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A Modern Cargo Airship

A high fineness ratio cargo airship is a modern advanced design airship that uses some of the best design characteristics from the past history of dirigibles such as having a long fineness ratio for providing best aerodynamic/buoyancy efficiencies versus payload. The inherent core design feature of the Cargo Airship System (CAS) is a long slender cigar like airship that can provide net payload capability from 20 tons to over 500 tons depending upon overall proportions (size).

CAS is designed to have a minimum of five individual cylindrical buoyant sections. Each individual section interfaces and is connected to each other to complete a large airship with outstanding overall structural integrity. This configuration is capable of transporting greater than or equal to 40,000 pounds of flexible payload (vehicles, pallets, litters, personnel, etc.) at altitudes greater than or equal to 10,000 feet mean sea level (MSL) with a cruise speed greater than or equal to 80 knots and have a range of at least 1,000 nautical miles.

The interface of each section is designed to achieve maximum safety and full control over all structural forces encountered by the airship, including maximum forces of tension, compression, and torsion as encountered by a large-long streamlined style of airship. Overall structural integrity is in excess of 90 f.p.s gust loading, whereas all historical long finesse and rigid dirigibles were structurally limited to 17 f.p.s maximum gust loads. Modern pressure shorter finesse ratio airships such as blimps meet modern approvals of at least a minimum of 35 f.p.s cost load criteria, (a jumbo jet minimum gust load criteria is 65f.p.s.). The, structurally sound, long fineness ratio ‘CAS’ presents a major breakthrough for operational transport efficiencies of payloads with adequate structural integrity in all weather conditions.