Anybody heard anything about this?

Keith Lane

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Keith Lane
Oh yes, I'd like to see this thing set dowwn in our Wally Mart parking lot! People would think the apocolypse had begun.
I'm pretty sure this propoganda had to be written by the marketing department.



Even though the Aeroscraft dwarfs the largest commercial airliners, it requires less net space on the ground than any plane because it doesn't need a runway The airship takes off and lands like a helicopterstraight up and down This is not a Blimp It's a sort of flying Queen Mary 2 that could change the way you think about air travel. It's the Aeroscraft , and when it's completed , it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin or relax in their staterooms Unlike its dirigible ancestors ,the Aeroscraft is not lighter than air It's 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two-thirds of the craft's weight . The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body , driven by huge rear-ward propellers , generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising During takeoff and landing , six turbo-fan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent This two-football-fields-long airship is the brainchild of Igor Pasternak , whose privately funded California firm, Worldwide Aeros Corporation , is in the early stages of developing a prototype and expects to have one completed by 2010 . Pasternak says several cruise ship companies have expressed interest in the project,and for good reason - the craft would have a range of several thousand miles, and , with an estimated top speed of 174 mph, could traverse the continental United States in about 18 hours . During the flight, passengers would view national landmarks just 8,000 feet below,or,if they weren't captivated by the view , the cavernous interior would easily accommodate such amenities as luxury staterooms , restaurants - - even a casino . To minimize noise , the aft-mounted propellers will be electric,powered by a renewable source such as hydrogen fuel cells . A sophisticated buoyancy - management system will serve the same purpose as trim on an airplane, allowing for precise adjustments in flight dynamics to compensate for outside conditions and passenger movement. The automated system will draw outside air into compartments throughout the ship and compress it to manage onboard weight ( On a pressurized plane , windows like these would explode outward The Aeroscraft would not fly high enough to need pressurization )The company envisions a cargo-carrying version that could deliver a store's worth of merchandise from a centralized distribution center straight to a Wal-Mart parking lot, or, because the helium-filled craft will float , a year's worth of supplies to an offshore oil rig ." You can land on the snow , you can land on the water , " Pasternak says . " It's a new vision of what can be done in the air . "Aeroscraft : Purpose - Long -range travel for passengers who are more concerned with the [FONT=Comic Sans
MS]Journey than the destination..
Now this is really neat!!! Dimensions (feet): 165 H x 244 W x 647 LHUMOUNGOUS ! !
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cool!! I have not heard of this one specifically but I have seen, from time to time, proposals to bring airships back into commercial passenger aviation.
 
I thought they were building one of these in Akron. Bad weather brought down a number of the Zepplins. I wonder how they're going to get around that.
 
What is the TSA doing to cruise ships these days, anything?

Don't know at the pax end, but on the water the serrifs typically have one boat to guard the area where 5 cruise ships are, so basically nothing of use.
 
I thought they were building one of these in Akron. Bad weather brought down a number of the Zepplins. I wonder how they're going to get around that.
Same way the big jets do (airplanes used to run afoul of weather all the time, too): better preflight weather data and onboard weather radar and satellite imagery.
The jets have speed on their side, of course, but... big airships are just more viable now than they used to be because of that technology. The captains of great airships of the past had very poor information to work with; they had to read the sky as well as sea captains, and try to ride rough weather out sometimes... and like ships at sea, they sometimes got caught.
 
Talk about delay's it will take a week to load it.

Dan


I had the same initial reaction. I don't know if I'm just not looking close enough, but I think it's missing doors (I realize this isn't a blue print, but that's a bit of an over sight). I'd be interested to see that thing belly up to the jet bridges at any current terminal.
 
What is the TSA doing to cruise ships these days, anything?

Well, the cruises we took last year (Alaska) and this year (Hawaii) - nothing. All security of any substance appeared to be by the cruise line. Full metal detector screen every time we boarded. Didn't have to take our shoes off. :D Ran carry-ons through X-ray machines. Norwegian Cruise Lines and Norwegian America aren't taking chances. Don't know about the other lines. And my suitcase got extra attention when we started out in Honolulu. Seems a large wood and metal plaque looked funny on the X-ray screen. Just a major IEEE EMC Society award I got at the symposium. Had to go down to security while they hand searched it. They screen all bags being loaded.
 
While the Aeroscraft will be big, it won't hold a lot of pax. Meeting room for 120, but that would be on the ground. When it took off in that configuration payload would be about 12. I think they're looking at a yacht-type aircraft, except for the cargo version, which would save the weight of the creature comforts.
 

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While the Aeroscraft will be big, it won't hold a lot of pax. Meeting room for 120, but that would be on the ground. When it took off in that configuration payload would be about 12. I think they're looking at a yacht-type aircraft, except for the cargo version, which would save the weight of the creature comforts.

IE, there is no real point to this "aircraft."
 
IE, there is no real point to this "aircraft."
Well, the developer gave me one example. He said, "Been on an Alaskan cruise? The pictures show you the nice scenery, but they don't show you you're sharing the harbor with 27 other ships. Now with this, you could just majestically float along by yourself ..."
 

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Same way the big jets do (airplanes used to run afoul of weather all the time, too): better preflight weather data and onboard weather radar and satellite imagery.
The jets have speed on their side, of course, but... big airships are just more viable now than they used to be because of that technology. The captains of great airships of the past had very poor information to work with; they had to read the sky as well as sea captains, and try to ride rough weather out sometimes... and like ships at sea, they sometimes got caught.

