Oh, The Humanity!

USS Los Angeles over Manhattan, 1930

There is a growing section of the green community that is enamoured with airships. I have to admit, I can see the appeal and wouldn't mind having a go on one myself.

But it's not people-transport that the modern day blimp is being designed for. It's cargo.

As long as your freight is not time-sensitive, then an airship could potentially offer the greenest way to deliver your goods from A to B.

There are other advantages too. Can you imagine fully-assembled wind turbines being delivered from the factory to the hillside without touching a bit of tarmac? How about getting those supplies into a small jungle clearance?

I said it could potentially be the greenest form of transport- there's a lot of surface area in which to install solar panels, and that's exactly what the French team in this report are trying to do. They plan a test flight over the Channel soon.

Still, as much as I'd like to fly on one, I wouldn't like to be one of the guys holding a rope at the end of the report!