Turtle Airships are pushing a concept vehicle for a use, and the ideal is simple enough: Create a well stocked humanitarian platform using airships. The vehicles could reach areas where roads no longer exists and deliver aid as needed. The nature of the airship allows vehicles that are quite large and therefore can deliver a lot of needed supplies. They could even be used in case of major flooding.
The Turtle Airship Blog discusses this aspect of the platform, and I do have to say they present a very solid argument of the application of rigid shelled airships for this use. On the blog there are even designs and discussions for 200 mph solar powered airships, which could close the gap between airliner prices and speed of travel.
Rigid Airships have been in the news recently, with Skycat bringing out new offerings. I am fairly certain that, if the price if jet fuel continues to spiral upward, we will see more of these graceful flyers being considered as a mass transit solution (as well as specific uses).
via
