What are airships and why do they want to use them again?

Zeppelin, better known as an airship, iscontrolled balloon driven by a propulsion system that operates on the basis of lightweight hydrogen or helium. The surge in the operation of this vehicle came at the beginning of the 20th century, when it was considered not only a means of transportation, but also a luxurious way to show your well-being to a wealthy layer of the population. Nearly 80 years after the last mass exploitation of airships, huge flying giants can return to heaven and become part of our daily lives. However, this time the airships will not be used to transport passengers, but as an environmentally friendly vehicle for the delivery of goods around the world.

At the moment, the number of airships in the worldquite limited. Most often, they are used as original advertising means, if necessary, to collect information about traffic situations, as well as when organizing tourist flights.

What are zeppelins and how do they work?

Zeppelins are stiff airshipssystems, the feature of which is the distribution of carrier gas in separate compartments located in a metal frame covered with fabric. These very original devices are named after their creator - the German Count Ferdinand Zeppelin. The project for the construction of an air balloon was launched in 1899, and the first flight of the Zeppelin - LZ 1 airship took place as early as 1900. After successful tests of the new aircraft, Zeppelin's airships began to be used both for military and civilian purposes. Despite its incredible success, the era of airships ended as quickly as it began. The main reason for the abandonment of this air vehicle was the collapse of the Hindenburg Zeppelin in 1936, which turned into a real disaster.

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The catastrophe of the zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg claimed the lives of 36 people

So, on May 3, the Hindenburg Zeppelin set off fromFrankfurt to Lakehurst. On board there were a total of 97 people. On May 6, 1936, arriving at the landing site, the airship suddenly caught fire and crashed to the ground from a height of 180 meters. Despite the fact that a special commission will soon find out the cause of the fire, for people this catastrophe becomes the main reason for stopping the exploitation of zeppelins. According to expert opinion, the fire occurred due to a hydrogen leak, which was caused by the rupture of the hydrogen cylinder at the time of landing of the air vehicle.

Zeppelins may return to the sky in the near future

Despite the unexpected sunset of technologyballoons, which occurred at the beginning of the XX century, after almost 80 years, giant airships are ready for return. The newest zeppelins will be 10 times larger than the 800-pound Hindenburg and 5 times larger than the Empire State Building. According to the developers of the new balloons, they would perform the traditional work of cargo ships, but much faster and with minimal environmental pollution.

Perhaps in the near future we will be able to see the airships that have returned to life

Scientists claim that on such an airshipit will be possible to fly around the globe in 16 days, simultaneously transporting about 20,000 tons of payload and spending at the same time a minimum of energy. The latest generation of aircraft will travel on a jet stream, which is a powerful belt of winds surrounding the Earth. Like 80 years ago, zeppelins will be floating thanks to hydrogen, which is 14 times lighter than air. Due to the flammable gas, the latest airships will be completely autonomous, and robotic systems will guide the loading process.

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Scientists believe that the development of the latest technologywill improve the construction of reliable airships and reduce the risks of hydrogen leaks, as well as related fires, by several times compared with their predecessors. If so, then very soon the era of new vehicles and the boom of cargo transportation around the world await us. It remains only once again to note that "everything new is well forgotten old."