LEMV AWOL

Here we are on the edge of a new year and still no sign of the mythical flying bewilder beast known as LEMV, the promise that LEMV would be quickly mass produced now seems like a distant fairy tail as the reality of perpetual overstatements by military contractors always live up to their routine of never living up to what is calmed.

Honestly, I have no Idea what the state of LEMV is as I write this, as everything relating to LEMV in the Google news feed is dead. Go see for yourself (Click Here)... see? Nothing. The last thing I remember reading said that LEMV was set to fly in November, after being already 3 mouths behind then. Now it's December 30th and the news feed on LEMV is dead. Nobody is talking about how far behind this airship program is, yet they are supposed to deploy the first one to Afghanistan next month! It's obvious this airship venture is behind scheduled and nobody is saying why.

What some might find annoying, I kinda do, is that Lockheed Martin had already built a working prototype that fit LEMV's specifications back in 2007, the P-791 as you may recall. Yet the military decided to go with the British company that was in it's infancy compared to where Lockheed was back in 2007.  I'm not saying it was a bad choice, I think the idea was to even out the competition. However it's clear at this point that if it was speed the military was looking for, which is something they have stated as a high priority target, Lockheed would have been more ideal to fit the task.

One can't help but wonder if their is something larger at play here. Historically, Germany has always been the nation to perfect Airship technology, and Britain was always been fallowing in their footsteps by building off German designs that would crash over Britannia during the first World War. Now however it is Britain to be leading and Germany to fallow. With these new perfected airships everyone will need to take after the Brits. Yet, I can't help but wonder if for some reason this technology is only being perfected now because it is Britannia that is doing it? Could their be a conspiracy around airships that has disallowed the development of the technology for the last century by the British elites? To put that in more detail dose the Royal Family believe in the mystical power of airships and fear it's power so much that they would kill to keep it for themselves? And only let the development go forth if it is Britannia that leads the charge? Historically the Britsh were always trying to outdo the Germans. Yet, the Germans just kept on building better and bigger airships and made the Brits look like fools with their airships that would fall apart.

Now however, times are much different. Zeppelin development in Germany is no better then any other nation with only hints of ambition to build the Hindenburg 2, or some other grand airship project, popping up every once in a great while then dwindling away. It seems like Britannia has won a long standing Invisible war with Germany, and everyone else for that matter. For as soon as LEMV fly's Britannia will be known as the nation that finally brought about practical airships... if it is even going to fly at all at this point.

SolarShip: Hybrid Ariships with unlimited range.

A key feature that makes the hybrid airship so attractive is just how little energy is actually needed to get the ship off the ground. It is so little in fact, that one Canadian company is planing to power their new line of Hybrid Airships with the power of the sun alone. Solar Ship will be a small hybrid airship ranging from ultralights to truck size cargo haulers. However, unlike the military hybrid airships coming out later this year that will be powered by diesel fuel, these things will utilize their envelope to collect solar energy to power small electric motors that will push the ship so long as the sun is shining. This gives them unlimited range, at lest during the day.

The inventor is looking to fix the economic situation in Africa. His idea is that with unlimited range, these things can be operated by volunteers who will fly them from anywhere in the world to anywhere else in the world that needs humanitarian aid. He also believes, and I endorse this idea fully, that Africa's stranded of living can be dramatically increased by providing supply routs that utilize airships for year round cargo delivery. With unlimited range and no need to refuel he hopes that it will be easy for Africans who don't have any money to operate supply routs if they are given one of these airship and start making money for themselves immediately.

It's a noble idea, if everything goes according to plan they will fly their first prototype from Canada to Africa in 2013. Let's wish them the best of luck.

Blue Devil is half way there. Will Congress cut LEMV? I sure hope not.

Something big happened in the world of airships today.

The Air force has just completed one of the hardest parts in bringing there big old fashioned blimp into the war in Afghanistan. As you can see, it's quit massive.

Unfortunately, I wish I could say this was good news, but thanks to budgetary concerns created by the corporate oligarchy, the government is looking to cut one of these two big blimp programs. The good news is that the Senate is intelligent enough to mention that the practical applications of LEMV out-wight the practical applications of of Blue Devil. However they are trying to migrate responsibility by appointing someone else to figure out which one of these programs to cut. I sure hope this doesn't lead to the Senate cutting LEMV to fund Blue Devil. That would again be an example of politics ruining good ideas. If any of these programs should be cut, Blue Devil is the one that should get the axe first.

However, Blue Devil is still more useful then all these pointless, stupid, irresponsible wars this country has gotten itself into. Why not cut the 2.3 billion it cost to fund these wars that only create a bigger problem in the end anyway? Or even better why not tax the federal reserve out of existence and get ride of these tyrannical bankers that think they rule the world? Call me a pessimist if you want, but I see a wave of stupidity ahead. Not only will government keep us in these pointless wars forever, but they will probably cut LEMV in favor of Blue Devil because they are ahead.

The idiocy of doing such a thing would be catastrophic to a future globule economy. If LEMV is cut it could mean that Discovery Air will pull it's deal of 3.8 billion for Hybrid Airships. The Hybrid Airship might not ever get off the ground and the idea will go nowhere. Blue Devil will probably crash, because blimps are generally unsafe, and the world will descend into tyranny and the sky will fall.

