The solar powered Airship One concept is actually a hybrid between an airplane and a semi-rigid airship, developed with an objective to overcome the unbelievable fuel expense of conventional airlines. The aircraft is just a bit heavier than the air, therefore, it requires reasonably less effort to become airborne and stylishly cruise at 120 mph. Moreover, it features vectored ducted fans that facilitate the ship to hover or cruise. The craft’s semi-rigid structure includes carbon fiber paneling, aluminum-grade airframe and strong PVP fabric. With a large cargo bay that can house two full-trailer containers and a passenger compartment which can easily accommodate 25 passengers, the Airship One offers a quiet, eco-friendly and efficient future to air transport.
Gosha says :
“A hybrid airship is actually a hybrid between an airship and an airplane, deriving roughly two thirds of its lift from buoyancy of lighter than air gas, and the remaining third from aerodynamic lift generated by wings. The outcome is a craft which when loaded is only slightly heavier than the air around it, and therefore requires very little effort to become airborne and even less effort to cruise comfortably at around 120mph.
The Airship One has a semi-rigid construction, Aluminum and fiber composite frame supporting PU fabric ballonets filled with lighter than air, non flammable Helium gas. Propulsion is provided by four DC electric motors, which during cruise receive their energy from solar panels mounted on the hull and wings, and during takeoff also from a bio-diesel generator. The ship can take off and land vertically, with no need for a runway of any kind.
With its 30-ton cargo capacity and a double-deck passenger compartment which can accommodate some 25 passengers with levels of comfort that by far exceed those of the most luxurious airliner.
While currently only a concept, I strongly believe that in the not too distant future machines like the Airship One will offer a quiet, efficient and eco-friendly alternative to air transport.”
Designer : Gosha Galitsky
Apps for:
Heavy Air Cargo
Tourism
Firefighting
Search & Rescue
Comm Relay
Recon
Tug
Plant seedlets from 2K ft?
Winter ski rescue?
Oceanic survey near shore?
Hi there,
Very interesting but any airship with a frame will cost about twice as much as a non rigid blimp, also the design shown will be subject to ground handling problems in side gusts.
Regards
Joe Airship & Blimp Consultant
See: http://www.airshipblimp.com
This concept: has been conjectured and discussed amongst many of us in aerospace engineering companies for years~as a logical alternative to the thirsty, fossil fuel enhaling "Flying Silos" that are currently the norm for Commercial airliners used worldwide. Photovoltaic cell "printed" Kevlar skins on semi-lighter than air craft using airfoil shaped "flying bodies" rather than sausage-shaped derigibles is not a new concept.
shaped derigibles is not anewnew .ideaaideanew .isnwflyingireentlubenefits of semi-lighter than air craft being thrifty on fuel and encorporating photovoltaic electric grids perhaps "printed" upon the kevlar fabric or "skin" on the dorsal surfaces of said craft that also
Hey Noel,
Thank you for your comment.
If you want to discuss further development of the concept please contact me at [email protected].
All the best!
Gosha Galitsky
If the almost-as-light-as-air vehicle is supposed to haul cargo, it should have the power to do so – would those 4 turbines be enough?
very nice
but
when they will preduce it
&
what the combany will make it
Can you scale it down to the size of a small car? then you can make loads of money
Um, no. Even hydrogen (the best possible lifting gas), can only lift 350g or so per cubic metre. Making some very rough assumptions, 1000 m3 (about the size of a moderate townhouse) would give you a craft roughly capable of carrying two men and a couple of golf bags at neutral buoyancy. Or four with the 2/3 lift proposed here.
And therein lies your next problem after parking, the effects of scaling, means that instead of being a small fraction of laden vehicle weight, the payload is instead a significant proportion, enough so, that a vehicle with 66% buoyancy when loaded, would have a considerable amount of positive buoyancy when empty.
Well, isn’t this an intelligent solution to air travel. I’m hoping that the engineering for functionality is sound. Yet, a major benefit to this design is, it is attractive. In today’s world looks do make a big difference.
Has anyone gotten this in front of Richard Branson <a href="http://(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson)” target=”_blank”>(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson) ?
He may be the kind of visionary to actually make this work.
Well done. Keep pushing.
could it use a hydrogen fuel cell instead of a bio-fuel diesel generator?
What about a hydrocarbon fuel cell?
Regenerative fuel cell?
I am interesting to rent an airship for passengers and tourists can any one direct me to companies that actually rent
as far my comment as long the nose is head to the wind no problem side gust are also bad for airplanes and rotor-crafts
G KARYDIS
Um, why is it with all these concept vehicles, the artist's impression invariably puts the solar panels on the leading edge of the wings where they are most vulnerable to impact damage?
What about a rigid structure like the Aeroscraft? Expansion bags?
Why not have mid-lower wings?
Why not have turbofans, whether ultra-high-bypass or mixed-flow medium-high-bypass?