Will we see Zeppelins make a triumphal return when we colonize the Gas Giants? :39:
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Really slow compared to a heavier-than-air plane, yes, but fast in comparison to a ship. The Hindenburg managed to average better than 75 knots on one of its initial flights.
Before the development of the airplane, the non-rigid "blimps" and semi-rigid airships (like a blimp, but with a solid keel) were already militarily "of interest", but weren't heavily pursued as a potential weapon. The semi-rigid airship, with an engine, rudder, and a sizable gondola allowing a fair sized crew to conduct extended operations, had a lot of advantages over an uncontrollable balloon, and might have been militarily "significant" if more attention had been focused on it.
It wasn't until around the beginning of the 20th Century that Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin made a personal project out of it, and started pursuing the development of rigid airships. By then, the "window of opportunity" was almost over. The rigid airship wasn't sufficiently developed and pursued as a weapon of war until shortly before WWI, by which time the airplane was already showing signs of promise. Zeppelins in the first half of WWI were able to fly well above the operational ceilings of most airplanes, had the firepower to destroy an airplane far more easily than the reverse, and weren't that far behind them in speed. By the end of the war, the airplane had nearly all of the advantages.
How? You are already in a helium/hydrogen atmosphere, so where is your buoyancy coming from? Have fun with the supersonic winds too.
Seeing the German and Japanese experiments in prototypes during WW2 would have led to some cool looking zeppelins. I imagine one of them developing a submarine zeppelin and another constructing a jet powered zeppelin...Actually it could have become Hitlers answer to reaching the US with long-range bombers.
Why, Unobtanium of course! I'm sure there are relatively calmer areas of the atmosphere, no? Besides, if you don't the risk of crashing into anything, you can just surf the winds.
Are you referring to airship prototypes of the world war 2 era? Do you have any information on these prototypes?
I don't think there was any more development in Axis countries after the Hindenburg disaster.
Also, is the OP aware that the United states extensively used airships in World War 2? These weren't strictly zeppelins, but still.
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Submarine zeppelin....what? A design both lighter than air and heavier than water?? I'd love to see German engineers attempt to design one of these crazy Wunderwaffen.
The US did a number of tests in the 1930s with the USS Macon (dirigible) to develop a flying aircraft carrier. The tiny "goblin" fighters were unable to latch onto the arrester hooks due to turbulence from the dirigible's slipstream, despite repeated efforts by several highly skilled test pilots, so the inability to perform proper wind tunnel tests in advance resulted in a rather expensive lesson.
Non-rigid airships were used extensively by the US in the role of convoy escorts. They were able to see submarines operating just below the surface, and could not only drop explosives of their own, but could easily direct surface escorts to intercept the unfortunate sub. The claim is that no convoy ship was ever lost while an airship was on patrol over the convoy. Obviously, strong weather conditions were an issue (both for airships and for airplanes of that era), so a few ships were lost after the escorting blimps were forced to turn away from a storm.
Yeah, TODAY, but not when we're rocketmen on spacedust to Jupiter. Have some imagination, man.
Boooo reason in a Zeppelin thread....boooo. I bet you say something like Orcs dont exist in a Lotr thread.
I was refering to all the other wacky prototypes the nazis and japanese delved into. I.e The japanese submarine carrier and that frickin huge tank that couldn't really move because of wight issues(elephant?)
But yes as Eusebio hints at, the world would be a tremendously better place with submarine zeppelins
Indeed. We also might discover new and exciting elements until then. Most of all, though, Rule of Cooll.
Buoyancy can be obtained in the same manner as was achieved in the 1800s here on earth: heating the air in the enclosed cell. With practically no free oxygen to support combustion, heating the hydrogen in the gas cell isn't a major fire hazard, and the low external temperatures mean that you've got a LOT of leeway for heating, and therefore plenty of lift.
The supersonic winds might be a bit of an issue, unless you can monitor and predict them well enough to use them to carry you where you need to go....in a hurry. How can you NOT like an 800+ MPH Zeppelin?
Oh you Americans can be so charming if you want toLOL I always love reading your posts my Bavarian princess
Swabian but no offence taken
Oh you Americans can be so charming if you want to
I got a little confused, I was a foreign exchange student for a month in March 1999 in Heidenheim an der Brenz. I knew they were Swabian but it was right next to Bavaria and we visited Munich which was a fairly short train ride and so I thought it was Bavaria. Silly me for never doing a google search on the town until now LOL.
So I would like to correct my statement to, Meine Schwabe Prinzessin.
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lol.
I'm sure somewhere in this thread are the 130 K-class US zepplins made by Goodyear for ASW operations during WWII. As long as you don't have fighters to deal with, they're great.