Airships can still return to the sky
It is believed that the century of classic airships ended in the 1937 year, and the century of airships that would have replaced them, still can not come. And this is despite the fact that airships are potentially the cheapest means at the moment for air cargo transportation. However, the Hindenburg catastrophe still looms on the horizon, preventing these brilliant ships in the past from revealing in the modern realities of the 21st century. But will this go on and on, or will the situation still change?
A classic airship is an aircraft lighter than air, a combination of a balloon and screw engines (electric or internal combustion), as well as a control system and orientation in the air (control surfaces), thanks to which this aircraft can move in any direction regardless of observable air currents and their directions. Since these vehicles are lighter than air, they can "float" in the air due to buoyancy if their average density is less than or equal to the density of the atmosphere. These air giants were in the air thanks to the Archimedean force. Most often, the airship envelope was filled with gas lighter than air. It could be hydrogen or helium. At the same time, the capacity of these aircraft was proportional to the internal volume of the shell, taking into account the mass of their design.
Records that were set in their time by these air giants resembling whales are impressive today. Suffice it to recall the nonstop flights from Germany to Rio de Janeiro, which are unthinkable today, with sleeping cabins and grand pianos on board. Thanks to the peculiarity that airships could hover at high altitude, they were able to moor to the spiers, on the tops of the skyscrapers of New York or to the ordinary fence somewhere on the outskirts of Paris. In calm weather, the aircraft could land on virtually any flat platform.
The key to these excesses was the already mentioned Archimedean force, thanks to which the airships were kept in the air. Thanks to this power, the airships did not feel the need for a constantly operating wing, on which it was necessary to supply the incoming air flow. Due to this, being much slower than their modern aircraft, airships spent significantly less fuel per passenger-kilometer. The same Archimedean force made them safer and undemanding to the airfield network. She mitigated the accident, not allowing airships to pick up too high speed when falling to the ground.
Even the most famous catastrophe with their participation, which, in fact, put an end to these aircraft, was not so terrible. The mysterious disaster of "Hindenburg" was, but she would not surprise anyone today in terms of the number of victims. Even with this catastrophe, the death rate among airship passengers was significantly lower than among passengers of aircraft of those years. Being in their weight close to the air, airships never fell down like a stone. At the same completely burnt-up airship "Hindenburg" 35 people died from the 97, who were on board.
The termination of the operation of these aircraft, rather, was associated not with an epochal fire, but with the psychological effect it caused. The planes of those years were significantly smaller, and their frequent accidents could not impress anyone. We can observe something similar in our days, when everyone perfectly understands that in aviation In accidents, an order of magnitude fewer people die than in ordinary road accidents, but with the large number of people who are afraid of air travel, it is almost impossible to find an avtomobophobe. The newsreel, which was filmed at the crash site of the Hindenburg, multiplied by the psychology of the masses, ignored the statistics - that is why the world for many years abandoned large-scale aeronautics, preferring wings.
However, at the end of the 20th century, interest in the air giants was revived again. Now, instead of explosive hydrogen on board the airship, inert helium is used, the production of which has become relatively cheap at the current stage of development of equipment and technologies. However, until now the scope of the airship is quite limited: observation of traffic, reconnaissance, advertising, or pleasure flights. Despite this, a number of projects exist and are being implemented that are aimed at reviving airships. In the first place as a modern vehicle, especially when it comes to transportation of goods of an unusual, non-standard form. Similar projects today are being implemented in many countries of Europe, in the USA and the Russian Federation. And if in Russia the emphasis is on transport airships, then in the US they are interested in the military, who want to get a cheap and simple means of intelligence.
Cheap reconnaissance airships for the US Army
From 2005, it began to seem that the situation with airships is beginning to change for the better. First, DARPA - Agency for promising research projects of the US Department of Defense, and then the Pentagon itself began to order the development and production of airships designed to conduct long-term reconnaissance in Afghanistan. Interest in the airships explained by economic motives. The fact of the matter is that the cost of flight hours for UAVs that were used in Afghanistan and Iraq reached several thousand dollars, and the satellites could not constantly monitor the same area.
At the same time, only for the period from 2010 to 2013 years, American UAVs in Afghanistan flew a million hours, resulting in multibillion-dollar costs. At the same time, the hour of the airship flight, which can be in the air for weeks, is much cheaper, and the installed equipment can be significantly larger, since the airship capacity is several tons instead of hundreds of kilograms of unmanned aerial vehicles. The US military expected to reduce their exploration expenditures and at the same time increase its effectiveness by installing a heavy Argus surveillance system on airships, which was able to track 6 square kilometers from 64 kilometers in height.
