rigid hulled airships w/ compressible ballast should come back under socialism tbh
one of few transportation methods on par w trains for efficiency and payload capacity
plus theyre cool, despite all the hard work steampunk has done to make them uncool
also trains like already make sense for a lot of (most of) land applications, but rigid hulled airships represent a pretty fucking significant efficiency bump over cargo ships, and, during a process of industrialization and building of railways, the costs of hangars and mooring towers in the interim period suddenly doesnt look so bad for overland transit
also potentially unpopular opinion but for p much anything other than military use, hydrogen is probably a better ballast choice than helium, it cant be overstated how much easier it is to get, and the dangers arent anywhere near as bad as most people think so long as the ship is properly designed
more notes on airships
- their way more efficient than HTA aircraft, the reason capitalists look at them only for cargo and not passengers is that the speed of HTA aircraft is highly valued; in a society that didnt place such emphasis on rushed travel, with short vacations and busy holidays, an airship taking longer to get where its going isnt so bad, similar to planes vs sleeper trains
- despite their massive size, they dont really require much more overall airport space because their vtol capabilities obviate the need for runways (for themselves anyways), tho they do require more hangar space
- they compare fairly well to oceangoing ships; both employ neutral buoyancy to stay afloat and only needs thrust power for moving; both have delayed reaction on pilot input so theyre steered similarly; the fundamental difference is the medium in which they operate, and air has a lot lot lot less drag than water, hence the much better efficiency
- theyre really cool and passenger airships were cool as shit and could be even cooler now
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