Zeppelins n’ Such | Ryan's Rantings I’m pretty sure I’ve posted about this company a few times now; in fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve posted about this specific vehicle before. But now they’re doing real tests with it. This fully rigid airship, dubbed the Aeroscraft, differs fundamentally from, say, the Goodyear blimp. On a related note, did you know there was something of a Helium shortage in the world today? Yeah, the U.S. government stockpiled the stuff in the 60’s; due to some laws and initiatives that were passed in the 1920’s (all of which had military objectives.) Since then, government forces (through regulation, manipulation, and outright ownership) have been setting the price of helium, often keeping it far below market value. In the 90’s, there was some effort by the U.S. government to get out of the helium business. In any case, I hope this project gets off the ground, helium shortage or no.
New high-tech airships are rising in Southern California Worldwide Aeros is building a blimp-like aircraft in a Word War II-era blimp… (Don Bartletti, Los Angeles…) Not since the waning days of World War II have the mammoth wooden blimp hangars at the former military base in Tustin seen as much airship manufacturing work as they do today. Inside the 17-story structures that rise above southern Orange County, Worldwide Aeros Corp. is building a blimp-like airship designed for the military to carry tons of cargo to remote areas around the world. "Nobody has ever tried to do what we're doing here," Chief Executive Igor Pasternak said of the 265-foot skeleton being transformed into the cargo airship. "This will revolutionize airship technology." PHOTOS: Next-generation airships Residents of Southern California are no strangers to airships. The federal government is buying blimps, zeppelins and spy balloons, and many of these new-generation hybrid "lighter than air" aircraft are taking shape across California.
Army lets air out of battlefield spyship project Near the height of the Afghanistan war, the Pentagon spent $297 million on a seven-story blimp-like aircraft — as long as a football field — that would hover over the war zone for weeks at a time, beaming back crucial intelligence. But as the military wound down its presence in the Middle East, plans for the unmanned floating spy center deflated. The aircraft fell behind schedule, became 12,000 pounds ...
Worldwide Aeros Aims to Turn Blimps Into Cargo Craft Inside a decommissioned military hangar in Tustin, Calif., about 30 miles south of Los Angeles, sits what at first glance looks like the world’s biggest Mylar balloon. Closer inspection reveals a skeleton of carbon tubes clothed in a silver skin dubbed the Aeroscraft. It’s Igor Pasternak’s shot at proving to the world that helium-filled airships, long ago eclipsed by planes, have a bright future in commercial cargo. “What we’re doing is revolution,” says Pasternak, who started Worldwide Aeros in his native Ukraine and then moved the company to Los Angeles in 1993. Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Since they’re light and can take off and land vertically, Pasternak’s airships—the industry’s preferred term—could be an energy-efficient way to bring big loads to out-of-the-way places without first having to build a runway or a road. Its success hinges on a design solution to a problem that’s plagued lighter-than-air craft since their early-1900s heyday. So far, the U.S.