>>1195185Such a ship would be an incredible romantic sight to see. If I was a billionaire I would build one. One where the captain also stands behind a wheel not one one where the captain sits in an office chair with a joystick.
If you research airships, you discover most accidents happened during landing and taking off. A small 130 meter modern rigid like this would be incredibly fun to fly.
Comparing it to airplanes is comparing apples and oranges. Airships behave on a completely different principle. Yes, I agree, a Hindenburg-size ship is too ambitious.
I also think that any attempt at using airships for cargo are completely futile, and all these new Hybrid airship companies like the Airlander will fail and go bankrupt like all their predecessors.
They are trying to reinvent the wheel. There is no better shape for an airship than the tear-drop shape. And there is no better usecase for airship than what they are used for today: recreation, advertising and filming.
Imagine flying through pic related with an Bodensee-like airship, at low altitude. It would be an outer-worldly experience.
As Max Pruss, captain of the Hindenburg put it:
''On an airship you have a wonderful trip, not with an airplane about 1,200 meters high and so you can’t see anything. In an airship, we have a height from 100 to 200 meters over the ocean. You have very nice islands, you have big ships. It’s for passengers a very, very comfortable [flight] and a very nice flight. No vibration, no seasickness.''
A Bodensee-class ship is about 4 times as small as a Hindenburg. It is a much more realistic proposal. It could perform operations flying between European capital cities. Europe-tour.
All we need is a billionaire with a love for these things, or a German government that actually loves its people. Maybe after Israel has initiated operation samson and the world has recovered from the nuclear war and the Jewish peril.