It is abundantly clear that airships have great potential, despite being slower than airplanes. Airships are relatively fast, capable of crossing oceans and able to hover. They are fuel efficient, with huge cargo bays, and require less infrastructure than competing modes of transport. Despite these clear benefits, implementation has been difficult. Four challenges confront the […]
Article By Mylène Crête in Quebec City – www.ledevoir.com The Quebec government is right to invest $ 30 million in the construction of industrial airships, according to Barry Prentice, a transportation economics expert at the University of Manitoba who has been interested in this technology for many years. “This industry is still in its infancy, […]
Article By CÉLINE FABRIÈS -The sun The French company Flying Whales signed Wednesday morning the cooperation agreement and financial participation of $ 30 million with the Quebec government for the creation of a heavy load airship. Thanks to this agreement, Flying Whales’ Quebec subsidiary obtains the exclusivity of production for the American continent. As of […]
After aerostatic flight, the next most important technological principle to understand about airships is drag. The drag equation explains why airships fly slower than planes, but more efficiently, and also why airships fly faster than ships sail. It also explains why airships have streamlined, aerodynamic shapes and why commercial airliners fly very high, while airships […]
The optimism of airship advocates is based on scientific principles of which most people are only mildly aware. Understanding how helium or hydrogen gas allow an airship to float, and other principles of how airships work, enables us to appreciate what giant airships could do, if they were built using modern technology. Economic analysis of […]
Living under capitalism involves incessant technological change. Companies tweak their products, release new models, etc., but most of the changes are small, incremental improvements. Some, however, revolutionize lifestyles and the economy. Important new concepts become part of everyday language and change the world, as we know it. But to adopt and adapt takes decades. Careers […]
Article By Jeremy Deaton Photo credit: Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images The proposed airships would move cargo more efficiently than oceangoing freighters — and produce far less pollution. The age of huge, ocean-crossing zeppelins came to an end in 1937, when the Hindenburg — the largest craft of its type […]
Article By Josh Dehaas The problems plaguing Canada’s isolated, fly-in First Nations communities are well-known: dependence on welfare and public housing, a high cost of living and few educational or employment opportunities. The best and brightest often leave for the South, while those left behind live with crumbling and ill-maintained infrastructure and experience high rates […]
Article By FÉDÉRATION AÉRONAUTIQUE INTERNATIONALE – WORLD AIR SPORTS FEDERATION Photo credit: FAI August 2019 marks the 90 year anniversary of the first round-the-world airship journey, made by German pilot Dr Hugo Eckener and his passengers in the rigid airship, Graf Zeppelin. The Graf Zeppelin was already famous, having already made a 71-hour, 6384.50km journey […]
Article By International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Photo credit: CC0 Public Domain Reintroducing airships into the world’s transportation-mix could contribute to lowering the transport sector’s carbon emissions and can play a role in establishing a sustainable hydrogen based economy. According to the authors of an IIASA-led study, these lighter-than-air aircraft could ultimately increase the […]
