Amazon warehouse blimp!  What could go wrong? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: HP-ILnerd
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 06:35:30 am
content: If this happens, the future will be turning out weirder than I ever imagined:http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/12/amazons-demented-plans-for-its-warehouse-blimp-with-drone-fleet/

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 06:45:41 am
content: Yeah, just saw it on our national 6pm evening news, a mini Hindenburg just waiting to happen.

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 06:51:22 am
content: It's like a capitalist 1984 waiting to happen.

author: alanb
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 09:28:21 am
content: Quote from: tautech on December 30, 2016, 06:45:41 amThey will be using helium not hydrogen.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 10:14:26 am
content: "drones for advertising"lemme get myshotgundone jammer

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 10:57:26 am
content: .

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 11:22:23 am
content: Don't forget the Shenandoah (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shenandoah_(ZR-1) ). Blimps and dirigibles have a problem with strong winds.John

author: chickenHeadKnob
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 12:44:51 pm
content: You guys are such pessimists. I dream of free stuff falling from the sky. Especialy after I mess up the delivery drone's flight controls with high power directed RF energy.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 12:48:28 pm
content: Careful what you wish for .... I've currently got an episode of "Air Crash Investigations" running on the TV - on El Al Flight 1862 ... where a Jumbo jet lost two engines - as in: they fell off the wing.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 12:49:41 pm
content: Keep looking up.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 04:00:19 pm
content: 747's were kind of fine losing one engine, there were a few cases of them taking off with 4, and landing the other side with 3, number 4 having gone for a swim somewhere in the Atlantic. Traced to a combination of cracked mounting points and faulty pins, and a few to improper repair AFAIKR.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 04:08:30 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on December 30, 2016, 04:00:19 pmSometimes they take off with only 80% of the engines workingOne of many examples is:

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 04:11:18 pm
content: What could go wrong?Light aircraft, gliders and balloons don't necessarily have transponders, so they cannot be reliably "sensed". Background: when flying it is "see and avoid", but there are proposals to change that to "sense and avoid".

author: boffin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 05:36:14 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on December 30, 2016, 04:11:18 pmIn North America, the airspace around most major cities/airports requires a [Mode C] transponder withing 25-30nmNotice the big red circle around KSEA airport with the notation on it "Mode C 30 nm".https://skyvector.com/?ll=47.49168884935931,-122.2559967005541&chart=301&zoom=3These days you really do have to live in the boonies to avoid transponder airspace (although I have flown a non-transponder equipped aircraft into KBFI, before that circle was established, and that required staying below 900 ft for the last 15 miles or so)

author: m98
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 05:37:33 pm
content: Quote from: tautech on December 30, 2016, 06:45:41 amWhat was so particularly bad about the Hindenburg disaster that everyone always brings it up when lighter-than-air aircraft or hydrogen based technologies are considered? Why won't they mention the Tenerife airport disaster always when airliners and fossil fuels are concerned? I mean, most of the 583 fatalities were caused by the burning kerosene. For comparison, the Hindenburg had only 35 fatalities out of 97 people on board.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 05:57:53 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on December 30, 2016, 04:08:30 pmhow else do you transport a complete engine, it does not fit through the door into the cargo bay unless you take it apart, and in that case you need to take a crew and tooling along to install it. Complete unit is a lot faster to install, and you need less than half the equipment. You also save around 3km of locking wire as well.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 05:58:20 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on December 30, 2016, 04:00:19 pmYes, but the one that @Brumby was referring to lost BOTH engines on ONE wing. And apparently it wasn't immediately obvious to the cockpit crew because you can't actually see any of the engines from there.

author: boffin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 06:08:22 pm
content: Quote from: Richard Crowley on December 30, 2016, 05:58:20 pmThe 747 is quite remarkable, and UAL811 actually limped back to PHNL having lost both engines on the right side (#3/#4), and a giant hole in the side of the fuselage.https://www.tailstrike.com/240289.htm

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2016, 06:50:03 pm
content: I know of one pilot that arrived back at his forward base with half an engine. The rear half had been removed by a SAM, but the turbine side was still functional, though he lost most of the hydraulics, rear controls and his brake parachute. He landed it, and stopped just short of the berm at the far end, having used all of the runway, the overshoot and running on bare ground before he was able to stop.Apparently by the time the fire brigade made it down to him he had opened the canopy, undone himself from the seat, gotten out and down, and was having a cigarette to calm his nerves. Seat was still armed, it gets messy if you accidentally trigger Mr Martin Baker's finest product while not securely attached to it, those charges do not mess around, they have to get you well away before the tail comes to impale you, or to get you high enough for the parachute to deploy before impact.

author: HP-ILnerd
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2016, 01:05:56 am
content: Blimps aren't renowned for their speed, right? ~100kph max? I expect a "warehouse" blimp would be even less nimble? Would not a regular warehouse equipped with a tower and a little elevator to release drones at the target altitude be more practical? That way the whole set up (warehouse anyway) would be immune from storms, etc. and your drones don't have to waste energy climbing while burdened. Am I missing something?Only problem I see then is all the freaking drones zooming around the city...