more pictures at the link
Posted on 01/05/2013 10:39:18 AM PST by iowamark
A massive cargo-carrying airship has taken shape inside one of the 17-story wooden blimp hangars at the former military base in Tustin.
According to aircraft maker Worldwide Aeros Corp., construction is complete on a 36,000-pound blimp-like aircraft designed for the military to carry tons of cargo to remote areas around the world.
The Montebello company hopes to have a first flight in the coming months and to demonstrate cargo-carrying capability shortly thereafter...
The Aeroscraft is a zeppelin with a 230-foot rigid skeleton made of aluminum and carbon fiber. It's a new type of hybrid aircraft that combines airplane and airship technologies and doesn't need a long runway to take off or land because it has piston engines that allow it to move vertically and a new high-tech buoyancy control system...
"This will land in Africa, Afghanistan," Pasternak told The Times in September, "a Wal-Mart parking lot -- wherever."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
more pictures at the link
Is it just me, or does it seem like this thing is just a big sitting duck? Except the duck is floating slowly, not sitting. Has to be a lot easier to take out than a maneuvering jet aircraft with countermeasures. Probably some Greenie thought it was a great idea.
Except for one thing...the envirokooks destroyed it because the rainwater coming off the sides was supposedly contaminated:
Today the once-beautiful and historic structure is an ugly skeleton rusting in the rain. I'm certain all those corrosion products are harmless to the environment. Rampant government stupidity is on fine public display adjacent to CA 101 in Mountain View, CA.
After you...........
A perfect skydiving platform for massive formations!
Hindenberg
If Moochell Odinga stood next to this thing her butt might not look so big.
This has been in the works for decades and I suspect that it will work well. They have spent a lot of time to come up with a suitable platform and it is going to be valuable.
As far as protection, I doubt that they have let that go. It is probably very difficult to shoot down. Most likely oompartmentalized envelope etc.
The new Omelda shopping aircraft.
Space for 17000 pairs of tasteless shoes, 25000 plastic handbags amd a 100000 boob belts.
Happy Days are here again and I’m gonna party like it’s 1937!
I’d go with “Huge Manatee.”
lol
Used to be a radio operator on that base in 1977, was in those hangers alot
What could possibly go wrong? /sarc
When did that happen - I haven’t been to that area in at least a decade. Loved to watch the U2 take off many years ago.
They began taking it apart some time last year. It is now just the skeleton rusting away. The Google guys HQ is close by and they have offered money to put a new skin on it, but nothing is being done yet.
It took the greenies about 10 years to convince everybody that it just HAD to be done. They tried to get the Navy to pay for a new skin, but I think they just paid for demolition. The plan was to rip off the skin and then...who knows? We’ll just see what happens. So now it stands, completely denuded.
Hope it’s got a kevlar skin if they’re planning on using it for military payloads in Afghanistan. Talk about the broad side of a barn, it would be easily hit.
Up, up and away in my beautiful my beautiful balloon.
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