In my simpleton mind, I cannot understand why we do not use more blimps for transporting goods. Seems engines and fuel could be done with solar, also seems like they could be automated. Is it simply not cost effective? Is it dangerous even though modern blimps use helium? Eli5.
In: Engineering
We stopped using airships because they need extremely large hangars to maintain them.
[Compare the size of a Boeing 747 to the Hindenberg](https://www.airships.net/wp-content/uploads/hindenburg-747-comparison.jpg)
Think of the building you would need to house something that big.
The Modern Goodyear Blimp is actually around the same scale as a 747 but carry much much less.
Helium is also expensive and usually only as a byproduct of fossil fuel manufacture. Also in a few disasters it suffocated the crew.
Hydrogen is also flammable.
Both are hard to keep contained as they are tiny atoms in tiny molecules.
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