The first sign was to be the airship from the company Mav-6, which introduced the M1400 model with a volume of 37 thousand cubic meters. However, this project was not brought even to the stage of the first flight. In 2012, this project was finally terminated. The reason for the closure was the flaws that did not allow installing the Argus reconnaissance system and the protracted stage of creation on it. The military expected that the first airship would be able to begin combat tests in Afghanistan as early as February 2012, however, these plans were violated.
The LEMV airship, developed by the British company Hybrid Air Vehicles, was a much more promising project. The British managed to build the largest airship among all existing. At the same time they decided to save on its creation, leaving the car with a virtually soft lining (the presence of internal cable extensions for rigidity). Continuing the topic of savings, the British abandoned active ballasting. Instead, the airship was supposed to receive 40% of its lifting force not from helium, but from the oncoming air flow. For this the hull of the catamaran airship resembled a large wing, while for the take-off and landing it needed a runway.
It was assumed that the airship system LEMV will be able to take on board about 2 tons of payload. Up to three weeks he had to continuously carry out the tasks of collecting various information, reconnaissance and observation of the terrain at an altitude of up to 6 kilometers. For one of his duty, the duration of 21 day, the airship could cover a distance greater than 4 000 kilometers. The airship was unmanned. The system used on it could support the conduct of various operations even in remote areas, providing the possibility of combat control of the airship outside the line of sight. At the same time, an unmanned airship LEMV could independently carry out inspection and adjustment of the onboard equipment, launch and route a flight. In non-flying weather, he could land on his own at points that were agreed with the dispatcher.
However, this project was closed. The shortcomings of the apparatus directly flowed from its merits. The device could not rely on one Archimedean force and hang in one place, it needed a runway. And the fabric sheath of a LEMV airship in strong wind conditions could simply be crumpled, making it difficult to use the airship in bad weather conditions. At the same time, no one could guarantee the availability of good weather during a three-week flight. In 2013, the US military turned the project around.
Some hopes of the military associated with the project Aeroscraft. In January 2013, the first photographs of the novelties were published, which were of great interest. The prototype of this airship called Dragon Dream was ready to fly. With a successful scenario, this airship could be a real breakthrough in the aircraft industry, as the huge size (the prototype was much smaller than the planned production samples) and the lack of needs for a developed ground infrastructure could give a new breath to tourist cruises and military transport logistics. These two directions were basic for the Aeroscraft project.
According to preliminary information, which appeared in the press, created by the airline Aeros, based in California, the airship Aeroscraft could reach speeds in 222 km / h, the maximum height of its flight would be 3,7 km, and the maximum range - 9700 km. At the same time about 2 / 3 lifting of the aircraft was provided by helium, and another one third due to propellers, aerodynamic forms of the apparatus and its tail. Also, unlike the LEMV airship, it had a hard shell, which made it possible to use it in bad weather.
But this project was pursued by failure. It was possible to create only a prototype Dragon Dream with a length of 81 meters and a volume of thousands of cubic meters in 17, only enough money for this demonstrator-technology. By fatal coincidence, the airship was based at Lakehurst, the same place where the famous Hindenburg burned in 1937. Placing it in the hangar, which has not been repaired since World War II, ended tragically - the collapse of the roof on the device, after which he was no longer subject to restoration. Here is a coincidence that made the Pentagon temporarily freeze all work in this direction, which does not mean that they will not be continued in the future, even if on other projects.
Russian "Atlant"
Over time, interest in aircraft that do not need roads and airfields that are scarce for Russia has also awakened in our country. In the second half of last year, RosAeroSystems, headed by Gennady Verba, was able to receive a small cash grant from the Skolkovo Foundation.
According to the vice-president of RosAeroSystems, Mikhail Talesnikov, interviewed by Lenta.ru journalists, the first part of the work on the Atlant airship is 9 months. The first part of the work is coming to an end, the preliminary design is almost ready. The airship itself with a flattened bottom surface is designed to be rigid; sheathing is used like a semi-monocoque. According to the calculations, the airship will be able to continue flying even with headwinds and side winds at a speed of 30 m / s (on a soft airship Au-30 produced by the same company, such a flight was possible at speeds up to 17 m / s).
In addition to active ballasting at the moment of take-off, it is planned to apply thrust from engines that twist downward-tilting screws. According to Talesnikov, after takeoff, the engines will be able to lift the large hull of the Atlant airship with a length of 75 meters and a width of 30 meters, operating as one large wing. It is planned that the cruising flight speed will be equal to 120 km / h, with the flight range of 4000 km and carrying capacity in 16 tons. In the absence of failures in financing the project, the first flight of the Atlant airship is scheduled for the end of 2018.
