Here ya go Tam: How helium is made - material, history, used, processing, components, product, industry, Raw Materials, The Manufacturing Process of helium, Quality Control, The Future

Ta mate, most interesting. So Helium is a waste product of natural gas then? Hmm. We still have natural gas rigs and thus should have the ability to make the stuff.

Tam

It worked in the Zombie war didnt it? or have i hit the mr sheen a bit hard

I would certainly rather lounge about on an airship for a day than endure 12 hours in a passenger seat.

200 tons load mentioned, I have read of even bigger ones (theoretical) lifting 1,000 tons.
The problem was one of what happens when your suddenly 200/1,000 tons, lighter.

john
As an old Heli man, I like the idea.

Originally Posted by TamH70

but is there no facilities to extract/make/conjure up Helium in this country? Not having a background in organic chemistry, I don't know the proper term, sorry.

I would be surprised to learn that the Amis still had a monopoly on Helium production.

Tam

Not quite a monopoly but a good portion of a usable supply. Helium is a tiny part of the atmosphere at surface levels. Most is extracted from natural gas in certain fields. About three quarters of the world supply in natural gas is in the US (Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas), about 10 percent is in Algerian fields and the balance is in Canada, Russia and Eastern Europe. Helium is a noble gas and does not form natural compounds

Here in the US we used to keep quite large quantities in a national strategic stockpile. I can't recall the volume but the value was about $1.4 billion. President Clinton's administration sold off almost the entire stockpile, starting around 1996 to fund other programs (UK folks, think Brown and gold).

Nostalgic note: I live on the shore south of Boston and when I was a boy the blimps from NAS South Weymouth went overhead on their way to anti-sub patrols. The kids on the beach would wave to the sailors who would wave back. Much more exciting for kids than planes. I was told that some of the blimps would go all the way to a RN base somewhere in North Africa but don't know if that is true (RN types, if you know, let us know)

Don't assume that hybrid airships are slow. This website suggests 'Designed to be the best of two worlds by retaining the high speed of conventional aircraft and lifting capacity of aerostatic aircraft, ..'. However, it does also go on; 'critics say the hybrid airships represent the worst of both worlds in that such craft require a runway for take-off and landing, are difficult to control and protect on the ground, and have relatively poor aerodynamic performance'.

P-791 hybrid airship project

There are quite a few perfectly viable airship projects about. The business that is now Hybrid Air Vehicles existed over decades on a shoestring due to the vision of one man who sadly died only a couple of months before this contract was won. We did some work on the Sky Kitten (little demo version of the Sky Cat) a while back and we are doing more work on another development airship at the moment. We are currently looking at work on a third novel but practical design developed by a client. They are privately funded since we haven't had a government willing to invest. The debacle that was Sky Lifter soaked up many millions of Euro funding and left a bad taste in politicians mouths I guess.

Down here in sunny Essex we have been building hydrogen balloons for the Gordon Bennet cup for years and still have the technology to make it pretty safe. There are a growing number of 'lighter than air' users out there and the industry will no doubt develop solutions as demand rises.Gas mixes also work and it is considered a useful way forward. Airships are pretty environmentally friendly and can have impressive payloads.

Originally Posted by jonwilly

200 tons load mentioned, I have read of even bigger ones (theoretical) lifting 1,000 tons.
The problem was one of what happens when your suddenly 200/1,000 tons, lighter.

john
As an old Heli man, I like the idea.

Not as large an issue as you might think due to the fans fitted to the underside as I mentioned above - the ability to transport 1,000 tons would be a superb ability you could plonk 14 Chally's just about anywhere you feel like it - how's that for reach.

'What they learnt was this: the airship is almost invincible to attack'
Really??
I'm sorry please let me know if i'm completly off, but seriously?? i know it would be a damn hard target for guidance systems to lock but i think that's pushing it a bit. And 20,000ft is lower than civilian aeroplane cruising altitudes it seems ridiculously low for a C&C/ISTAR ship. What does the E3 cruise at 30/35,000ft?