Editing Airship (section)

==Current design projects==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2008}}
[[File:Giant Aircraft Comparison.svg|thumb|right|The largest airship, the [[LZ 129 Hindenburg|LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'']] at 245 meters length and 41 meters diameter, dwarfs the size of the largest historic and modern passenger and cargo aeroplanes.]]

Today, with large, fast, and more cost-efficient [[fixed-wing aircraft]] and [[helicopters]], it is unknown whether huge airships can operate profitably in regular passenger transport though, as energy costs rise, attention is once again returning to these lighter-than-air vessels as a possible alternative. At the very least, the idea of comparatively slow, "majestic" cruising at relatively low altitudes and in comfortable atmosphere certainly has retained some appeal. There have been some niches for airships in and after World War II, such as long-duration observations, [[Anti-submarine warfare|antisubmarine]] patrol, platforms for TV camera crews, and [[advertising]]; these generally require only small and flexible craft, and have thus generally been better fitted for cheaper (non-passenger) blimps.

===Heavy lifting===
It has periodically been suggested that airships could be employed for [[cargo transport]], especially delivering extremely heavy loads to areas with poor infrastructure over great distances. This has also been called roadless trucking.<ref>[http://www.dynalifter.com/Dynaliftercom/RoadlessTrucking.htm "Roadless trucking"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523073252/http://www.dynalifter.com/Dynaliftercom/RoadlessTrucking.htm |date=May 23, 2009 }}, Dynalifter.</ref> Also, airships could be used for heavy lifting over short distances (e.g. on construction sites); this is described as heavy-lift, short-haul.<ref>[http://www.deagel.com/news/Boeing-and-SkyHook-International-to-Build-JHL-40-Heavy-Lift-Rotorcraft_n000004518.aspx "Boeing and SkyHook International to Build JHL-40 Heavy-Lift Rotorcraft"], press release, 8 July 2008.</ref> In both cases, the airships are [[heavy hauler]]s. One recent enterprise of this sort was the ''[[Cargolifter]]'' project, in which a hybrid (thus not entirely Zeppelin-type) airship even larger than ''Hindenburg'' was projected. Around 2000, CargoLifter AG built the world's largest self-supporting hall, measuring {{convert|360|m|ft|abbr= on}} long, {{convert|210|m|ft|abbr= on}} wide and {{convert|107|m|ft|abbr=on}} high about {{convert|60|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of Berlin. In May 2002, the project was stopped for financial reasons; the company had to file [[bankruptcy]]. The enormous CargoLifter hangar was later converted to house the [[Tropical Islands Resort]].<ref name=Lasker2016/> Although no rigid airships are currently used for heavy lifting, [[hybrid airship]]s are being developed for such purposes. [[AEREON 26]], tested in 1971, was described in [[John McPhee]]'s ''The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed''.

An impediment to the large-scale development of airships as heavy haulers has been figuring out how they can be used in a cost-efficient way. In order to have a significant economic advantage over ocean transport, cargo airships must be able to deliver their payload faster than ocean carriers but more cheaply than airplanes. William Crowder, a fellow at the [[Logistics Management Institute]], has calculated that cargo airships are only economical when they can transport 500 to 1,000 tons, approximately the same as a super-jumbo aircraft.<ref name="Lasker2016">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-generation-of-airships-is-born |title=Helium Dreams |last=Laskas |first=Jeanne Marie |date=2016-02-29 |newspaper=The New Yorker |issn=0028-792X |access-date=2016-03-08 }}</ref> The large initial investment required to build such a large airship has been a hindrance to production, especially given the risk inherent in a new technology. The chief commercial officer of the company hoping to sell the [[LMH1|LMH-1]], a cargo airship currently being developed by [[Lockheed Martin]], believes that airships can be economical in hard-to-reach locations such as mining operations in northern Canada that currently require [[ice road]]s.<ref name="Lasker2016" />

===Metal-clad airships===
{{Main|Metal-clad airship}}

A metal-clad airship has a very thin metal envelope, rather than the usual fabric. The shell may be either internally braced or [[monocoque]] as in the [[ZMC-2]], which flew many times in the 1920s, the only example ever to do so. The shell may be gas-tight as in a non-rigid blimp, or the design may employ internal gas bags as in a rigid airship. Compared to a fabric envelope the metal cladding is expected to be more durable.

===Hybrid airships===
{{Main|Hybrid airship}}

A [[hybrid airship]] is a general term for an aircraft that combines characteristics of heavier-than-air (aeroplane or helicopter) and lighter-than-air technology. Examples include helicopter/airship hybrids intended for heavy lift applications and dynamic lift airships intended for long-range cruising. Most airships, when fully loaded with cargo and fuel, are usually ballasted to be heavier than air, and thus must use their propulsion system and shape to create aerodynamic lift, necessary to stay aloft. All airships can be operated to be slightly heavier than air at periods during flight ([[Descent (aircraft)|descent]]). Accordingly, the term "hybrid airship" refers to craft that obtain a significant portion of their lift from aerodynamic lift or other [[Kinetic energy|kinetic]] means.

