Rehashing old concepts with new technology

[Mossie]

Wow I never thought airships were all that till now

Sotool, do a Google image on Hybrid Airships, you'll find all sorts of designs & concepts.  If the amount of energy that's being spent on them is anything to go by, we'll might be seeing airships starting to fill the air again over the next ten to twenty years or so.

Deathjester, there's a bit of a hoo-hah over the Lockheed & Skycat thing.  Lockheed have basically been accused of stealing the idea & muscleing in on the little guy.  They definately employed some engineers that had been working for the Skycat team, but wether Lockheed had already been working on the P-791 or not is being kept a little quiet.

[sotoolslinger]

I will. ;DThanks Mossie.

[Mossie]

I've always thought Airships are good whiff fodder.  You can steampunk them for a retro sci-fi, go into the future, or fill in the gaps for the last eighty years.

I had an idea to use the new Pegasus Hobbies 1/18 V-1 to make a series of airships in a small scale, maybe lashing two together to make a hybrid style aircraft carrier.  Maybe 1/1200 scale, you can get white metal aircraft in that scale for ships.  Don't think I'll build it.

[deathjester]

it wouldn't surprise me if the Americans did nick the idea of skycat, they do that with all our best inventions- thing is though,console yourself with this thought; if they considered it worth nicking,then it must be a good idea!

[Daryl J.]

Mossie,

Would you mind if I pilfered your idea regarding the V-1 as  a base?


Daryl J., thinking single seat, high speed Zepplin in 1/35(1/32) scale

[Mossie]

Go for it!  Never would have thought of high speed Zeppelin, sounds great!

[elmayerle]

Did anyone mention airships yet?  Huge airships are a staple of sci-fi and definatley do-able technology wise.  There are several companies working on the next generation of hybrid airships so it's one that we might well see.  Military wise, I can see them being used for shifting large quantities of troops & supplies in one go.  Civil wise, they can carry vast amounts of cargo & aerial cruise-ships might not be out of the question.

*snicker* Check out sf-writer Ben Bova's story about the supersonic zeppelin; the Busemann concept he mentions does exist and just might work with an airship while it wouldn't with a regular aircraft.

[Daryl J.]

Since a V-1 based Zeppelin would be significantly less corpulent that what we are used to seeing, one could always put a subtle ''Weight Watchers'' sponsorship somewhere................



Daryl J.

[dy031101]

Merchant aircraft carrier- bulk grain carrier and oilers modified to carry a small contingent of F-35s and/or ASW tilt-rotors in addition to their normal cargoes.  

Granted the only thing I did so far includes a new island and STOVL jets.  I like the SeaRAM for such a concept...... but for some reason (the ship kinda belongs to fighting forces I'd allocate Sadral/Mistral rather than RAM launchers to) I think I'll put the Phalanx radar onto a Sako Mistral launcher instead.

What else would you think I ought to do with the picture?

[tigercat]

Merchant Aircraft Carrier reimagined as a drone carrier.

less need for storage space and your pilots can be safetly tucked away elsewhere. Even beter a VTOL drone carrier.

[dy031101]

Merchant Aircraft Carrier reimagined as a drone carrier.

less need for storage space and your pilots can be safetly tucked away elsewhere. Even beter a VTOL drone carrier.

About the storage space, whether we go unmanned or not for the airwing, would I be better off expanding the island structure to include the hangers, or is there some kind of a "soft" shelter that can be folded up and put away when not in use already for properly protecting the planes against the elements?

[pyro-manic]

The RN's Bay-class LPDs have been fitted with a semi-rigid hangar for when they carry an embarked helicopter. It's fitted to the container deck behind the superstructure: http://www.flickr.com/photos/131design/4077216897/

You could do something similar, but have a collapsible section that either concertinas or folds flat to free up deck space. Alternatively, raise the flight deck up and have a dedicated hangar/workshop space underneath.

[PR19_Kit]

The RN's Bay-class LPDs have been fitted with a semi-rigid hangar for when they carry an embarked helicopter. It's fitted to the container deck behind the superstructure: http://www.flickr.com/photos/131design/4077216897/

You could do something similar, but have a collapsible section that either concertinas or folds flat to free up deck space. Alternatively, raise the flight deck up and have a dedicated hangar/workshop space underneath.

I hope they move the helicopters a LONG way aft before they start-up! When the FAA did some trial landings on the RFA Fort Victoria when it was being re-commissioned at Portsmouth, the downwash from a Merlin blew the steel roller doors of the hanger right inside the hangar space!!

I know this because I saw the wrecking of doors when I was on board as the guest of the re-commissioning officer at the time, and he's now the Captain of RFA Mounts Bay by some co-incidence, and my secretary's husband.......