Not every human being! They'll need one guy to push the button...
Posted on 03/27/2017 4:49:23 PM PDT by COBOL2Java
CBP Reapers, with the PC name of Guardians, are extremely limited in where they are allowed to fly. Originally a Border Patrol project, before the reorganization of BP and Customs air assets into a separate CBP division, it was about 10 years too early. 10 years of low capabilities, high costs, high mishap rates, and nothing to show for it. In the past three years the addition of a new MTI radar has finally born fruit for all the money spent on the project. There are still extreme limitations on where they are allowed to fly.
If hydrogen could be used as a lifting gas for unmanned dirigibles (or blimps); then, I think lighter-than-air would be a winner. Hydrogen is a lot cheaper than helium, and there’s a virtually unlimited supply. (Note: if you look at movies of the Hindenburg fire — that’s not hydrogen you see burning.)
The most a crew will cost is $600/hour. Any savings more than wiped out by flying at 20,000 feet vice the mid to high 30’s. 20-25% fuel burn penalty for going low. Not sure what their target burn rate is, Amphibious makes it cost more, as well.
What could possibly go wrong?
I am thinking whale or manatee
Not every human being! They'll need one guy to push the button...
Are you sure?
“:^)
A bunch of cargo falls into the sea?
The world is separated by those that do and those who sit on their hands on the sidelines and mock those that put themselves out there and dare to try something different.
I've been thinking that before long we'd hear about the plan for Amazon dirigibles doing this at lower cost even with Chinese flight crew provided through cooperation with the Chinese government.
Chris Connell, president of [CFI], says he is “intrigued” by the company’s concept.“Air cargo is all about speed at high price,” he says. “Ocean freight is longer transit times at lower pricing. And with certain goods—be it perishables, or goods that are looking for that middle ground—that idea of middle price for middle transit times is that sweet spot.”
Connell says he’s used to end-to-end transit times of as much as seven days to send cargo from the West Coast to Hawaii by ship. He has the option to pay a premium to send it by air cargo for same-day arrival. But in many cases, there could be an argument for the middle ground that Natilus is aiming for, where cargo can be delivered to its destination in about three days, once loading and unloading is taken into consideration.
They've been air freighting select perishable goods by air ever since the 1930s when aircraft were by and large making a little over 300mph so seems to me that the difference in speed isn't dramatic enough to be a deciding factor.
Either way, they're both still theories stumping for start-up money at the moment and whichever can produce the proper sizzle will probably win out, not whichever makes the most economic sense.
From the article:
For now, Natilus is focused on getting its 30-foot prototype, which is about 70% complete, ready for summer tests in San Pablo Bay, just northeast of San Francisco. If those go well, then it’s full steam ahead on the 777-sized model, provided that additional funding and the engineering talent needed to build it materialize.So which do you prefer, the beauty of unrestrained venture capitalism or Obama-Solyndra-style crony capitalism?It’s too early to know if Natilus, or anyone else, can successfully develop these massive unmanned aircraft. But ever since Amazon famously unveiled its plans for drone deliveries during a 2013 episode of 60 Minutes, there’s been substantial interest in unmanned shipping, Connell says.
Amazon and other companies are talking about using small drones for their deliveries, but Connell thinks an advance like what Natilus is pursuing, which could exploit a big gap in the current shipping markets, is inevitable.
“Airplanes aren’t going to slow down,” he says. “And boats aren’t going to go faster. The drone concept adds something new. It adds to the intrigue.”
And by the by, plenty of ventures that raise a lot of money in the unrestrained venture capital market go belly up because the reality they can produce doesn't match the BS the use to sell the idea and that doesn't bother me either.
Now go ahead, pretend I said a few other things I never said and pull another brownie out.
So if a venture capitalist loses money, what's the problem? I fail to see your original point. Unless you don't like people investing money in start-ups. And lay off the insults; I'm trying to have a conversation. If you automatically shift into adolescent-mode when someone tries to have a challenging conversation, then I'll bid you farewell.
In case you didn't notice, I never mentioned a word about there being anything wrong with capitalism, venture capital methods, where people spend their money, or the government being involved by handing out money.
Perhaps the cold medicine you take has addled your brain or you missed your medication recently. Something obviously got you off onto deciding to argue with me over things I never said or implied.
Or, maybe you have some special religion that says dirigables are the work of Satan, is that it?
Get al life or find someone else to pretend is arguing with you about capitalism.
Have a great day!
Oh yeah...
Great idea! It’s not like we have Chinese and Russian hackers running amok at the highest levels of security. What could possibly go wrong with this plan?
Well, it's not like there are any weapons on the things, and it can't land anywhere except on water, so the most the Chinese or Russian hackers would get is a shipment of nice fresh fruit.
I’m not nearly as worried about the *cargo* as I am about the *plane*. More specifically a plane with a lot of kinetic energy and the possibility of them ‘landing’ it on a critical part of our electrical grid and plunging a half-dozen states into darkness for weeks (or more), or into the Pentagon, or into another skyscraper...
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