Is Turtle Airships just full of hot air?

by Katie Hammel on

On Tuesday, I wrote about Turtle Airships, a company that’s trying to produce a solar-powered amphibious “airship” capable of crossing the Atlantic. While we weren’t exactly flooded with responses over the post, we did get a few concerned comments from members of the Lighter-than-Air community. Yes, there is a whole community dedicated to blimps, zeppelins, and airships, and yes those are all different things (see, we’re learning so much here).

Apparently, there are some airship enthusiasts who aren’t quite convinced that the folks over at Turtle Airships have their heads on straight. Darrell Campbell, CEO and designer of Turtle Airships, would of course, beg to differ. The company’s slapdash website and offer of a free ride to anyone who ponies up $10 for an e-book doesn’t help their credibility, but poor marketing skills and a questionable product don’t necessarily make a company any less sincere.

Some skeptics say that the mechanics behind Campbell’s plan just don’t add up, while more vocal detractors think the whole thing is a ruse to swindle money out of the gullible. Only time will tell if they are right, so you may not want to buy that Transatlantic airship ticket just yet.

Solar airship will fly from NYC to Paris

by Katie Hammel on

First, let’s just get this out of the way: it is not, I repeat not, a blimp. Whew! Okay. . . Turtle Airships (a Spanish company that seems to have some intense aversion to the word “blimp”) is working on an airship that will make the journey from NYC to Paris, powered predominantly by the sun.

The top half of the blimp airship will be covered in solar panels that will store energy in batteries and use it to power four electric motors. The craft will also have a biodiesel engine as a back-up so the ship can fly in bad weather and at night. It will be able to take off vertically, land on ground or in water, and travel at around 40 miles per hour in ideal weather (making for a very long Transatlantic journey).

The airship is having a bit of difficulty getting off the ground at this point though, due to lack of funds. Turtle Airships is working on a prototype and hoping that as buzz for the project increases, so will the financing. Once the cash comes in, they say they’re ready for lift-off.

Until then, you can indulge your Goodyear fantasies with Airship Ventures, which offers Zeppelin flights from several California cities, ranging from $199 to $600 per person.

[via Wired]