OK, it might not be that bad, but it could be! Maybe I'm wrong, I sure would like to be.

Airship-Spaceships?

High altitude airships is a concept that is only just being explored, The military is currently investing in platforms that can be taken up to 60,000ft-140,000ft. But what if we could take that even higher, say all the way to space? Sounds impossible, but one small company is looking to change our very idea of what we think is possible.

"Aerospace engineer John Powell has studied this idea since 1979, and in 2008 published floating to space , describing the paradigm in detail. In an interview with Sander Olson, Mr. Powell discusses how his company, JP Aerospace , is actively developing the technologies and capabilities to bring this concept to fruition." (Source)

The idea is to have 2 airships that run out of a station docked at 140,000ft. This station in itself would be an airship, but its only job is to remain at 140,000ft and act as a servicing station between the airships that travel to ground and the airships that travel to space.

The airships that travel to ground would be built of stronger components then the ones that travel to space. Because the airships that travel to space would be so lightweight that they would be destroyed by the winds at normal altitudes. However at post 140,000ft there is no wind to worry about.

It's an interesting concept. They hope that in 20 years they will be able to get cargo into low earth orbit for as little as a dollar a pound. Their airships don't look all that flashy, but who knows, maybe one of these airships will take us to mars in the next 30 years.

and the winner is...

Pipistrel!

Really, this was not a huge surprise after the revelations that only 3 teams had actually made it to the competition and could compete. However what is a surprise is that both of the top 2 got double the millage efficiency that was set by NASA. An unprecedented 400 passenger miles per gallon is really showing that electric flight is the way to go. Nothing we have today is that efficient, it's almost cheaper then riding a bike. If this keeps up, I can just imagine in the near future small electric airplanes that can travel all the way around the world on a single charge.

Undoubtedly, this is a huge step for NASA's Small Aircraft Transpiration System. It now makes economic sense for corporations and governments to invest in such a system. If you needed to go from San Fransisco to Los Angeles the price of taking an Air Taxi survive based on this technology would be cheaper and faster then taking a car, and more convenient then airline travel because, hopefully, there will be no TSA oversight (as it's not really needed). At the same time this type of system is applicable everywhere setting the stage for a worldwide, cheap, economically viable, environmentally friendly transportation system that anyone can afford..

Green Flight Challange update:

Unfortunately, none of the really cool ideas made it to the Green Flight Challenge. Including my winner pick The Synergy, which proved to be over ambitious. Still the contenders that did make it are setting records with their fuel efficiency which could eventually lead to developments in extremely cheep flying.

One thing I do like about airplanes over airships is that they are usually a lot faster and thus the best method of travel when you need to get somewhere fast. That's not really true here however because hybrid airships average about 100knts and these Eco planes average, you guessed it, 100kts. Still the engine efficiency improvements that are being made here would benefit airships too, making them even less expensive to operate then they already are/will be.

Imagine air-buses (not Airbus), airships that can fulfill all the routs of regular commuter buses for the same price. Except they would be able to operate in place like Nepal or Alaska were the terrain is a hazard for everything but hybrid airships. Imagine getting off a cruise liner hoping on an air-bus and taking a 20 minute trip to the top of mount Everest and skiing back down the mountain. Impossible one might say? Not for the Hybrid airship.

And on top of it's already good environmental impact, the environmental impact of replacing buses, trains, trucks, roads with these flying machines can take that even further. Allowing for completely self sustainable oil rigs or mineral mines to be built in places without roads and huge changes to the surrounding ecological area that's caused by the need to get to these places. If you look at logging for example, the biggest environmental damage is caused by the roads that are made to get the trucks into the areas where they need to log. If logging became road-less, the environmental consequences of logging would be decreased.

The more I think about this, the more I realize how much corporations are going to use the Hybrid Airship more and more over other forms of transpiration because it's simply cost productive. It's far more expensive to build these roads then building a small fleet of hybrid airships. But unlike roads the Hybrid Airships can be used again when they discover another natural resource to exploit and decide there's a profit motive in building a facility there.

Depending on your prospective this could be a good and bad thing. Because it allows corporations to exploit areas of the world where natural resources have been and they've know about, but have decided ageist exploiting because they realized it would be too costly to set up the transportation systems to get there. Still it's only good news if you're a fan of airships like me, because you can start to see just how huge Airships can be in the future.

Green Flight Challange!

Today marks the first day of the Green Flight Challenge. An event that will see 13 experimental aircraft go head to head for a grand prize worth 1.6 million USD. What makes this event so interesting is that these aircraft are not competing to be the Navy's next top dog fighter or anything like that, rather they are competing for extreme fuel efficiency.

The goal is to have an aircraft that can travel for 2 hours at 100 miles per hour only burning one gallon of gasoline per occupant with low noise. That's 200 person miles per gallon; far better then any commercial airliner or passenger jet today, and even better then most cars.

