this post was submitted on 20 May 2024
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But also the technology to make rigid airships relatively safe has existed for decades and there's no reason we can't go back to them now except bad PR.
And the fact that they’re only so so. Like, airplanes are just better. Once we had the ability to make cargo planes it was over
Better in many regards but for sure not all. Airships could run a lot more quietly for example, that has some value. Until they explode ofcourse, that's rather loud.
It's just a very ineffective mode of transport compared to aeroplane or helicopter, not because the technology isn't there.
Cruise ships are wildly impractical for getting from point A to B as well. There can be other reasons to do a thing besides efficiency
Cruise ships are based on practical technology though. If the only use for cruise ships was leisure then it wouldn't be economic to develop them. Airship technology never really got anywhere and it's certainly never became commercially used, so putting in the money to develop it for recreation just doesn't make sense.
I see your point, but Cruise ships have significantly diverged technologically from any "practical" ships some time ago. Also, recreation for recreation's sake is and always has been a driver of technological progress.
Counterpoint: Cruise ship is the best way to get from point A to point B for long distance sea travel. Though cruise ship nowadays aren't all about going to point A to point B, it's been replaced by aeroplane, but it's well and alive because it's the one proven tech that's been used for centuries, if not millennia.
Airship however relies on two of the lifting gas: helium and hydrogen. Helium is expensive, scarce, and non-renewable, while hydrogen is the sole reason why airship is not a popular air travel. All that to just lift about 100 people or 10 tonnes of payload for something this big. Sure, you can ride it but it will be expensive.
Also: cruise ship tend to have entertainment on board. Stuff like casino, pool, and mall is the attraction. If airship gonna be the cruise ship of the sky, it gonna bring something to the table than just big flying balloon. The novelty will run out fast for rich folks.
Airships can have a casino and shopping. They just need to use lightweight materials for the fixtures. And if things cost a lot, the ticket price can be increased to match. Billionaires pay a lot of money just to say they've been to space, even if their capsule only just barely escaped earth's atmosphere. I'm not claiming it's practical or economical, but things being impractical and excessive hasn't stopped people from making crazy bets on rich people shit before.
I'm not claiming it can't be done either, i'm just saying unless someone discover or made something that defy the law of physics, airship will never catch up with aeroplane. That's the reason it fall out of favour against other mode of air transport.
They would still have to contain hydrogen though. Making them rigid doesn't decrease fire risk.
They have bad PR for a reason. It's not prejudice it's practicality.
They can be made with helium
In theory, but not in reality. It's just far too expensive.
That hasn't stopped billionaires from building spaceships or submarines. All I'm saying is that we would absolutely see some weird eccentric billionaires building and riding in zeppelins if it weren't for the bad PR of the Hindenburg.
There are, but nobody really cares to report on it.