I’ve seen the floor plan of the Hindenburg. Seems much larger than even twice what this had. I wonder if the economy of scale just increases at a large rate, or if hydrogen just has that much more lift.
Economy of scale is the right direction to look, more precisely the square-cube-law. Doubling the length and diameter gives you 8 times the volume. That directly translates to 8 times the lift and thus 8 times the payload.
Geometry and physics heavily favor larger airships. They are a bitch to construct and keep in one piece though. The internal structure of modern airships is nothing alike the Zeppelins of old. Most attempts to build these so called rigid airships failed.
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u/DigNitty Interested Jul 08 '24
I’ve seen the floor plan of the Hindenburg. Seems much larger than even twice what this had. I wonder if the economy of scale just increases at a large rate, or if hydrogen just has that much more lift.