For Marlin...

[glocknut]

I don't know weither this is bunk or real. A friend posted this in one of my pic sharing groups. Maybe Ginga can check it by Snopes to see if this is real or not.

mike
gn

[glocknut]

Even though the Aeroscraft dwarfs the largest commercial airliners, it requires less net space on the ground than any plane because it doesn't need a runway. The airship takes off and lands like a helicopter: straight up and down.

This is not a Blimp. It's a sort of flying Queen Mary 2 that could change the way you think about air travel. It's the Aeroscraft, and when it's completed, it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin or relax in their well-appointed staterooms.

Unlike its dirigible ancestors, the Aeroscraft is not lighter than air. Its 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two thirds of the craft's weight. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body—driven by huge rearward propellers—generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising. During takeoff and landing, six turbofan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent.

This two-football-fields-long concept airship is the brainchild of Igor Pasternak, whose privately-funded California firm, Worldwide Aeros Corporation, is in the early stages of developing a prototype and expects to have one completed by 2010. Pasternak says several cruise ship companies have expressed interest in the project, and for good reason.

The craft would have a range of several thousand miles and, with an estimated top speed of 174 mph, could traverse the continental U.S. in about 18 hours. During the flight, passengers would peer at national landmarks just 8,000 feet below or, if they weren't captivated by the view, the cavernous interior would easily accommodate such amenities as luxury staterooms, restaurants, even a casino.

To minimize noise, the aft-mounted propellers will be electric, powered by a renewable source such as hydrogen fuel cells. A sophisticated buoyancy-management system will serve the same purpose as trim on an airplane, allowing for precise adjustments in flight dynamics to compensate for outside conditions and passenger movement. The automated system will draw outside air into compartments throughout the ship and compress it to manage onboard weight.


On a pressurized plane, windows like these would explode outward . The Aeroscraft does not fly high enough to need pressurization.

The company envisions a cargo-carrying version that could deliver a store's worth of merchandise from a centralized distribution center straight to a Wal-Mart parking lot or, because the helium-filled craft will float, a year's worth of supplies to an offshore oil rig. "You can land on the snow, you can land on the water," Pasternak says. "It's a new vision of what can be done in the air."

[southernshooter]

That thing is massive

[glocknut]

Originally Posted by southernshooter

That thing is massive

Well, thank you !!!!

mike
gn

[Marlin T]

A floating flying WalMart, oh no. Don't give them any ideas! LOL

[berto64]

Will it go high enough to clear the Rockies?

[Marlin]

It is a concept that was announced as a current project by Worldwide Aeros Corporation on February 16, 2006 in a news release. You may go to their website and get a load of information about their current products and those in planning and the concept items, of which this is one listed under the cruise liner airship.

The company began in the Soviet Union twenty+ years ago and is now located in the United States in Tarzana, California, chartered as a Delaware Corporation, as are many large business corporate organizations.

Their main website is -


http://www.aerosml.com/main.htm

The news release can be seen here -

http://www.aerosml.com/Wireless_Flash_News.asp

Here is some copy from their description of the company and it's overall operations:

Worldwide Aeros Corp. is the world's leading lighter-than-air, FAA-certified aircraft manufacturing company. The company's operations involve the research, development, and marketing of a complete family of Aeros-branded air vehicles used in military and civilian applications. These include rigid aeroscrafts, commercial non-rigid airships, and advanced tethered aerostatic systems.



The Aeros airships serve both government agencies and private corporations and are available for a wide variety of platform missions including advertising, touring, surveillance and broadcasting. Worldwide Aeros Corp. has a presence across three continents and has affiliates in eight European and Asian countries. The company's industry-leading expertise is based on more than 20 years of operations and advanced research in lighter-than-air technologies. Please visit us at www.aerosml.com for more information and news about Worldwide Aeros Corp.