I've heard of this before. Still I find this amusing :
"The US Army ran out of money to develop it as a surveillance machine, so the British aerospace company behind it bought the rights back."
Now, call me crazy, but anything the >$200 billion US army says is too expensive is probably best avoided, as a rule of thumb. But hey, they've built one now, so prove me wrong. I for one would love to travel by airship.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-35836218
Well, the United States military is notorious for pork-barrel appropriations which come to nothing more than a system with defense applications which are dubious, at best. Then, of course, there's the simple shifting of the winds of political necessity which cause programs to be cancelled prematurely.
ReplyDeleteYou might enjoy this recent article about airships from The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-generation-of-airships-is-born
ReplyDeleteKeith The Tormented One Indeed, for what I've glanced it's pretty much why the project failed. So if this independent UK firm can work efficiently on it, they may have a competitive product.
ReplyDeleteI have a doubt for its use for tourism, though: this blimp is kind of ugly, and as irrelevant as it is on its performances, it may drive tourists away.
Also, I wonder how competitive it would be for moving cargo, compared to plane or ground transport.