Posted on 09/15/2013 10:44:24 PM PDT by TexGrill
WASHINGTON A Soviet-born U.S. entrepreneur has unveiled in California a revolutionary blimp prototype that he says will fly with the precision of a helicopter and that could transform the shipping industry, according to U.S. media reports.
The Aeroscraft airship, brainchild of Worldwide Aeros founder and CEO Igor Pasternak, successfully underwent tethered testing Saturday, according to technology website Gizmag.
Gizmag published photographs showing the 81.07 meter long and 29.56 meter wide craft, under development since 2006, lifting off the ground and remaining under control while attached to a cord.
Pasternak, who was born in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and later moved to Russia, told the Los Angeles Times that he arrived in the U.S. in 1993 and founded a company similar to one he had in Russia manufacturing blimps, small airships commonly used for advertising.
His efforts in the U.S. resemble those currently also under way in Russia, where a company called Augur RosAeroSystems is pioneering a drive to revive the airships and develop their use in cargo transport.
Indeed Pasternak and the head of the Russian concern, Gennady Verba, were schoolmates in Soviet Ukraine, where they both developed their passion for airships, a mutual friend, Mikhail Talesnikov, vice-president of the Russian company, told RIA Novosti in a recent interview.
In an interview this month with the Los Angeles Times, Pasternak said he dreamed of building airships since childhood. He said he received experimental airworthiness certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for his prototype a mere two days before the test.
Unlike most blimps, Pasternak's airship uses new concepts and mechanics for compressing and releasing the lighter-than-air, nonflammable helium gas within itб similar to the way submarines use ballast and water intake to control precisely their ascent and descent, the reports said.
(Excerpt) Read more at themoscowtimes.com ...
I can see the possibility of this technology replacing cargo ships, especially for cargo ships that might be targeted by pirates.
LOL!!
Blimpie!
I can see the possibility of this technology replacing cargo ships, especially for cargo ships that might be targeted by pirates.Because it worked so well the last time.
Popular Mechanics did an article on that, and Mythbusters confirmed PM’s theory.
It wasn’t the hydrogen, it was the coating the German’s used on the blimp that primarily was responsible for setting the whole thing off.
I’m sure modern standards would minimize this risk. The only real risk I see is somebody taking pot shots at it.
There’s a blimp gap!!?!
Blimps would certainly offer advantages over trucks when it comes to transporting goods, because one blimp could probably transport the equivalent goods of at least 10 trucks and it could do it over any terrain.
Nothing but a money sink. This will never be practical- no matter how much engineering and precision you put into it, light than air craft are always going to be at the mercy of the winds.
The Blimps this fellow is making in The U.S. are not exactly like the airships of yesteryear. He is using a hangar at the old Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, as his base. They are actually pretty intriguing, and I hope he makes a go of it. Thanks.
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