Giant Turtle Airships: The Future of Aviation?

An ambitious company has created the plans for a humanitarian aid aircraft shaped like a giant turtle that would run on renewable energy and have the ability to land and take off straight up and down like a helicopter. The company hopes to use it for aid and rescue missions. We sure could have used something like this during the recent Midwest floods, the earthquakes in China, Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami and countless other natural disasters.

From Environmental Graffiti:

Powered by solar panels during the day and bio-diesel at night, the airship is an intriguing concept. It cruises at speeds comparable to some airplanes and can take off and land straight up and down like a helicopter. It can even to take on water ballast and act like a boat, enabling it to land just about anywhere - deserts, mountain lakes, swamps or the middle of the ocean - and the first prototype will make its maiden flight in 2009.

The plan is to use the airships to carry humanitarian relief to disaster victims around the world, where they can function as flying hospitals complete with emergency surgery rooms and medical equipment. The craft can also carry large amounts of supplies such as food, water purification systems and medicine, as well as doctors, nurses and search and rescue personnel. There’s more in the press release about the company’s investment plans ($200 million by 2012) and expected initial public offering ($3 billion in 2015), including dashed plans for deployment by the US Department of Defense as military transport.

It hardly looks like it could be real, but, this is an exciting time to be alive – green technology is advancing quickly and I think we’re going to be seeing some really amazing things in the next couple of decades.

Link [Environmental Graffiti]