- Even though the Aeroscraft dwarfs the largest commercial
airliners, it requires less net space on the ground than any plane because
it doesn't need a runway The airship takes off and lands like a helicopter
-- straight up and down. This is not a blimp. It's a sort of flying Queen
Mary 2 that could change the way you think about air travel.
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- It's the Aeroscraft and, when it's completed, it will
ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll
leisurely about the one-acre cabin, or relax in their staterooms.
- Unlike its dirigible ancestors, the Aeroscraft is not
lighter than air. Its 14-million cubic feet of helium hoist only two-thirds
of the craft's weight.
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- The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body, driven by
huge rear- ward propellers, generates enough additional lift to keep the
behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising During takeoff
and landing, six turbo-fan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent.
This two-football-fields-long airship is the brainchild of Igor Pasternak,
whose privately funded California firm, Worldwide Aeros Corporation, is
in the early stages of developing a prototype and expects to have one
completed by 2010.
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- Pasternak says several cruise ship companies have expressed
interest in the project, and for good reason -- the craft would have
a range of several thousand miles, and, with an estimated top speed of
174 mph, could traverse the continental United States in about 18 hours.
During the flight, passengers would view national landmarks just 8,000
feet below, or, if they weren't captivated by the view, the cavernous
interior would easily accommodate such amenities as luxury staterooms,
restaurants -- even a casino. To minimize noise, the aft-mounted propellers
will be electric, powered by a renewable source such as hydrogen fuel
cells.
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- A sophisticated buoyancy -- management system will serve
the same purpose as trim on an airplane, allowing for precise adjustments
in flight dynamics to compensate for outside conditions and passenger
movement. The automated system will draw outside air into compartments
throughout the ship and compress it to manage onboard weight.
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- (On a pressurized plane, windows like these would explode
outward. The Aeroscraft would not fly high enough to need pressurization.)
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- The company envisions a cargo-carrying version that could
deliver a store's worth of merchandise from a centralized distribution
center straight to a Walmart parking lot, or, because the helium-filled
craft will float, a year's worth of supplies to an offshore oil rig.
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- 'You can land on the snow, you can land on the water,'
Pasternak says. ' It's a new vision of what can be done in the air. '
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- Aeroscraft: Purpose - Long-range travel for passengers
who are more concerned with the journey than the destination.
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- Dimensions (feet): 165 H x 244 W x 647 L
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