The Flying Luxury Hotel

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. 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 well-appointed 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. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body—driven by huge rearward propellers—generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising. During takeoff and landing, six turbofan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent.

This two-football-fields-long concept 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. 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 U.S. in about 18 hours. During the flight, passengers would peer at 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. 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.

The company envisions a cargo-carrying version that could deliver a store's worth of merchandise from a centralized distribution center straight to a Wal-Mart parking lot or, because the helium-filled craft will float, a year's worth of supplies to an offshore oil rig. "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."

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/whatsnew/18ac...ecbccdrcrd.html

I saw that in the paper couple of days ago, its filled with helium? that not a bad idea for terroists and stuff?!

fuck dude that looks awesome, although I'd be a little scared to go up in one.

that looks fucking amazing.

External image not preserved — inspect source: http://www.nlhs.com/images/hindenburg/big_hindenburg_explodes_over_lakehurst.jpg

asshole!

if I ever go on one now, that's all Im going to think about.

Mission accomplished.

haha nice ID card

damn right.

They totally ripped this idea off of Futurama Image file not present in the recovered backup

But looks rather amazing, prolly only about £10,000 per person, per cubic meter. Haha.

omg photoshopped...

its titanic but modern version

I would rather fly by plane. That shit could blow easily.

ummm not to be the voice of scientific reason but....
helium is completely inert... it doesnt react with anything...the hindenberg disaster (pictured above) was due to the fact that Blimps used to be filled with HYDROGEN not helium.....the only worry you have with helium is that of a leak....

Christ I sound like a fucking textbook

External image not preserved — inspect source: http://http://evoluted.net/stuff/geek.jpg

Fake..

Has to be.

I applaud you Mr. Einstein Image file not present in the recovered backup

That's Proffessor to the likes of you and I. Image file not present in the recovered backup

I can't see that image and im worried

--edit--

ok ive seen it

Well clever you.

Ofcourse thats not a real picture, its not made at all, its just a concept.

Yes I do prefer the proper title ^_^

obviously hydrogen is more flammable because it contains less molecules and can then bond/react with many more elements, with a simple spark, helium is less flamable and more safe, since it reacts with less elements,

Future titanic...
only in the air

Sounds like a good idea, why the fuck is it like titanic, what fucking giant icebergs are 30,000 feet in the air? It's only a larger scale of what we have today, I think it will be a great sucess, dunno bout the point of it though, in an 18hour flight how much gambling and restaurants are really needed?

If you will call your attention to the historical tradgedy of the Hindenburg you will recall that it burst into flames and those aboard perished in a fiery death. As it turns out the hindenburg originally called for helium but since the US had a monopoly on helium they weren't going to let those son of a bitch krauts get their hands on any. The Germans were then reduced to using hydrogen which is Im sure you know, extremely flammabe. The rest as they say is history.

if its real its totally badass