21st Century Airships - Born again Giants

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Table of Contents

A. Cargo-lifter AG CL 160 (1996-2003)

B. Lockheed P-791 2006

C. Millenium Airship

D. Lockheed Hale-D

E. Hybrid Air Vehicles

Equations

Circular and Spherical Equations

Ellipse and Ellipsoidal Equations

This page explores modern airship concepts for first decades of the 21st century beginning with review of five (5) contemporary airship design developments. The Cargolifter (1996 -2003), the Lockheed P-791 (2006); the Lockheed Hale-D, the Millenium Airship and then hybrid air vehicles in military use, moving towards a Human factors focus of the page exploring human factors as they apply in the operations and designs (incidents and accidents) of contemporary and future commercially viable aviation airship services on the scale of the largest of the Zeppelin airship in our unique modern day aviation environment.

The first human factors element of this page will be discussion of the interior design(s) of the Hindenburg such as dining rooms and promenades that formed part of the habitation environment of passengers and the working environment of airship staff then to those of more contemporary design. The following link will encourage first introduction to this: http://www.airships.net/wp-content/uploads/hindenburg-cutaway-web.jpg

A. Cargo-lifter AG CL 160 (1996-2003)

Cargo-lifter AG CL 160: The Cargo/lifter by 2003 despite extensive design and development had amounted only to blueprint design only with the company CL CargoLifter GmbH & Co failing to secure sufficient funds by 2003 to move beyond the construction of its 360 metre x 220 metre x 106 metre high operational hangar. The 550,000 m3 design focused upon freight movement rather than commercial passenger transport. CL CargoLifter GmbH & Co announced insolvency 7 June 2002. wikipedia

An agreement was reached with Boeing in 2002 for the joint study of a lighter-than-air stratospheric platform … [and] … Brazilians were interested in the concept of CargoLifter, as it could be applied to long-distance transportation of valuable goods. It was considered to be especially interesting for the Amazon region, where logistics is complicatedwikipedia.

(Picture Cargolifter embedded from Txchnocologist 26 August 2012)

B. Lockheed P-791 2006

Lockheed P-791 2006:

this remarkable airship can stay aloft for up to three weeks at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Loaded with cameras, infrared sensors, communications relays, and other payloads … Using an innovative air cushion landing system, the airship can launch and land easily in open fields, parking lots or even on water

(Picture Lockheed P-791 embedded from txchnologist 26 August 2012)

C. Millenium Airship

The Millenium Airship

The Millenium airship … more

(Picture Millenium Airship embedded from txchnologist 26 August 2012)

D. Lockheed Hale-D

Lockheed Hale-D

Lockheed Hale-D: Lockheeds High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator HALE-D has been planned as an unmanned geostationary lighter-than-air vehicle flown within jetstream altitudes. Note subtropical jet streams are much higher, between 10 and 16 kilometres (6.2 and 9.9 mi) above sea level and polar jet streams are typically located 7 to 12 kilometres (4.3 to 7.5 mi) above sea level wikipedia where it can provide affordable, surveillance reconnaissance and communications. In position, an airship would survey a 600-mile diameter area and millions of cubic miles of airspace … high-strength fabrics minimize hull weight, thin-film solar arrays for the regenerative power supply, and lightweight propulsion units are key technologies ready to make a high-flying airship a reality. The combination of photovoltaic and advanced energy storage systems delivers the necessary power to perform the airship functions … lighter-than-air vehicles, operating at altitudes above controlled airspace under the control of a manned ground station … Lockheed Martin's unique experience with certificating commercial airships with the FAA gives it the understanding to address the concerns of flight through controlled airspace, especially with an unmanned airship.

(Picture Lockheeds Hale-D embedded from txchnologist 26 August 2012)

E. Hybrid Air Vehicles

Hybrid Air Vehicles

Hybrid Air Vehicles … more

(Picture Hybrid Air Vehicles embedded from txchnologist 26 August 2012)

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Equations

Circular and Spherical Equations

Circle

Circumference = 2π(radius)= π(diameter)
Area = π〖(radius)〗^2
Area of Segment = (1/2) (radius)^2 (θ-sinθ)
Area of sector = (1/2)〖(radius)〗^2 θ
Area of thin annulus = 2πR(ΔR)

Where 𝞱 is the central angle in radians, R is the radius and ΔR the radial thickness.