Unlike our overseas colleagues, Russian airships do not involve military use. The first airship "Atlant" should become a full-fledged transporter, which can replace the heavy Mi-26 helicopter. Although it will be inferior to it in carrying capacity (16 tons versus 20 tons), Atlant with a net weight of 25-30 tons will be able to transport much more bulky cargoes by air - its cargo compartment will exceed 1700 cubic meters against 110 cubic meters in the Mi-26 or 1000 cubic meters of the giant An-124 "Ruslan". At the same time, with the Atlantic having twice the lower cruising speed, it will be able to deliver the cargo not by 475 km, as the Mi-26 helicopter can do, but several times further.
According to the calculations of the company's specialists, the cost of shipping cargo on their airship will be just 75 cents per ton-kilometer (up to 24 thousand dollars for one flight with a full load within 2000 km radius). At the same time, like a helicopter, when unloading the airship can hang over any suitable platform. If it is necessary to sit down to receive a large load, the airship can be lowered onto an air cushion, details of which are currently being patented, so nothing is said about it. With it, he will be able to sit not only on any flat surface, but also on ice and water. For calm weather, it is sufficient to have a landing site with 100 dimensions on 50 meters, for an all-weather landing - 225 x 90 meters. Due to the fact that the Atlant may be 40% heavier than air, the airship will not become an easy toy of the wind. It will also allow year-round to be based on an unprepared site without a mooring mast and boathouse.
Will the Russian creators of Atlanta succeed in bringing the matter to full-fledged mass production, or will they repeat the experience of their American colleagues, time will tell. So far this question is open. But in any case, the use of airships in our country, where the delivery of goods and equipment to the eastern part of the country often requires laying roads or strengthening bridges, looks promising. Over the territory of 70% of Russia, these sky giants are clearly more necessary than anywhere else on Earth.
Information sources:
http://lenta.ru/articles/2015/02/28/zeppelins
http://www.vonovke.ru/s/dirijabl_-_sovremennyie_dirijabli
http://aviations.ru/2012/05/30/vvs-ssha-zakrli-proekt-gigantskogo-dirizhablya
http://supercoolpics.com/2013/01/08/гигантский-aeroscraft-нечто-среднее-между-са
http://techvesti.ru/node/2499
A classic airship is an aircraft lighter than air, a combination of a balloon and screw engines (electric or internal combustion), as well as a control system and orientation in the air (control surfaces), thanks to which this aircraft can move in any direction regardless of observable air currents and their directions. Since these vehicles are lighter than air, they can "float" in the air due to buoyancy if their average density is less than or equal to the density of the atmosphere. These air giants were in the air thanks to the Archimedean force. Most often, the airship envelope was filled with gas lighter than air. It could be hydrogen or helium. At the same time, the capacity of these aircraft was proportional to the internal volume of the shell, taking into account the mass of their design.
Records that were set in their time by these air giants resembling whales are impressive today. Suffice it to recall the nonstop flights from Germany to Rio de Janeiro, which are unthinkable today, with sleeping cabins and grand pianos on board. Thanks to the peculiarity that airships could hover at high altitude, they were able to moor to the spiers, on the tops of the skyscrapers of New York or to the ordinary fence somewhere on the outskirts of Paris. In calm weather, the aircraft could land on virtually any flat platform.
The key to these excesses was the already mentioned Archimedean force, thanks to which the airships were kept in the air. Thanks to this power, the airships did not feel the need for a constantly operating wing, on which it was necessary to supply the incoming air flow. Due to this, being much slower than their modern aircraft, airships spent significantly less fuel per passenger-kilometer. The same Archimedean force made them safer and undemanding to the airfield network. She mitigated the accident, not allowing airships to pick up too high speed when falling to the ground.
Even the most famous catastrophe with their participation, which, in fact, put an end to these aircraft, was not so terrible. The mysterious disaster of "Hindenburg" was, but she would not surprise anyone today in terms of the number of victims. Even with this catastrophe, the death rate among airship passengers was significantly lower than among passengers of aircraft of those years. Being in their weight close to the air, airships never fell down like a stone. At the same completely burnt-up airship "Hindenburg" 35 people died from the 97, who were on board.