Jets use speed and altitude to avoid weather, plus high wing loading and copious anti-ice to penetrate what they can't avoid. Airships have none of the above. This thing is going to have a dispatch rate comparable to a small GA aircraft. Speaking of which, if you want to take 12 people to cruise along down low at 170 knots and look at the sights, wouldn't a Caravan be a lot easier?

Regards,
Joe
 
Well, the cruises we took last year (Alaska) and this year (Hawaii) - nothing. All security of any substance appeared to be by the cruise line. Full metal detector screen every time we boarded. Didn't have to take our shoes off. :D Ran carry-ons through X-ray machines. Norwegian Cruise Lines and Norwegian America aren't taking chances. Don't know about the other lines. And my suitcase got extra attention when we started out in Honolulu. Seems a large wood and metal plaque looked funny on the X-ray screen. Just a major IEEE EMC Society award I got at the symposium. Had to go down to security while they hand searched it. They screen all bags being loaded.

Did you have fun in Hawaii? Wife and I are headed there on Jan 6th. I rented a 172 so I can see a bit more than just walking around. We are gong to Maui.

Dan
 
Did you have fun in Hawaii? Wife and I are headed there on Jan 6th. I rented a 172 so I can see a bit more than just walking around. We are gong to Maui.

Dan

The cruise was a bit disappointing, but it was part of our 10th trip to Hawaii. We're going back in April. Kauai. But Maui is our favorite island. Renting from Maui Aviators? Nice folks. I've flown with them once, too. And flying to Hana is much better than the drive (which we've done twice, not again).

Have fun. I know you will. Where are you staying?
 
The cruise was a bit disappointing, but it was part of our 10th trip to Hawaii. We're going back in April. Kauai. But Maui is our favorite island. Renting from Maui Aviators? Nice folks. I've flown with them once, too. And flying to Hana is much better than the drive (which we've done twice, not again).

Have fun. I know you will. Where are you staying?
The drive to Hana is a PIA! But I did like the drive FROM Hana. We kept going on the road and went to the south side of the island. Some really challenging hill to go up and down on and then you break out into this section of ancient lava field and there is absolutely no one around. On the north side you end up climbing to the road that would go up to the top of Haleakala, so then you have to turn and go down arriving near the airport. We were staying at the 4-Seasons in Kehei so it was a bit of a drive. I did it once and I don't need to do it again.
 
The cruise was a bit disappointing, but it was part of our 10th trip to Hawaii. We're going back in April. Kauai. But Maui is our favorite island. Renting from Maui Aviators? Nice folks. I've flown with them once, too. And flying to Hana is much better than the drive (which we've done twice, not again).

Have fun. I know you will. Where are you staying?

Wife picked out a condo type, by a town that starts with Lau- over on the west coast I think. I wanted to rent a car and just go from state park to state park. That was a no go. I shouldn't have told her the camps did not have hottubs... or beds!

Dan
 
They don't screen oncoming luggage, at least checked luggage, too closely. We just took a Carnival cruise and they said we are only allowed one bottle of wine per passenger to be brought on board. For two of us, we had several bottles of wine and a bottle of Scotch in our luggage and it was left alone. When returning from ports of call, they say that you have to turn in any liquor you bought on shore and it will be returned at the end of the cruise. A guy right in front of us returning from Jamaica had two bottles of tequila. Security told him that he had to go over to the liquor desk. He took a few steps toward, saw the 10 or so people in line, and continued right past the desk with his bottles. None of the employees said a thing.
 
I cannot imagine liking a cruise where I was forced to get off the boat every day or two.

I have been thinking about maybe going on one of the repositioning cruises (where the move the ship from, for instance, the med to the Caribbean).

7-15 days, no ports, not too many people, nothing pressing to do. No cell service.

The only question is how bad my 'net withdrawal symptoms would be.

~ Christopher
 
I cannot imagine liking a cruise where I was forced to get off the boat every day or two.

I have been thinking about maybe going on one of the repositioning cruises (where the move the ship from, for instance, the med to the Caribbean).

7-15 days, no ports, not too many people, nothing pressing to do. No cell service.

The only question is how bad my 'net withdrawal symptoms would be.

~ Christopher
I have never seen anything attractive in those big ship cruise. They just are not for me. I have done a small ship cruise up in Alaska that I really liked. The vessel was about 100 feet in length and there was little to do on the ship. So you spent all day outside watching the sights. The ship only drafted 6 feet so we would go exploring in places where big ships could not go. The only other cruises I have done where on live aboard dive vessels. Again a very focused type of trip on a much smaller boat than a large ship cruise.
 
I have never seen anything attractive in those big ship cruise. They just are not for me.
Me either. I have done a (very) small ship cruise in the Galapagos Islands which was interesting but in no way luxurious. I think there were 10 passengers plus crew. For me the interesting part was getting off to explore the islands, not being on the boat, although the guy did let me steer once... and watching the dolphins riding the bow wave was cool...
 
Right now, it would be very useful for non-perishable freighting where schedules had a lot of flexibility or in geographical areas with fairly stable weather. PAX aren't going to put up with its WX limitations until fossil fuels are about $15/gal then, it would attract economy minded travelers with more time than money. Cool airship for sure.
 
I actually don't know how good the fuel economy is.

IIRC, blimps have notoriously bad fuel economy.

Takes a lot of power to force that through the air.

~ Christopher
 
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