For example, the [[Aeroscraft]] is a buoyancy assisted air vehicle that generates lift through a combination of aerodynamics, thrust vectoring and gas buoyancy generation and management, and for much of the time will fly heavier than air. Aeroscraft is [[Worldwide Aeros Corp]]oration's continuation of [[DARPA]]'s now cancelled [[Walrus HULA]] (Hybrid Ultra Large Aircraft) project.<ref>{{cite web | title = Aeroscraft.com | url=http://www.aeroscraft.com/ | access-date = 24 July 2010}}</ref>

The Patroller P3 hybrid airship developed by Advanced Hybrid Aircraft Ltd, BC, Canada, is a relatively small ({{convert|85,000|ft3|m3|abbr=on|disp=x|&thinsp;/&thinsp;}}) buoyant craft, manned by the crew of five and with the endurance of up to 72 hours. The flight-tests with the 40% RC scale model proved that such a craft can be launched and landed without a large team of strong ground-handlers.<ref>Vollrath, Jurgen. [http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=75a62b9c3c8ad40b366660cc6&id=34305657e6&e=537312e165] From the Hindenburg airship to the Goodyear Blimp – and now Hybrid Aircraft. Exponential Technology Counsel, Episode 39, 2016</ref> Design features a special "winglet" for aerodynamic lift control.<ref>Blake, Bruce. [http://www.patrollerairships.com/technical-information/] Patroller 3 hybrid aircraft. Onboard System specifications. AHA Ltd web-publication. January, 2017</ref>

===Airships in space exploration===
[[File:NASA Cloud City on Venus.jpg|thumb|Artist's rendering of a NASA crewed floating outpost in the atmosphere of Venus]]

Airships have been proposed as a potential cheap alternative to surface rocket launches for achieving Earth orbit. [[JP Aerospace]] have proposed the Airship to Orbit project, which intends to float a multi-stage airship up to [[mesosphere|mesospheric]] altitudes of 55&nbsp;km (180,000&nbsp;ft) and then use [[ion propulsion]] to accelerate to [[orbital speed]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jpaerospace.com/atohandout.pdf|title=Airship to Orbit}}</ref> At these heights, air resistance would not be a significant problem for achieving such speeds. The company has not yet built any of the three stages.

[[NASA]] has proposed the [[High Altitude Venus Operational Concept]], which comprises a series of five missions including crewed missions to the [[atmosphere of Venus]] in airships.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://sacd.larc.nasa.gov/branches/space-mission-analysis-branch-smab/smab-projects/havoc/| title=HAVOC| date=14 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0az7DEwG68A/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211031/0az7DEwG68A| archive-date=2021-10-31 | url-status=live| title=A way to explore Venus| website=[[YouTube]]| date=10 October 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gizmag.com/nasa-havoc-concept-manned-mission-to-venus/35311//| title=NASA concept would send astronauts to Venus| date=20 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2014/12/20/nasa-havoc-venus.nasa-langley-research-cente//| title=NASA's floating 'habitat' above Venus?| website=[[CNN]]}}</ref> Pressures on the surface of the planet are too high for human habitation, but at a specific altitude the pressure is equal to that found on Earth and this makes Venus a potential target for human [[Colonization of Venus|colonization]].

Hypothetically, there could be an [[Vacuum airship|airship lifted by a vacuum]]—that is, by material that can contain nothing at all inside but withstand the atmospheric pressure from the outside. It is, at this point, science fiction, although NASA has posited that some kind of vacuum airship could eventually be used to explore the surface of Mars.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/29/blimps-hindenburg-flying-whales-airships/|title=The Age of the Airship May Be Dawning Again|first=Justin|last=Ling|date=12 January 2024 }}</ref>

===Cruiser feeder transport airship===
EU FP7 MAAT Project<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/285602|title=Multibody Advanced Airship for Transport &#124; MAAT &#124; Project &#124; Fact sheet &#124; FP7 &#124; CORDIS &#124; European Commission}}</ref> has studied an innovative cruiser/feeder airship system,<ref>Dumas A, Trancossi M, Madonia M, Giuliani I. Multibody advanced airship for transport. SAE Technical Paper; 2011 Oct 18. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michele_Trancossi/publication/257333742_Multibody_Advanced_Airship_for_Transport/links/55d44d6708ae7fb244f5b3ac/Multibody-Advanced-Airship-for-Transport.pdf</ref> for the stratosphere with a cruiser remaining airborne for a long time and feeders connecting it to the ground and flying as piloted balloons.<ref>Trancossi M, Dumas A, Cimarelli A, Pascoa J. MAAT cruiser/feeder airship design: Intrinsic stability and energetic flight model. In ASME IMECE 2015 Nov 13 (Vol. 57342, p. V001T01A011). https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michele_Trancossi/publication/311131309_MAAT_CruiserFeeder_Airship_Design_Intrinsic_Stability_and_Energetic_Flight_Model/links/583ea40408ae8e63e617b3f9/MAAT-Cruiser-Feeder-Airship-Design-Intrinsic-Stability-and-Energetic-Flight-Model.pdf</ref>

===Airships for humanitarian and cargo transport===
[[Google]] co-founder [[Sergey Brin]] founded LTA Research in 2015 to develop airships for humanitarian and cargo transport. The company's 124-meter-long airship Pathfinder 1 received from the [[Federal Aviation Administration|FAA]] a special airworthiness certificate for the helium-filled airship in September 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Mark |date=25 October 2023 |title=EXCLUSIVE: Google Founder's Airship Gets FAA Clearance Sergey Brin's Pathfinder 1 can now take to the skies |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/lta-airship-faa-clearance |access-date=26 October 2023 |website=IEEE Spectrum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20241204-could-the-airship-be-the-answer-to-sustainable-air-travel|title=Could the airship be the answer to sustainable air travel|last=Hall|first=Laura|date=13 December 2024|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 December 2024}}</ref>

The certificate allowed the largest airship since the ill-fated Hindenburg to begin flight tests at [[Moffett Federal Airfield|Moffett Field]], a joint civil-military airport in Silicon Valley.