Around the World in an Airship

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I first wrote about airships in this blog back in early 2008 when the Goodyear Blimp floated over my apartment home in Goodyear, Arizona, on its way just up the road to film that year's Super Bowl which was being played in Goodyear.

Then, in May of 2022, this blog's good friend, Ranger Bob, posted an account of a US Navy dirigible, the USS Los Angeles, spending part of the evening of October 10th, 1928, hovering over the small town of Wheeling in northern Missouri where Bob's mother, a young girl at the time, was living.   The young naval officer in command of the airship had been born in Wheeling, and his father still lived there in 1928.  (Ranger Bob's account of that night and the naval officer's subsequent career may be found in this blog's posting for May 30, 2022.)

Today I have an account of another (proposed) airship which has been in the news of late.  

A private company in France, Euro Airship, is preparing to start the construction of a large solar and hydrogen powered airship called "Solar Airship One" that should be ready to sail in 2026.  The floating craft, which resembles a very large standard blimp, will be unique in that it will be powered by the sun and hydrogen, and it will leave no carbon footprint.    The new craft should, in theory at least, be essentially free to operate.  When the new airship becomes airborne in 2026, it will be piloted by a team of three individuals, and one of its first outings will be a trip around the world, roughly over the equator, a journey of approximately 25,000 miles.  It will be floating at about 20,000 feet in the air and should take around twenty days to circumnavigate the globe.

The new airship will be encased in solar panels which will power the craft during daylight hours and store energy in batteries which will be used to activate hydrogen fuel cells to keep the airship moving during darkness.  There will be zero emissions and, theoretically at least, the craft should be able to fly day-and-night forever.

The aim of this new project is to offer an eco-friendly alternative to the high pollution and carbon emissions of the airline industry.  Yes, it will be slower than traditional air travel, but it could also be far more comfortable and relaxing, as well as safer.  Cargo delivery by airships will be slower than by airplane,  but it should also be considerably more economical, and cargo delivery by airship should also prove to be faster than cargo which travels by ships on the water.  

The new project has one serious sustainability issue.  It will be carried aloft by helium packets, and helium is a non-renewable resource - once it escapes into the atmosphere, it is gone forever.

Several other companies are also at work on developing eco-friendly airships, including one headed by Sergey Brin, the founder of Google.

The future is rampaging into the present and the world is changing faster than it ever has before.  Buckle up, buttercup - and enjoy the ride!