least the legal limit).
• wolverine876 3y ago
  > So often tried never successful. What si the difference now? It's fortunate the Wright Brothers didn't listen when the guy at the Kitty Hawk bar said that.
  • rgmerk 3y ago
    The key answer was “a more energy intensive power source and better aerodynamics”. Also, the question is not whether a big airship can be made to fly, because there’s little doubt they can. The question is whether a business model exists that can pay for their construction and operation.