Blimps/airships/aerostats (merged)

[The Bread Guy]

Well, SOMEONE's willing to give the things a try - a mining company working in northern Quebec ...

The operator of Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) blimp-like hybrid airships on Wednesday announced its first customer, a Canadian mining company that expects to lease seven of the heavy-lift cargo aircraft for a decade starting in 2019.

Quest Rare Minerals Ltd (QRM.TO) will lease the airships from operator Straightline Aviation in the first commercial use deal for the airships, which are filled mostly with helium, said Hybrid Enterprises LLC, which sells the aircraft for Lockheed.

Quest signed a memorandum of understanding with Straightline on the sidelines of a Canadian aerospace conference. The deal between Straightline and Quest is valued at US$850 million, including fuel costs, over the 10-year period.

Lockheed, the U.S. Defense Department's No. 1 supplier, has said the airships will revolutionize the way oil and mining companies haul equipment to the Arctic and other remote areas without roads. They can move 20 tons of cargo and set down on nearly any flat surface, including sand, snow and water, the company said.

Quest is in the early stages of developing a rare earth metal project in northern Quebec and does not yet have an operating mine. The airship is still awaiting certification from Transport Canada.

Lockheed has long been trying to secure a customer for the airships.

Lockheed is working with Hybrid to target a commercial market for the slow-moving airships.

The airships would be used by Quest to provide dedicated air services between the company's Strange Lake complex mine site in Northern Quebec and Schefferville, which has a rail link to the Port of Sept-Iles ...

We'll have to see how well this works.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

It took Transport Canada only 25 years to figure out hovercraft licensing and seatime (despite being the biggest operators of) So they should be able to certify the airship in about 15 years.

 

[The Bread Guy]

It took Transport Canada only 25 years to figure out hovercraft licensing and seatime (despite being the biggest operators of) So they should be able to certify the airship in about 15 years.

#GoRegulators!  ;D

 

[Kirkhill]

Well, SOMEONE's willing to give the things a try - a mining company working in northern Quebec ...We'll have to see how well this works.

Right now they plan traffic based on seasons.  Barges in the summer.  Trucks in the winter.  Planes and Helos when necessary.

This is just another option - even if they are limited to "good" flying days. 

Having spent time in northern hangars waiting for weather to clear, this is not a new problem.

I continue to be intriguesd.(damfingers)

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I have my doubts, but I hope to be proved wrong. I want airships to work, but i also fear them being oversold and not living up to unreal expectations, which is what happened to hovercrafts.

 

[Kirkhill]

I have my doubts, but I hope to be proved wrong. I want airships to work, but i also fear them being oversold and not living up to unreal expectations, which is what happened to hovercrafts.

Same page Colin. I don't see it as a replacement for much of anything.  Just another tool that, if it works, even with limitations, could make some things easier.

 

[a_majoor]

Already posted in another thread, but it fits here as well:

http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/12/amazon-patents-blimp-warehouse-and.html

Amazon patents blimp warehouse and billboards that use gliding drones for near instant fulfillment of sales

Amazon has been awarded a patent for a giant flying warehouse that acts as a launchpad for drones to deliver items within minutes.

The U.S. e-commerce giant described plans for an "airborne fulfillment center" (AFC) such as an airship or blimp that would float at an altitude of around 45,000. The airship will be stocked with lots of products.

When a customer places an order, a drone or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) will fly down and deliver the package. Amazon insists that this would require little power because the drone would be gliding down rather than having to take off and land.

Amazon's filing reveals several uses for the warehouse blimp. One example is at a football match where customers may want certain items such as food or merchandise. Ahead of the game, the AFC could stock up on items and deploy these during the game with drones when they are ordered. The airship could also be used as a giant advertising board, allowing customers to order the items on display. All of these can be ordered "within minutes".

The drones would be able to communicate with each other via a mesh network to give information such as weather and route. UAVs could also recharge on the airship.

Amazon's filing explains that the blimp would remain in the air and be refueled and replenished using a shuttle. This could be a smaller aircraft capable of docking onto the AFC and unloading products as well as fuel.

Medical, police and Military Applications

The Amazon blimp and drone delivery would be as close as might get to Star Trek replicators and teleportation for near instant provisioning.

At 45000 it would be 8.5 miles straight down. Everything within 10 miles or so would be about a 13 miles flight.

If it takes 5 minutes for an order to selected from within the blimp.

20 minute deliveries should be possible.

Emergency deliveries of medicines or defibrillators could be possible within 11 minutes. The emergency items could have priority position within the warehouse for less than 1 minute selection. Then special faster drones could delivery those urgent items.

130 mile per hour emergency drones could make 13 mile flights in 10 minutes.

 

[Kirkhill]

Not dead yet!

A new way of travelling is coming sooner than you might think

The Airlander promises to transform the travel landscape, but after a wobbly start will the public get on board?

www.telegraph.co.uk

I have to say: if they can keep a quadcopters and octocopters in stable flight then it makes sense to me that sooner or later someone is going to figure these things out.

Unmanned cargo shuttles in the north?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I have to also wonder if there is enough commercial helium to sustain the size of fleets they imagine?

 

[GK .Dundas]

I have to also wonder if there is enough commercial helium to sustain the size of fleets they imagine?

That's the thing, there has been a shortage for some time now.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I have to also wonder if there is enough commercial helium to sustain the size of fleets they imagine?

Hey, I hear that hydrogen can be a solution for this airship application…

 

[dapaterson]

Hey, I hear that hydrogen can be a solution for this airship application…

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Oh…riiiiiight…….

 

[PuckChaser]