The termination of the operation of these aircraft, rather, was associated not with an epochal fire, but with the psychological effect it caused. The planes of those years were significantly smaller, and their frequent accidents could not impress anyone. We can observe something similar in our days, when everyone perfectly understands that in aviation In accidents, an order of magnitude fewer people die than in ordinary road accidents, but with the large number of people who are afraid of air travel, it is almost impossible to find an avtomobophobe. The newsreel, which was filmed at the crash site of the Hindenburg, multiplied by the psychology of the masses, ignored the statistics - that is why the world for many years abandoned large-scale aeronautics, preferring wings.
However, at the end of the 20th century, interest in the air giants was revived again. Now, instead of explosive hydrogen on board the airship, inert helium is used, the production of which has become relatively cheap at the current stage of development of equipment and technologies. However, until now the scope of the airship is quite limited: observation of traffic, reconnaissance, advertising, or pleasure flights. Despite this, a number of projects exist and are being implemented that are aimed at reviving airships. In the first place as a modern vehicle, especially when it comes to transportation of goods of an unusual, non-standard form. Similar projects today are being implemented in many countries of Europe, in the USA and the Russian Federation. And if in Russia the emphasis is on transport airships, then in the US they are interested in the military, who want to get a cheap and simple means of intelligence.
Cheap reconnaissance airships for the US Army
From 2005, it began to seem that the situation with airships is beginning to change for the better. First, DARPA - Agency for promising research projects of the US Department of Defense, and then the Pentagon itself began to order the development and production of airships designed to conduct long-term reconnaissance in Afghanistan. Interest in the airships explained by economic motives. The fact of the matter is that the cost of flight hours for UAVs that were used in Afghanistan and Iraq reached several thousand dollars, and the satellites could not constantly monitor the same area.
At the same time, only for the period from 2010 to 2013 years, American UAVs in Afghanistan flew a million hours, resulting in multibillion-dollar costs. At the same time, the hour of the airship flight, which can be in the air for weeks, is much cheaper, and the installed equipment can be significantly larger, since the airship capacity is several tons instead of hundreds of kilograms of unmanned aerial vehicles. The US military expected to reduce their exploration expenditures and at the same time increase its effectiveness by installing a heavy Argus surveillance system on airships, which was able to track 6 square kilometers from 64 kilometers in height.
The first sign was to be the airship from the company Mav-6, which introduced the M1400 model with a volume of 37 thousand cubic meters. However, this project was not brought even to the stage of the first flight. In 2012, this project was finally terminated. The reason for the closure was the flaws that did not allow installing the Argus reconnaissance system and the protracted stage of creation on it. The military expected that the first airship would be able to begin combat tests in Afghanistan as early as February 2012, however, these plans were violated.
The LEMV airship, developed by the British company Hybrid Air Vehicles, was a much more promising project. The British managed to build the largest airship among all existing. At the same time they decided to save on its creation, leaving the car with a virtually soft lining (the presence of internal cable extensions for rigidity). Continuing the topic of savings, the British abandoned active ballasting. Instead, the airship was supposed to receive 40% of its lifting force not from helium, but from the oncoming air flow. For this the hull of the catamaran airship resembled a large wing, while for the take-off and landing it needed a runway.
It was assumed that the airship system LEMV will be able to take on board about 2 tons of payload. Up to three weeks he had to continuously carry out the tasks of collecting various information, reconnaissance and observation of the terrain at an altitude of up to 6 kilometers. For one of his duty, the duration of 21 day, the airship could cover a distance greater than 4 000 kilometers. The airship was unmanned. The system used on it could support the conduct of various operations even in remote areas, providing the possibility of combat control of the airship outside the line of sight. At the same time, an unmanned airship LEMV could independently carry out inspection and adjustment of the onboard equipment, launch and route a flight. In non-flying weather, he could land on his own at points that were agreed with the dispatcher.
Airship "LEMV"
However, this project was closed. The shortcomings of the apparatus directly flowed from its merits. The device could not rely on one Archimedean force and hang in one place, it needed a runway. And the fabric sheath of a LEMV airship in strong wind conditions could simply be crumpled, making it difficult to use the airship in bad weather conditions. At the same time, no one could guarantee the availability of good weather during a three-week flight. In 2013, the US military turned the project around.
Some hopes of the military associated with the project Aeroscraft. In January 2013, the first photographs of the novelties were published, which were of great interest. The prototype of this airship called Dragon Dream was ready to fly. With a successful scenario, this airship could be a real breakthrough in the aircraft industry, as the huge size (the prototype was much smaller than the planned production samples) and the lack of needs for a developed ground infrastructure could give a new breath to tourist cruises and military transport logistics. These two directions were basic for the Aeroscraft project.
