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> one crash killed public interest It was not really one crash, but a series of crashes. R38 broke up in the air over the UK. Roma crashed and burned in Virgi

> one crash killed public interest It was not really one crash, but a series of crashes. R38 broke up in the air over the UK. Roma crashed and burned in Virginia. Dixmude exploded mid-air over Sicily. R101 crashed and burnt in France. R100 was declared a failure and broken up. USS Akron crashed, and so did the USS Shenandoah.

Animats 2y ago
Yes. That generation of airships was terrible at maneuvering. An airship has huge sail area, isn't very strong, and is not high powered. Crosswinds are a big problem. The modern Zeppelin NT handles better. Remember Airship Ventures, which used to have an airship touring over Silicon Valley? They had one. Unfortunately, they launched the service in 2008, during the recession. Then the price of helium doubled. So that operation shut down. The NT was fly by wire with steerable fans, which gave it enough maneuverability that it could be landed without a big ground crew. Here's the Airship Ventures craft landing at Moffett Field.[1] DARPA funded Lockheed-Martin's Skunk Works to build a more maneuverable airship. The result was the P-791.[2] This could be taxied out of a hangar, flown, landed, and taxied back in, all under its own power. All the propellers are on two-axis gimbals, and the flight control systems is constantly adjusting them to keep it level. It has hovercraft-type air bags as landing gear, so it can suck itself onto the ground when needed under windy conditions. All the propellers are on two-axis gimbals. Worked fine, but no military need at the time. I'm surprised that no billionaire has an airship yacht yet. You need an airship-sized hangar anywhere you want to go, though, so there are not many destinations possible. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b5zO1ZzTws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b5zO1ZzTws [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_P-791 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_P-791
- krisoft 2y ago
  > I'm surprised that no billionaire has an airship yacht yet. When people ask me what would I do if i won the lottery i tell them that I would build a liveaboard airship. Would need to win multiple lotteries probably, and also the liveaboardness would need to be very minimalistic but still it would be awesome just even the journey to get there.
  - cyberge99 2y ago
    I feel like something similar was in a movie I watched recently. Mission Impossible or James Bond (Argyle maybe)?

Animats 2y ago

Yes. That generation of airships was terrible at maneuvering. An airship has huge sail area, isn't very strong, and is not high powered. Crosswinds are a big problem. The modern Zeppelin NT handles better. Remember Airship Ventures, which used to have an airship touring over Silicon Valley? They had one. Unfortunately, they launched the service in 2008, during the recession. Then the price of helium doubled. So that operation shut down. The NT was fly by wire with steerable fans, which gave it enough maneuverability that it could be landed without a big ground crew. Here's the Airship Ventures craft landing at Moffett Field.[1] DARPA funded Lockheed-Martin's Skunk Works to build a more maneuverable airship. The result was the P-791.[2] This could be taxied out of a hangar, flown, landed, and taxied back in, all under its own power. All the propellers are on two-axis gimbals, and the flight control systems is constantly adjusting them to keep it level. It has hovercraft-type air bags as landing gear, so it can suck itself onto the ground when needed under windy conditions. All the propellers are on two-axis gimbals. Worked fine, but no military need at the time. I'm surprised that no billionaire has an airship yacht yet. You need an airship-sized hangar anywhere you want to go, though, so there are not many destinations possible. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b5zO1ZzTws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b5zO1ZzTws [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_P-791 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_P-791

krisoft 2y ago
> I'm surprised that no billionaire has an airship yacht yet. When people ask me what would I do if i won the lottery i tell them that I would build a liveaboard airship. Would need to win multiple lotteries probably, and also the liveaboardness would need to be very minimalistic but still it would be awesome just even the journey to get there.
- cyberge99 2y ago
  I feel like something similar was in a movie I watched recently. Mission Impossible or James Bond (Argyle maybe)?