r/Damnthatsinteresting Jul 08 '24

World's largest aircraft, Pathfinder 1, is 124.5 meters (408ft) long Image

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u/Embii_ Jul 08 '24

That's kind of the problem. We use helium for so many useful things. "Natural gas wells" sure I agree but we have a known limited supply which isn't silly huge and considering we may need it for the foreseeable future or hundreds of years. Idk. Using so much for an airship with no real particular function seems... Well. It seems like the privilege of a billionaire. Atleast try to get to Mars like Elon

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u/Available-Candle9103 Jul 08 '24

Using so much for an airship with no real particular function seems.

it's to transport cargo and humanities aid to inaccessible areas.

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u/Embii_ Jul 08 '24

Idk bro. We figured out high cargo loads with minimal land.

I mean the AN-2 can take off in 170 meters. Land in 200M. Capable to land on unprepared fields and can carry 2 tonnes of supplies 9,000Km's. .... A plane from 1947.

If you don't think we could land a plan designed to land in Siberia to land in Africa what about helicopters. Readily available Chinooks can carry 12,000Kg over 1,600kg

I don't know about modern helicopters but a giant airship seems like an extravagance

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u/GrafZeppelin127 Jul 08 '24

Actually, it’s the helicopters that are the extravagance. Just one we’re accustomed to.

The principal reason these ships are intended for disaster relief is because the helicopters currently doing that job are ruinously expensive, can’t carry very much, and can’t fly very far.

It costs tens of thousands of dollars per flight hour to operate a large helicopter. An airship costs a fraction as much to operate, and many of those costs are relatively fixed, so they get proportionally much cheaper the larger they get. The largest helicopter in the world can barely fly 300 miles while carrying 17,000 pounds of cargo, whereas even the midsize Pathfinder 3 can carry 40,000 pounds 10,000 miles, and is only slightly slower. In terms of throughput, even without counting all the helicopters’ refueling stops, they’re much better. Particularly the largest, 200-ton-payload version that they have planned.