Dirigibles

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martykoessel
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Dirigibles

Postby martykoessel » September 14th, 2012, 12:49 pm

Okay, let's go totally off the wall here.

A few days ago, the Strib carried an article about helium-filled dirigibles being built for military use. http://www.startribune.com/business/168995516.html
Very low fuel costs and the relatively small area needed for takeoff and landing distinguish these from regular air travel.

What if similar dirigibles were to transport passengers over the medium distances envisioned for high-speed rail?

Let's say a dirigible about 300 feel long could carry, say, 200 passengers at 150 miles per hour. No airport needed, but with the mast mooring and tie-down track for the tail to swivel with the wind, you'd need a circle of about 600 feet of relatively open land, as close to the center cities as possible, preferably next to an LRT or Northstar station.

I'm no expert on the wind velocity that might keep these babies from flying or how much room would be needed to safely maneuver them to the mooring mast, but if terminals and support could be built for around $100 million each in Duluth and the Twin Cities and each dirigible could be bought for around $30 million, a fleet of 5 (two running each way + one backup) would cost a total of $350 million. This compared to an estimated $1 billion for a high-speed rail line.

Wacky, but a helluva lot of fun to think about! Great views, too! I'd ride.

martykoessel
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Re: Dirigibles

Postby martykoessel » September 14th, 2012, 1:01 pm

Terminal suggestions: Over the parking lot near the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Bldg in Minneapolis (at the Fort Snelling LRT station) and over the DECC parking lot in Duluth.

Yeah, right, dreamer.

MSPtoMKE
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Re: Dirigibles

Postby MSPtoMKE » September 14th, 2012, 1:09 pm

I don't know much about dirigibles, but I don't think they can go anywhere near 150 mph, nor transport 200 people.
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martykoessel
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Re: Dirigibles

Postby martykoessel » September 14th, 2012, 1:29 pm

From Wikipedia, about a smaller predecessor to the military version:

"In 2009 the developers Aeros claimed the Aeroscraft will be 210 feet (64 m) in length, have a top speed of 120 knots (222 km/h), and a flight ceiling of 12,000 feet (3,700 m).[1][5] News media claimed it could be modified to carry up to 180 passengers.[6]"

(120 knots = 138 mph)

Also, given the distance between the Twin Cities and Duluth, it would be hard to get turnarounds fast enough to keep two running in each direction.

BTW, I'm not imagining that any of this will happen. God, no. I'm just having some fun.

MNdible
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Re: Dirigibles

Postby MNdible » September 14th, 2012, 2:36 pm

This makes me think of the ill-fated CargoLifter, which was intended to use Airships to allow for point-to-point delivery of very heavy, awkward, oversized cargo and sucked up a lot of economic development money in the former East Germany before slipping into insolvency.

They did manage to build one of the largest structures ever built, a staggeringly vast hangar that now houses an indoor waterpark.

Fascinating stuff, and perhaps still viable when one looks at the great lengths that have been taken to deliver material to, for example, the oil sands in Canada.

NickP
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Re: Dirigibles

Postby NickP » September 15th, 2012, 2:21 pm

marty! Thanks for thinking outside of the box man. I think thins would be an awesome idea! I've always thought of dirigibles an flying cruise ships more than anything, but I agree, I would love to take such a flight north.

UptownSport
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Re: Dirigibles

Postby UptownSport » September 15th, 2012, 3:17 pm

My understanding is they are at mercy of weather, even moreso than fixed wing aircraft-

I'm not sure what you do when high winds come up and you're a few hundred miles from your hangar.
Reading History of Hindenburg, it got went out (ill-advised) once and suffered damage from winds-
besides the obvious with that vehicle, there's a reason(s) they're not used anymore

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Le Sueur
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Re: Dirigibles

Postby Le Sueur » September 17th, 2012, 1:31 am

Pretty cool article on Aeroscraft back in July in PopSci:
http://www.popsci.com/technology/articl ... nally-take

I think the whole idea of airship freight is really cool. Do I take it seriously as an economical enterprise?
Not yet?
Either way for anyone that has ever seen Archer, here:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq-N3_plNq8[/youtube]
"what about that are you still not getting exactly?"
"well obviously the core concept Lana"


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