Google co-founder Sergey Brin is reportedly constructing a secret airship

midian182

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Larry Page isn’t the only Google co-founder with an interest in flying vehicles. According to a Bloomberg report, Sergey Brin has secretly been building his own massive airship inside a NASA hanger.

The report cites four people with knowledge of the craft, which is said to look like a zeppelin. The vehicle “isn’t an Alphabet project,” but there’s no word on whether it’s just an expensive hobby for Brin or the start of what might become a new business.

"Sorry, I don't have anything to say about this topic right now," the Alphabet president wrote in an email.

Airships are said to be a longtime passion for the billionaire, who was reportedly compelled to build his own after visiting NASA’s Ames Research Center and seeing photos of the USS Macon being constructed by the US Navy in the 1930s.

Google unit Planetary Ventures took over the hangers from NASA in 2015, turning them into labs. The metal skeleton of Brin’s airship is said to fill up much of hanger 2.

Alan Weston, a British-educated aeronautics expert born to Australian parents, is leading the project. In a 2013 interview, he spoke about an airship using a system of “breathing” as a fuel-efficient way to carry 500 tons of cargo. The craft could carry loads directly to their locations, rather than relying on transport centers such as airports.

It seems zeppelins are once again becoming a viable method of transportation. The world’s largest aircraft, the Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander (above), was originally developed for the military, but the manufacturer believes it can be used for delivering goods in hard to reach locations, communications, and even passenger travel.

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Didn't we determine already with the last Zeppelin crash that experienced Zeppelin pilots are an endangered species? Maybe if we're lucky some young beancounter will decide to use hydrogen in it due to the helium shortage and consequent high price..."If we use hydrogen it will improve the bottom line!"
 
I mean these guys still can't tell you what causes lift on a wing and here they are again, flying around in huge ridiculous balloons. #Nincompoop
 
Goodyear has operated airships for decades and we use to see one over the Rose Bowl and Super Bowl.

One was operated adjacent to the 405 freeway near Torrance, CA for years - - another from Akron, OH. These were filled with Helium, and obviously not WW II Hydrogen which brought down the Hindenburg.

And yes, all airships are very sensitive to the weather - - the cause of the loss of the USS Macon off Monterey Bay, CA
and was operated from the US Naval Station at Sunnyvale, CA
 
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