Friday, September 06, 2013

In Airship News...

...the "Aeroscraft" prototype cargo zeppelin nears its first test flight:

An experimental airship came a step closer to its first flight last weekend when the silvery “Aeroscraft” zeppelin hovered a few feet off the ground outside the Tustin, Calif. blimp hangar where it's being built.

The Aeroscraft, a 266-foot-long blimp-like cargo ship, is expected to hold its first test flight within the next month, officials with developer Aeros Corp. said.

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued an airworthiness certificate to the firm.


Click the link to read the rest. It would be cool if airships became common again, both for cargo and also for transportation of people. Hell, rock stars and billionaires could buy them as air yachts. Edgar Allan Poe once wrote a story in which he envisioned a future in which airships (although he used the term balloons were the main method of long-distance transportation in the world. I'd love to ride in one, some day.

1 comment:

Firehand said...

I can imagine the sales pitch: "Just think, between concerts you can relax in a jacuzzi in your air yacht!

And yeah, you could probably carry a buttload of cargo in one; slower, but for lower cost- probably MUCH lower- than winged aircraft.