Why airships are set to make a return to our skies
For some time now I have been following events at LTA Research, Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s airship company.
Airship are hardly an innovation: their golden age was in the second and third decade of the last century, but footage of the Hindenburg going down in flames in just 32 seconds and the thirty-five deaths resulting from the accident on May 6, 1937 has been enough to make anyone think twice before reimagining this technology for anything other than floating advertising hoardings.
However, technology has come a long way, and now, the possibility of designing and building airships that can be used to provide aid in disasters or functioning as a clean logistical alternative to transporting goods — faster and cheaper than container ships, for example — is bringing initiatives in this direction back into view. LTA Research has spent the last two years building a huge airship that is already licensed to fly, and is currently carrying out final test flights. The goal is to revolutionize aviation. Other companies, such as Flying Whales, BASI, Sceye, Hybrid Air Vehicles or Straightline Aviation are exploring the field from multiple points of view and with very different approaches.
The question is perfect, in terms of challenge, for the development of an interesting industry: elements of materials…
