Why the Airship May Be the Future of Air Travel

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[Falstaff]

I’m 65 years old. For as long as I’ve been alive they declare the “return of the airship” every 10 years or so. Used to be a regular cover story in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science. Glad to see even in the digital age, the tradition lives on.🤣

[SideProjects]

I used to help build airships. I didn’t meet anyone in the business who thought airships are the future. They are instead the best solution for a very limited and specific set of problems. I enjoyed building them.

[donmac]

Every 20 years or so, people bring up modernized airships as a possible future transportation alternative, but the practicalities always shut it down.

[dgdafl]

Relegating blimps to unmanned cargo shipping only would be a good way to introduce the benefits of the technology to the economy while letting boxes and packages bear the safety uncertainties.

[lionljb]

some british Grandpa when he see's a airship over London: "shit, they're back"

[TheJarrodh]

Engineering companies I've worked for have seriously looked at this technology for transporting oversized equipment and modules from fabrication facilities directly to site without any of the traffic restrictions. I can definitely see the feasibility of this method of travel.

[georgesmith]

As an engineer, I'm an airship fanatic.
Zeplin never stopped working on the technology nor did England. The Hindenburg is remembered for it's crash but the airship itself was a great success. It never missed a scheduled departure and it never turned back in three seasons. It carried lots of passengers and freight successfully. Also there is a tendency to ignore the airship successes "The Norge" the " Italia". The tremendously successful one design by Barnes Wallace. To mention just a couple.
After the 747 collision at Teneriffe people still kept getting into airplanes.
Germany's "Cargo lifter" was planned to carry 160 tonnes.
A bridge could be fabricated any where and airship-ed to a site almost anywhere in the world because of their ability to hover.
Air ships may left the sky, but some of us can still hear the engines
Airships Are the Answer.

[kentwood]

Hindenburg had a flammable skin, which modern ships wouldn't. Also, bear in mind, that in the Hindenburg disaster, a lot of people survived. You don't see that when jet airliners crash. I would love to see a return of elegant, slower-paced sky travel.

[GeekIWG]

I'd definitely say that the rarity and non-renewability of helium is going to be a major limiting factor in this. Maybe if we can figure out a way to generate helium, or a way to make hydrogen safe then this could work.

[spacebeast]

As long as we make it the final place for a Yugioh tournament I’m there.

[DavidWesley]

Oh, the puns. I’m a fan of low-hanging fruit!🤣

[XxXenosxX]

I want airships, trams, and trains! 🙏🙏🙏

[richardgreen]

One of the problems that most discussions of airships tend to ignore is that they provide more surface area and leverage for turbulent air currents - including air currents that will flip them end-to-end and/or put substantial stresses on the frame. The larger they get, the more susceptible they are to this risk.

[effervescentrelief]

Blimps have been "making a comeback" for over 20 years. It seems every year we read these same articles and arguments about how blimps could revolutionize travel. Still waiting.

[Tijuanabill]

"Sounds uplifting." Can we get a slow clap for our man here? That was a fantastic dad joke. 10/10

[BubbleGendut]

I worked as a designer on the Airship Industries Skyship 500, 600 & Sentinel in the 1980’s and the marketing was saying exactly the same as your video.
I think the issue for airships is the weather, which you didn’t mention, to which they are susceptible. I watched Two airships rip apart on their masts due to high winds.
The 500 & 600 airships also required large ground crew which basically cancelled any profits when they operated their London site seeing trips.
That was 30+ years ago so I am optimistic that new technology will overcome the problems we had with the 500&600 designs

[bill_and_amanda]

I'm disappointed this video glossed over the fact that almost all helium used on Earth comes from natural gas mining and separating it from NG is itself an energy intensive process. It also didn't mention that helium on Earth is already in a supply crunch and it's used for far more important things than airships, like critical medical testing.

Also, $8200 is about as much as a first-class ticket from JFK to Heathrow costs.

[blackest]

I saw this video in my recomendations and I was like "neat, an alternative to planes". Then I realized that at this level of capacity, route length and speed, high speed trains are way way wayyyy better. The issue is that something like "regional flights" should not exist. We have train that can reach almost 400 km/h, there is literally no reason to use airplaines for such short trips.
Planes should be limited exclusively long travels, talking 1000+ kms. Unfortunately at the moment there is no substitute for that, unless you have like a week available for the trip.
As pointed out airship have niche applications like reaching isolated places for goods and passengers or as sky cruises for rich people. But come on, "Future of Sustainable Air travel"? Not even close.

[zuutlmna]

A powerful, timeless quote from Classical Antiquity which is spot-on in understanding the absence of a modern airship industry, from Roman historian Tacitus: The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

[Stantasy]

I designed an airship just like the opening pic of this video when I was 14 years old (70 now). Pool, tennis courts, and all the rest . . . glad to see the world catching up LOL.