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Eckener, noted for his opposition to the Nazi regime (despite being funded by it), traveled to Washington in 1929 to argue the helium ban and demonstrate his intentions for the noble gas. Incredibly, he convinced U.S. officials to grant him the authorization to use helium to float his Hindenburg.
....
Eckener returned to Germany and quickly realized that he did not have the facilities or the equipment to store and use helium, and even if he did, the costs were far higher than he was allotted through his Nazi-funded budget. Being a relatively new commodity and one of limited supply, helium was 6-10 times more expensive than hydrogen in 1937.
originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: crazyewok
There are 3 of them coming out soon. Lockheed's, the one that crashed, and one from France nicknamed The Whale. The Whale runs on electricity (graphene supercapacitors). Not sure about Lockheed's version.
originally posted by: crazyewok
originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: crazyewok
There are 3 of them coming out soon. Lockheed's, the one that crashed, and one from France nicknamed The Whale. The Whale runs on electricity (graphene supercapacitors). Not sure about Lockheed's version.
Long as they dont pump it full of hydrogen its a good idea.
originally posted by: Junkheap
originally posted by: Iamnotadoctor
I was hoping it was going to explode...
The Hindenburg crash has given the airship industry a bad reputation ever since even though they use helium now.
At any rate, that was more of a bounce than a crash.
Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd can confirm a mooring line attached to the Airlander did contact a power line outside the airfield. No damage was caused to the aircraft and this did not contribute to the heavy landing.
PRL Logistics and its partner Straightline Aviation are bringing a helium-filled Airship to Alaska.
The $40-million Airship is being built by Lockheed Martin. PRL Logistics Vice President Kathleen O'Connell says the first off the assembly line will come to Alaska sometime in 2018.
O'Connell says the aircraft can carry 18 passengers and up to 44,000 pounds of equipment. She says that's more weight than a C-130 airplane can hold.
...
PRL Logistics says the Airship will be based at its Kenai operations and serve the peninsula and Cook Inlet.
An attempt to sell the concept the US military fell apart. Lockheed lost a competition to supply a hybrid airship to the US Army to Northrop Grumman, which had teamed with UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles. The army, however, cancelled the programme, but sold the prototype vehicle back to HAV. The renamed Airlander 10 resumed flight testing earlier this year, but is now on hiatus to repair damage from a crash landing on 24 August.
Known as the Auxiliary Landing System (ALS), the setup consists of two pilot-deployable airbags, located on either side of the flight deck. When activated, each one fills with 15 cubic meters (530 cubic feet) of helium gas within 20 seconds, extending to its full length of 3 meters (9.8 ft).
...
Plans call for the ALS to be used on most of the remaining landings in the flight test program, which should resume soon after the Airlander 10 is brought out of its hangar later this month.
When it does come out, it will be with the help of another just-announced innovation – the Mobile Mooring Mast. It's a tracked vehicle with a retractable mast on top, which will be used to push and pull the airship around the airfield.
◾44,100 lbs (20,000kg): The weight of the airship
◾20,000ft (6,100m): The altitude it can reach
◾80 knots (148km/h): Maximum speed
◾5 days: How long it can stay airborne during manned flights
◾22,050 lbs (10,000kg): Total payload - the weight the ship is able to carry
The aircraft's cockpit was badly damaged when it nosedived at the end of its second test flight on 24 August.
In a statement a spokesman for HAV said the repairs had gone well.
He added: "The mission module build team has been turning their attention to the large number of tasks that will be required before hangar exit and recommencement of the Flight Test Programme.
"With the equipment installed, power on was achieved and on-aircraft testing has now begun."