Solar Powered “Turtle Airship”: The New Way to Fly, Redux
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 07. 2.08
Airship design circa 1817
Why do I feel like what I’m about the present isn’t real—that’s it’ll come out that it’s really just a big sociology experiment on the gullibility of bloggers?
We covered Darren Campbell’s Turtle Airships about eight months ago, but Mr Campbell has just issued another pronouncement about the great turtle airship future that is so (cough) enthusiastic that I am compelled to share it. I’ll let the original text work its magic.
"Giant Flying Turtles to Revolutionize Global Aviation with Solar Power"
A new way to fly! Turtle Airships company announces the beginning of construction of a demonstration model of a new form for lighter-than-air airships. The airships are not blimps. They are solar powered and will reach speeds of 200 mphConstruction has started on a first prototype and the first flight and testing is scheduled to be done in Singapore this year. Turtle Airships will make a demonstration around-the-world flight of the new solar powered airship in 2009.
The airships' hulls are covered with solar cells which power the airships during daylight hours. For flying at night or cloudy weather, the airships use bio-diesel fueled jet engines as a back-up system. The airships cruise at speeds which are comparable to some airplanes.
The airships take off and land straight up and down like a helicopter and are amphibious. They land directly onto the water and take on water ballast for stability like a boat. The airships can land in harbors, rivers, mountain lakes, or the middle of the ocean.
There’s more in the press release about the company’s investment plans ($200 million by 2012), expected initial public offering ($3 billion in 2015), and dashed plans for deployment by the US Department of Defense as military transport.
Aviation Mock-Up or Whack-A-Mole Prize?
However the fact that the only photo available of the turtle airship (at left) makes it look more at home on the end of a small stick at an amusement park than in the skies over the Somali coast patrolling for pirates (straight from the press release folks...), coupled with the fact that the Turtle Airship website is a single fuzzy black and white page with an email address, doesn’t exactly give me confidence.
Would love to be proved wrong on this one, but something tells me I won’t. You’ve got to admire his chutzpah though. Darren, if you read this, I want to be the first one on board for a commercial flight. Seriously.
via :: The Alternative Consumer
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I'd love to see it, but I doubt we will. Probably a hoax, or otherwise likely to be cripple by unforeseen engineering complications. If not, it is likely to be laid low by vaguely defined public fears about safety or mocking press about how they look or about how they are slower than commercial aircraft. Sorry to be a cynic, especially since I am usually so hopeful about the future of this world, but I can't bring myself to expect this one to come to fruition. It'd be so awesome, though.
There's a reason why science fiction LOVES zeppelins: they're almost impossible to imagine coming into popular use. Technically, they're just as viable a means to transport people and products as heavier-than-air planes, except that they just don't go as fast as jets. And this lack of speed is what will impede their adoption in the U.S. but will probably lead to the rest of the world accepting them quickly. The fix to prevent another Hindenberg disaster has been known for decades, by the way, so there will be no more of those. Such is life...
I used this exact same idea for a fouth grade science project it was 1968 it seemed like good idea st the time but I was only ten years old
If something like this comes to pass, I think we'll see two tiered air service. Vehicles like this will be cheap, but slow. Standard jets will still be in service, but ticket prices will be in the $1000s for economy class. I supposed these could service land-locked cities by creating artificial landing lakes, so there really isn't a limitation here. I think this is creative engineering to address that the issue of oil depletion and expense is having on the airline industry.
If Turtle Airship is a hoax (which hey, looks like) its erstwhile competition-- Dynalifter, for example, is already flying prototypes, though not solar powered, alas. (www.dynalifter.com)
Several other companies are in the process of applying for FAA certification for airship projects, so you can go ahead and hold out hope that something greener than the jumbo jet really is on its way.
... again.
Here's another crazy thought. Combine lighter than air cargo with rail travel or trucking. I'm not talking about flying. I'm talking about just using buoyancy to make trucks and cargo containers lighter.
I'm thinking that taking weight off the tracks/road should reduce the fuel necessary to transport heavy loads. Sure you would still be getting the full weight up to speed and combating the inertia when stopping it, but I have to think that it would really make travel more affordable if the load on the road was reduced. It would definitely cut highway maintenance in a huge way.
First, the idea will work.
Solar power can be collected on the top of a blimp and generate all propulsion power needs as well as accessory needs.
Problem ... the speed achievable is competitive with rail, not flight.
For short hop intercity transportation they might eventually be viable as they can land and take off from any building. However, an infrastructure of computer guidance technology needs developed to make these really workable on a large scale in downtown zones.
The current effort looks like so much vapor ware. It is an idea with no substance, but really great for science fiction stories of the future.