A typical cell site has a theoretic range of 22 to 45 miles depending on the technology, but may be limited to just a couple miles depending on terrain.
Imagine a cell site at 5,000 foot elevation serving up to a 45 mile radius. The data might be trunked to the ground with a microwave dish or piped to a satellite. Parked over Manhatten it could serve 20 million people within the 45 mile radius...6% of the countries population. There are probably thundreds of cell sites within that radius that cost thundreds of thousands of dollars each, suddenly an airship looks like a very cheap alternative.
They could take it to the Olympics and the Super Bowl offering free internet access -with mandatory advertising.
They could take it to a national disaster like Katina. Imagine the good will that might buy for Google.
Imagine all those dead birds.
#### Google and good will :)
This piss on Easter every year and Christmas too.
Every other day they have an extreme leftist being feted on their page.
This guy escaped Jewish persecution only to put atheists and muslims on his front page.
Folks that hate Jews BTW.
They’ve had to escape Germany and the USSR. Where will they escape when they are getting slaughtered here if the left, ironically, wins this war for the future of America?
Why does one of the richest guys on the planet, a guy who could well afford his own facility, get to use a NASA hangar as his private gargage?
Now where have we heard of a “huge zeppelin” disaster before?
Except for such an application, you don't need a "huge" airship.
I love airships. Built it and user will come.
Weather is a rigid air-ship’s biggest enemy. For these to be successful at anything they have to be able to run and hide or go to ground when the wind starts to blow.
.......
That is the same idea that Burt Rutan worked on in 1998, but stationing his “cell phone tower” at 60,000 ft for better coverage.
The plane is still active.
Ive been paying attention to the effort to bring back airships for about 20 years now and it seems that enough time has passed since WWII propaganda efforts that airships have been getting some serious consideration and redesign by some big players for a whole host of applications.
Consider HULA (Darpa walrus) and all the changes just that could bring about if further adapted by the military and corporations. Smaller versions, bigger versions, special purpose manned and drone versions...
Walrus/HULA Heavy-Lift Blimps Rise, Fall… Rise?
Which leads to things like...
and
Lockheed Martin P-791
The P-791 was designed as part of the U.S. Army's Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) program, but lost the program's competition to Northrop Grumman's HAV-3 design. The P-791 was modified to be a civil cargo aircraft under the name SkyTug, with a lift capability of 20 short tons (18,000 kg) and plans to scale larger...In March 2016, Straightline Aviation signed a Letter of intent for 12 LMH1 airships, valued at $480 million...The LMH1 would initially transport 20 tonnes of cargo or 19 passengers, plus 2 crew members, with deliveries beginning in 2018...
and leads eventually to...
Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10
There is far too much money in this area just laying around waiting to be collected by someone with his resources and connections.
It is not a balloon, it is an airship, get out!