According to preliminary information, which appeared in the press, created by the airline Aeros, based in California, the airship Aeroscraft could reach speeds in 222 km / h, the maximum height of its flight would be 3,7 km, and the maximum range - 9700 km. At the same time about 2 / 3 lifting of the aircraft was provided by helium, and another one third due to propellers, aerodynamic forms of the apparatus and its tail. Also, unlike the LEMV airship, it had a hard shell, which made it possible to use it in bad weather.
Dragon Dream Airship
But this project was pursued by failure. It was possible to create only a prototype Dragon Dream with a length of 81 meters and a volume of thousands of cubic meters in 17, only enough money for this demonstrator-technology. By fatal coincidence, the airship was based at Lakehurst, the same place where the famous Hindenburg burned in 1937. Placing it in the hangar, which has not been repaired since World War II, ended tragically - the collapse of the roof on the device, after which he was no longer subject to restoration. Here is a coincidence that made the Pentagon temporarily freeze all work in this direction, which does not mean that they will not be continued in the future, even if on other projects.
Russian "Atlant"
Over time, interest in aircraft that do not need roads and airfields that are scarce for Russia has also awakened in our country. In the second half of last year, RosAeroSystems, headed by Gennady Verba, was able to receive a small cash grant from the Skolkovo Foundation.
According to the vice-president of RosAeroSystems, Mikhail Talesnikov, interviewed by Lenta.ru journalists, the first part of the work on the Atlant airship is 9 months. The first part of the work is coming to an end, the preliminary design is almost ready. The airship itself with a flattened bottom surface is designed to be rigid; sheathing is used like a semi-monocoque. According to the calculations, the airship will be able to continue flying even with headwinds and side winds at a speed of 30 m / s (on a soft airship Au-30 produced by the same company, such a flight was possible at speeds up to 17 m / s).
Airship Au-30
In addition to active ballasting at the moment of take-off, it is planned to apply thrust from engines that twist downward-tilting screws. According to Talesnikov, after takeoff, the engines will be able to lift the large hull of the Atlant airship with a length of 75 meters and a width of 30 meters, operating as one large wing. It is planned that the cruising flight speed will be equal to 120 km / h, with the flight range of 4000 km and carrying capacity in 16 tons. In the absence of failures in financing the project, the first flight of the Atlant airship is scheduled for the end of 2018.
Unlike our overseas colleagues, Russian airships do not involve military use. The first airship "Atlant" should become a full-fledged transporter, which can replace the heavy Mi-26 helicopter. Although it will be inferior to it in carrying capacity (16 tons versus 20 tons), Atlant with a net weight of 25-30 tons will be able to transport much more bulky cargoes by air - its cargo compartment will exceed 1700 cubic meters against 110 cubic meters in the Mi-26 or 1000 cubic meters of the giant An-124 "Ruslan". At the same time, with the Atlantic having twice the lower cruising speed, it will be able to deliver the cargo not by 475 km, as the Mi-26 helicopter can do, but several times further.
According to the calculations of the company's specialists, the cost of shipping cargo on their airship will be just 75 cents per ton-kilometer (up to 24 thousand dollars for one flight with a full load within 2000 km radius). At the same time, like a helicopter, when unloading the airship can hang over any suitable platform. If it is necessary to sit down to receive a large load, the airship can be lowered onto an air cushion, details of which are currently being patented, so nothing is said about it. With it, he will be able to sit not only on any flat surface, but also on ice and water. For calm weather, it is sufficient to have a landing site with 100 dimensions on 50 meters, for an all-weather landing - 225 x 90 meters. Due to the fact that the Atlant may be 40% heavier than air, the airship will not become an easy toy of the wind. It will also allow year-round to be based on an unprepared site without a mooring mast and boathouse.
"Atlanta"
Will the Russian creators of Atlanta succeed in bringing the matter to full-fledged mass production, or will they repeat the experience of their American colleagues, time will tell. So far this question is open. But in any case, the use of airships in our country, where the delivery of goods and equipment to the eastern part of the country often requires laying roads or strengthening bridges, looks promising. Over the territory of 70% of Russia, these sky giants are clearly more necessary than anywhere else on Earth.
Information sources:
http://lenta.ru/articles/2015/02/28/zeppelins
http://www.vonovke.ru/s/dirijabl_-_sovremennyie_dirijabli
http://aviations.ru/2012/05/30/vvs-ssha-zakrli-proekt-gigantskogo-dirizhablya
http://supercoolpics.com/2013/01/08/гигантский-aeroscraft-нечто-среднее-между-са
http://techvesti.ru/node/2499
Information