Granted, Politico dudes, July 5 is generally a slow news day. But did you really have to lead with U.S. military’s newest weapon against China and Russia: Hot air? Lee Hudson has the, well, breathless scoop: The Pentagon is working on a new plan to rise above competition from China and Russia: balloons. The high-altitude…
Tag: blimps
Blimps are back, baby! Big time! Sort of!
Oh, yeah, baby, blimps—or rather rigid-frame airships—are back! This time, for sure! Why do I care? Well, settle back in your easy chair, and smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, because the backstory for this post is intense! Close to 40 years ago, I worked with “Dee”,1 a woman who, in addition to a Ph.D….
Mine’s bigger! What the “free enterprise” space race is really about
That’s the mighty, if not almighty, SpaceX Falcon 9 blasting off into space, Elon Musk’s baby and humankind’s first step to the stars, at least as Elon tells it. Right below is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s “Stratolaunch,” the world’s biggest airplane, which hasn’t actually flown yet, but when it does, watch out! Because it will…
The blimps are back, baby!
In the unlikely event that you frequent this blog often, you may remember that I’ve been running a sporadic, very largely tongue in cheek series of articles about blimps,1 revolving around the fact that people keep bringing them “back” despite the fact that they never work. About a year ago, modern blimps hit first a…
Today in Blimp News: Airlander 10 “Flying Arse” readies for take-off
Over a year ago I made remark of the fact that every ten years or so, the lamestream media runs a “Here Come the Blimps” feature predicting a stunning renaissance in lighter-than-air craft, a renaissance that, sadly, never seems to pan out. Last fall, I reprised my skepticism when a U.S. Army blimp, moored outside…
Q: What’s the difference between a blimp and a bomber? A: There isn’t any!
If you’re at all blimp-aware, you’re certainly cognizant of the sudden demise of the U.S. Army’s Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, provoked when one of the two JLACMDENSS blimps went rogue, accidentally shorting out the power to about 20,000 folks before being shot down over eastern Pennsylvania by state police,…
I predicted this!
Well, I did. A year ago I wrote a tongue in cheek piece on blimps, noting that, every ten years or so, we’re told that “they’re coming back.” And then, a year or so later, we’re told “not yet.” The latest “not yet” misadventure has cost the U.S. tax payer $2.7 billion, as anti-missile blimps…
Here come the blimps! Rinse, and repeat every ten years
Way back in the day, so far back that Ronald Reagan still had a functioning short-term memory, I worked for a very smart woman who had an odd passion for blimps. Not dirigibles, mind you. Dee was totally not a rigid frame gal. I don’t know why she insisted on the distinction so, you know,…