

Aircruise - a clipper in the clouds - alexk
http://www.seymourpowell.com/aircruise/aircruise-press-release.html

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ericb
The article says it would use Hydrogen. I think that's a non-starter afer the
Hindenburg, even if only for PR reasons.

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sailormoon
Sigh. Indeed. Hydrogen inflated anything is a powerful fear trigger in the
ignorant, similar perhaps to Chernobyl and nuclear power opponents. No matter
the decades upon decades of progress since the time of the accident.

Of course, these same people have no problem getting on board a flimsy
aluminium tube surrounded by a hundred tons of jet fuel, right below which is
slung - _gasp_ \- an open flame!

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stratomorph
I wouldn't say that people have "no problem" with it; plenty of people are
terrified of flying. Jet fuel and hydrogen are worlds apart in danger and ease
of handling, as jet fuel stays where you put it and will extinguish your
cigarette. Finally, a jet engine is hardly an open flame; it's very well-
contained for a dozen different reasons, not least to keep its own thrust from
blowing the flame out.

I agree with your point about the hydrogen fear trigger, but your strawman
caricature of the heavier-than-air aircraft industry weakens your argument.

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sailormoon
Well, pure hydrogen will extinguish your cigarette, too ; )

Yeah, I was a bit unfair I guess. Just trying to make a point about people's
irrational risk perception - they tend to seize on certain things while
ignoring others. I mean christ, the Hindenburg made a big pretty explosion,
but there were only 36 fatalities! That's nothing. And yet, 75 years later, oh
no can't even think about Hydrogen! It's bullshit.

It's interesting to consider how different the world might be today if the
media hadn't caught the Hindenburg disaster in a visual format.

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sailormoon
Very pretty but ... propulsion? Control surfaces? Sort of basic requirements,
one would think? And with a shape like that I'd love to see it in a storm ..
would rather less like to be on board.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of lighter-than-air flight and consider
the area to be criminally under-developed. But that thing needs to be
rethought with an eye towards practicality.

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rbanffy
I agree with the practical aspects - the video shows a couple good
opportunities for very spectacular disasters, but there are things that should
be built not because they are practical, but because they are beautiful.

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sailormoon
_there are things that should be built not because they are practical, but
because they are beautiful_

Oh, I agree. I love innovative and beautiful design as much as anyone, believe
me. And yet I am an engineer at heart, and when I see something like this,
questions spring to mind, such as "what is making it move" and "how does it
control its buoyancy", amongst others.

The greatest triumphs are a meeting of minds between good engineering and
beautiful, functional design. This is a lot of the latter and not a lot of the
former. Still, I appreciate the story and hope it inspires those capable of
the former to think about how it could be made to work.

