This experimental airship is 32 metres (104-feet) long. Now, over 60 years since the last giant commercial airship was built, Germany is once again at the forefront of the lighter-than-air aviation industry.Ī full size prototype of the CargoLifter is still several years away but a 1:8 scale version - called Joey - is already in existence. Graphic images of the crash burnt their way into the public consciousness.Įven though harmless helium has been used in all airships built since, their construction has been limited to small blimps, used mostly for advertising purposes and on a limited scale by the US Navy for coastal patrols. This was partly because transport aircraft offered a much faster and safer alternative, but also because of the psychological impact of the Hindenburg disaster. The Zeppelin airship works were destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II and building of the huge rigid airships was never resumed. The fire quickly spread and in turn set off the hydrogen in the Zeppelin's gas cells.īain's research has since been confirmed by contemporary German records which were suppressed at the time because of the impact they would have had on the image of German industry just as Nazi power was reaching its zenith. A spark between two panels set fire to the dope/aluminium mixture in the fabric. He found that the airship's fabric had been coated with a mixture of cellulose nitrate 'dope' and aluminium powder, which is potentially flammable in its own right.Īs the Hindenburg came into land it passed between two thunderstorms and built up a large static charge.Īs it touched down most of this electricity passed harmlessly to earth, but parts of the covering remained charged. Recent research by a retired Nasa engineer has shown that the airship's lifting gas was not a direct cause of the fire.Īn expert on hydrogen, Addison Bain studied photographic evidence of the disaster together with remnants of the airship and came up with an alternative theory. The cause of the fire has always been assumed to be an electrostatic discharge setting light to a hydrogen leak. The first balloons flew in the 18th century and by 1900 the Germans were producing rigid airships capable of carrying considerable loads over long distances. Lighter-than-air transport considerably predates the aeroplane. Like a blimp it has no frame, but to allow it to carry heavy weights the airship has a fixed keel which also houses the cargo bay, the flight deck, crew's quarters and engines. The CargoLifter is of a modified semi-rigid design. The pilot, passengers, and engines are carried in a gondola mounted underneath. The much smaller 'blimps' currently in operation consist of a lighter aerodynamically shaped envelope that, like a balloon, is kept rigid by the pressure of the gas. It would have taken three Zeppelins the size of the CargoLifter to carry the same payload. To keep them rigid they had a strong metal frame. The large Zeppelins built early in the last century could carry big loads but they were themselves heavy. To enable the craft to carry heavy weights the manufacturers have come up with a new design. The CargoLifter is intended to carry payloads of up to 160 tonnes - about the weight of 27 full-grown African elephants - at a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph) and a maximum height of 2,000 metres (6,500-feet) non-stop over several thousand kilometres.įilled with 500,000 cubic metres (17.6 million cubic feet) of non-flammable helium, the airship will be 260 metres (850-feet) long and is designed to carry large loads to remote locations.Īccording to the German company behind the airship the CargoLifter will not need a landing strip and will have more endurance than a conventional aircraft. A new breed of hi-tech giant airships planned by a German company could be the heavy lift aircraft of the future.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |