Works great ...until the wind blows.

[rcjordan]

Flying Whales' LCA60T airship can move cargo without landing

https://www.businessinsider.com/flying-whales-lca60t-airship-can-move-cargo-without-landing-2020-9

[ergophobe]

It seems like every few years there's a story about someone bringing back the airship/blimp/dirigible/zeppelin. And I look to the skies and look to the skies and never do I see one.

[littleman]

We had this flying over head for a few years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airship_Ventures

It was fun to see, but the $500 price tag for a flight was prohibitive for most.

[rcjordan]

My residential subdivision in built on the old mid-Atlantic WW2 Naval blimp base, one hanger still remains and is active.  A company builds blimps and aerostats in that hanger.  I think they've given up on blimps but are continuing to produce tethered aerostats which are sold for communications "towers" in rough terrain and/or surveillance.   IIRC, some of the aerostats have been fitted with winches to haul heavy materials into jungles.

I remember Navy blimps cruising over my home at very low altitude (300ft^-ish) --low enough that the crew would wave to me while I played in the backyard.  As such, we have accumulated almost 100 years of experience and local lore about trying to dock these things. To cut to the chase, some ground crew members die when suddenly snatched 100 feet into the air.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Weeksville#/media/File:Weeksville_Air_Station_1944_Aerial_View.jpg

Our most news-worthy loss:  Pink Floyd - Airships (1994) - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fvMuJlNkfo

[jetboy]

It wasn't that long ago that the Airlander was floating around Bedford.

[rcjordan]

>given up on blimps but are continuing to produce tethered aerostats which are sold for communications "towers" in rough terrain and/or surveillance. 

Pentagon agrees to spend $52M on blimps aerostats flying surveillance missions at the U.S.-Mexico border | Stars and Stripes
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2022-01-18/military-blimps-mexico-border-homeland-security-pentagon-4338532.html

[ergophobe]

And to think that one and all jeered at my plan to float a balloon aérostat with a Starlink dish above my house.