An Airship That Will Clip The Sky

Is It Too Soon For Airborn Balloon Surveillance?

Envisioned by German general and inventor, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, in 1874 during the American Civil War, the blimp (or Zeppelin) has since become a symbol for inventive aeronautics. Though it has been deemed controversial thanks to the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, travelling in a Zeppelin has been making a slow comeback. Take French-founded Flying Whales, for example, who use supermassive blimps to take supermassive payloads using inventive ways in cutting down the environmental impact. The blimp is slowly making a come-back, alright.

Enter the H2 Clipper, the latest in long-haul freight travel by US, zero-emission visionaries, H2. Though not necessarily used for public consumption, the Clipper is going to be a fantastic addition to carrying tons of cargo in a cheaper (and less environmentally impactful) way. By using their state-of-the-art tech, they too are paving the way for a less impactful travel for big loads. It also helps in the pocket by being able to transport over one million pounds of liquified hydrogen, which will cost far lower than truck transport, supertanker routes, or rail lines.

Speed, to put it lightly, is very important when it comes to carrying massive amounts of cargo by liquid hydrogen. No matter the quality of the container, naturally the hydrogen will ‘boil-off’ over time. That’s why each propeller on the H2 Clipper will be powered by an electric motor at a top range of 9,656km/h and a top-speed of 281km/h. With the aircraft’s design—a sturdy frame, triangular-patterned exo-skeleton, pointed nose and aerodynamic shape—it’s set to be ultra-zippy in the sky, even though it has 10 times more cargo volume than conventional freighter aircraft.
If all things go to plan, H2 are expected to have their first prototype in the air by 2025.