We're just a month away from the launch of the world's biggest aircraft to ever grace the great blue beyond. The Airlander is a 300-foot-long aircraft packed with enough helium to fill 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Originally designed as part of a US Army initiative, the airship-like vehicle was scrapped and then taken over by UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles and converted to support civilian flights.
Steampunk Blimps: Airships That Will Take You Back To The Future
The Airlander can carry 48 people at a time - far less than a jet - but because it can hover and land on almost any surface, including ice, sand and water, it could be used to transport people and goods to places not readily served by airports.
Furthermore, it can stay airborne for up to two weeks at a time, cruising at 90 mph, 20,000 feet in the air.
Think of it as a cruise ship for the skies with the ability to pull into nearly any port in any location around the world.
Blimp-Like Craft Hauls Tons of Cargo Anywhere
Unlike other airships, the Airlander is not rigid. Its hull is made from a super-strong fabric used to make spacesuits for NASA. To reduce flammability and increase strength, the fabric is coated on the outside with a polyvinyl used to coat everything from airplane interiors to rain jackets.
The inside of the aircraft is made of mylar to retain the helium, which makes the craft rigid when filled to capacity.
Because helium is lighter than air, it gives the Airlander 60 per cent of its lift. The vehicle's overall wing shape supports its aerodynamics. Four 350-horsepower diesel engines provide thrust.
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According to Hybrid Air Vehicles' website, the Airlander produces less noise, less pollution, and has a lower carbon footprint than conventional aircraft, while at the same time offering a better cargo-carrying capacity than any other flying vehicle.
Before the Airlander can launch, engineers need to put on the finishing touches, which means attaching the fins and engines. After that, the ship will take its first test flight as a civilian craft. Keep your eyes on the skies.
When Blimps Collide
Enamored of a world where steam power still rules and machines are big, complicated, and beautiful, steampunk enthusiasts imagine an alternate version of history, where the dress code demands petticoats and suit vests and airships are the most romantic forms of all transportation. As one would expect in a fantasy world, they come in great variety — made for battle, trade, or leisure, they fly over modern cityscapes and bucolic valleys alike.
A Utopian Future
Steampunk originated in novels in the 1960s and 70s before really taking off in later decades. But its influences date back much further, to the work of writers like Jules Verne, HG Wells and Mary Shelley. This image is from a French collecting card made at the turn of the 20th century. The airship at the top is a great example of where many thought technology was headed, and where steampunk fans wish it had gone.
Space-Age Steampunk
There's no telling just what all of the decoration on this airship is there for. If it's there to look cool, mission accomplished. This is a rare steampunk image where a modern city with skyscrapers is involved. Usually the buildings in cities are lower, closer to the average height in 19th century Europe and America.
Travel, Trade, and Whimsy
Airships rule from far the city as well. In this valley, illustrator Tom McGrath explains, a trade airship (note the small size and lack of cannons) has just stopped at the Mountain Goat Inn. It looks like a nice way to travel — you can stand on the deck at the ship's prow or in its crow's nest and look down on the world.
A Fluffy Touch Down
If it weren’t for the giant propeller at the back of this ship, I would guess it came from a scene in The Lord of the Rings. Based on how the passengers are dressed, this seems like a first-class ride. The digital painting is the work of freelance artist and designer Naomi Robinson based on the concept of the "sublime." READ MORE: Should We Live in Inverted Subterranean Skyscrapers?
A Model Ship
The coolest thing about this image is that it's not computer generated. At least, the airship isn't — it's a model made by Cara Packwood, then photographed and set against a sky background. The gears on the side and back of the hull and the metal wings make this the perfect steampunk airship. One commenter on Deviant Art pointed out that the balloon seems too small to carry a ship that size, but that's the advantage of a fantasy world — the laws of physics aren’t binding.
Steampunk Simplified
While steampunk artists are usually drawn to the elaborate — usually with lots of whirring mechanisms — there's room for simplicity in the genre. This illustration by David Wells is titled "Rustic Airship," and is accompanied by a to-the-point-description: "It's an airship. It's pretty old. It's dilapidating."
Party Boat
It seems that steampunk airship travelers can have fun too, based on this dragon-headed, party light-covered ride. Created by Anna Darwinian for her Steampunk Adventures Store on Second Life, you can pilot this ship if you've got an account, but only if you've got the Linden dollars to pay for it.
The Real Deal
The maker of this "airship," which was on display at Maker Faire 2011 in the Bay Area, took things further than anyone whose work was featured on the first eight slides. He built the thing, and put it on wheels. The fact that it's real — not a model, not a drawing, not a computer illustration — more than makes up for its inability to fly. READ MORE: 70-Foot Dragon Art Car Breathes Fire, Is Made from Found Objects READ MORE: Maker Faire NYC: Robots, Lightning, and the Ultimate Rube Goldberg Machine
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