It's all part of NASA's grand plot to get everyone flying by the end of the decade: SATA or Small Aircraft Transportation System is an idea conceived by NASA back in 1997 in which they hope to decongest commuter traffic by making air taxis a viable option for everyone. It's all a good idea in theory however it's taken quit a bit of time for them to get to this point, but it's a big step forward.

Most of the aircraft will be electric, historically marking the first event in aviation history where electric propulsion will compete in a challenge. However quit a few will run on Bio-diesel, one will run on ethanol and another will run on good old JET-A. Some of the aircraft have hybrid propulsion systems that use a combination of Bio-Diesel and electric power to extend their range.

My money is pinned on the Synergy Aircraft as the winner of this event. It's the only one that can fit 6 people and uses the most innovative aerodynamics I have seen. However there are a lot of other contenders that could easily get first place. Still whoever wins it's a win win for everyone.

NASA official potential for airships to move people, cargo from Kyle Hopkins@adn.com on Vimeo.

Treadwell: Alaska could be proving ground for airships from Kyle Hopkins@adn.com on Vimeo.

RT report on Airships

What is LEMV?

The military is good for something but when it is, it's generally by accident. In this case the notorious "war on terror" has led to the need for spy drones that can stay on location for long periods of time. In an effort to combat, whoever we're fighting, the military has reinvested it's interest in airships for the task. LEMV or Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle is the military's answer to long endurance with enough payload to have 92 cameras scouting the field at 21,000ft for insurgents for up to 21 days (Or more accurately it's scouting for people who took up arms against the U.S. because we're supporting the government that treats them like slaves, but enough about politics.)

The LEMV is not just a surveillance platform. It can easily and efficiently fulfill all the rolls a C-130 Hercules can, save top speed, for slightly less operating costs and requires quit a bit less training to fly compared to the Hercules. It achieves this by utilizing the technological innovation of Hybrid Airships: This is where the body of the envelope is shaped like a wing to give it more lift when moving forward like an airplane. The result is something massive that flies with very little effort. Up to 40% of it's lift comes from it's shape. That means that ground crews and tethers are no longer necessary. Increasing the payload just increases the stall speed. Light loads can take off at around 10kts and full loads can take off at around 40kts. This means it needs less runway then a Cessna 172, even when it has 20,000 pounds of stuff on board. Combine that with it's hovercraft landing gear, that gives it the same mobility of a hovercraft on the ground and this thing can land just about anywhere, even theoretically in mine fields.

Logically, the LEMV implications go far beyond military applications. When scaled up these can carry 50, 200 or even 1000 tons of bulk cargo. This gives them a capacity similar to small sea going freighters, except they can go much faster 100kts+, where ships travail at around 25 to 35kts, and they can also travel over land and they go in straight lines from point A to point B without interference by terrain, which ultimately decreases costs. Overall this makes them very attractive to cargo movers, because your getting something that can preform a lot of the same missions a helicopter/airplane can but for an operating price that's comparable to sea freight and trucking.

Currently the military has purchased 3 LEMV's for deployment sometime this year or the next (hopefully the country won't fall apart before then.) However the company that's making them, Hybrid Air Vehicles, just signed a deal worth a possible 3.8 billion with Discovery Air to supply up to 45 50ton capacity vehicles to handle missions in Alaska and Canada. You may have heard of the Ice Road Truckers, Iron clad men with balls of steal, that drive trucks over ice in the winter to deliver supplies to isolated areas? Well, their job security might just have been shot by these things because the LEMV can deliver supplies to these areas without the hazard of falling into the ice and they can do it all year round. These truckers might wanna consider switching to blimp pilot in the not too distant future, although that might not just be true for them but possibly the majority of long rang truckers out there who might very well be finding themselves competing with airships in the coming decade.

Truly these Hybrid Airships have overcome much or the problems with the classic airships of yesteryear. Making them not just nifty, but practical.

Time for a Revolution in Aviation?

Everyday, I check Google to see what's new in the world of Aviation, in particular I wan't to know everything that happened in the world of airships. It's been one of my dreams since I was little to someday fly an airship. Yet, here we are a few mouths away from the completion of the first LEMV and the media is silent about this revolutionary new technology that could change the world.

Thus, I decided to start this blog to keep all my Airship news up to date, and relevant. Seeing as the media has descended into something that hardly even resembles news anymore, I see myself as a voice of rationality in the technology sector. Someone who can see the oncoming revoultion in flight; and connect the dots between the technologies that will come together to create it.

I hope this blog will be as useful for you as it should be for me. I have have a lot of stuff to cover and not much time to cover it. The problem being that with technology, it isn't used unless it's known about: just look up "pure energy systems" in Google to give yourself an idea of underutilized technologies.

We are at a point now where we can make a choice of what kind of world we want to live in. If we don't understand the technology that can get us there, then we will be relient on others to take us there; a path doomed for tyranny. The other side of this coin is that we, as a people, can set out on a path that leads to prosperity for all. But only if we know how to get there.

Airships and a revolution that get most if not all people flying, is defiantly part of the equation. For freedom is in the air and liberty is the destiny of all sentient life. We will be the generation that reaches the stars, but only if we strive for it.