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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday February 25 2017, @02:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the remember-not-to-fill-it-with-hydrogen dept.

According to tiretechnologyinternational.com , Goodyear has been flying blimps for about 90 years now and this source says the current design goes back nearly 50 years...and the last one recently took its last flight.

The replacement is larger and semi-rigid, leading to higher airspeed. It also holds more people and is quieter. In Carson, CA, a new inflatable hangar is being built for the new airship according to ocregister.com. Look for it off the 405 freeway.

This AC was fortunate to have a blimp ride over LA and Orange County about 15 years ago -- arranged by a friend with the right Goodyear press office connections. Our ride was the last of the day (before changeover to night/billboard operations) and we were the only passengers. This gave us plenty of time to talk with the pilots who are part of a pretty interesting (and rare) group. Some fun facts:
  + The top air speed of 35 mph applies in level flight.
  + ...and also while climbing and descending. Buoyancy makes the blimp react very differently than normal heavier-than-air airplanes. On our flight, they pointed the nose down at what felt like a very steep angle, but the airspeed didn't change.
  + Pilots from the elite Air Force test pilot school get checked out on blimps
  + Flight controls are very different from normal aircraft, I don't remember seeing any automated systems. While the blimp reacts fairly slowly, it's far from stable and the pilots are chasing things all the time.
  + After our flight, we watched them attach the lighting system. It was heavy enough that no passengers could be carried and possibly some of the cabin was removed to save weight (seats?...memory is fading). It used a small turbine generator (aircraft aux power unit, APU) to power the display.


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  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday February 26 2017, @07:51AM

    by anubi (2828) on Sunday February 26 2017, @07:51AM (#471765) Journal

    I remember seeing a World War 2 documentary on how difficult it was to ignite dirigibles....

    Something like this" [thehumanjourney.net]

    The same paradigm of someone trying to light off a propane barbeque or get their old carbureted engine going... having all the reactants at the correct concentration at the right place at the right time to initiate the reaction.

    I have had fits with my barbeque to the point I use one of those self-starting Bernz-O-Matic torches to start it.... and God knows how much tweaking I have done on my old carbureted car when I got it out of whack and it flat wouldn't start. ( aka: "You flooded the engine again..." )

    While not guaranteed safe, I get the idea these things were a helluva lot harder to set off than, say, a cup of spilled gasoline. Especially in free air, outside, where any escaped hydrogen wants to go straight up.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]