PROGRESS ON THE HYDROGEN CLIPPER

      From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

        DAY   USA  WORLD       Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9    1093     4732         1185        246       82

July    22     1205     7128         1293      1120     572

Aug    12     1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9     1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21     1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25      2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30      3880    14748       1224       299      465

Jan     14      4142    15512        1151       189     712              

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

Mar     2        1989      9490        1726       110      194

April   6          906     11787         4211       631       37

May    4         853     13667         3025     3786       59 

June    1         287    10637        2346      3205       95

 July   7          251      8440        1595        817      411

Aug    4          656    10120        1118        532      423 

Sept   1        1480    10470          703        505      235

          8        1700      9836          250        339      253

        14        1934      9001          709        281      300

        22        2228      9326          839        279      124

        29        2190      8859          643        309      108 

Oct    6        2102       8255         543        315        59

        12        1819       7544         201        249        37

        19        2005       7528         401        160        80 

        26        1451       7535         409        584        53

        27        1594       8671         433        734        62

Nov   3         1436       7830         186        458        23 

          4         1207      7009         184        480        35 

Summary:  I'll reserve comment until we see the data for tomorrow.  I did, though, look closer at the Worldometer numbers for new cases yesterday, and noted that Europe, particularly the former Soviet countries, are experiencing a serious upsurge.  If you're imminently leaving on a trip to Europe, you should be aware that WHO officials announced that the region has again become the epicenter of the pandemic.  There has been a 50% jump in cases during past month, making it the only region showing this kind of increase.  The usual reasons are given:  colder weather forcing people indoors, stall in vaccinations and opening up of the economy. 

The Hindenburg in the 1930's was the only dirigible to establish a regular transatlantic service at a maximum speed of 84 mph.  It had a crew of 40 and cabins for 50 passengers.  The 804 foot long ship (three times longer than a 747) was designed to use helium, but the U.S. had a monopoly over it, so Germany switched to hydrogen, which provided an 8% higher lift.  The frame was duralumin and cotton cloth cover was varnished with iron oxide  and cellulose acetate butyrate impregnated with aluminum powder.  

A close colleague, Addison Bain of NASA, wrote a book linking the Hindenburg disaster of 1937 to this coating.  Surely you saw the video of this New Jersey crash, captured by Herbert Morrison's voice.  The amazing thing is that 62 of the passenger/crew of 97 survived.  The airship era died 84 years ago.

Few even know that the then world's largest airship, the British R101 in 1930 also crashed, in France, killing 548 of the 54 aboard. We remember the Hindenburg because it was all captured on film.  In 1939 Pan American began operation of the Boeing 314 for passenger service across the Atlantic.

The Goodyear blimp you see at sports events has a cruising speed of 35 mph, but can go as fast as 50 mph.  It is filled with helium.

H2 Clipper, Inc. sent me an announcement that they had been granted another U.S. Patent for a lighter-than air craft to accelerate the hydrogen economy. This is their seventh patent focusing on all aspects of the design.

Founded in 2008, their plans, according to CEO Rinaldo Brutoco, is to build a flying prototype by 2024.  

• They hope to utilize this green fuel to transport freight 7-10 times faster than ship, truck or rail, at a 70% savings over traditional air freight.
• 30 countries have released hydrogen roadmaps.
• 200 projects have been announced by industry with $70 billion in public funding.
• Present design shows a vehicle with an air speed of 175+ mph.
• The vertical take-off will change the whole concept of shipping by air.
• This will be the only climate friendly option.

A long time ago I discussed with Brutoco the potential of his fast dirigible, which I originally called Hawaii Hydrogen Clipper, as the vehicle of choice for Blue Revolution floating cities.  Our platforms will utilize ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) to produce hydrogen, and his ships will provide passenger service and for refueling/exporting hydrogen.  Hopefully, the H2 Clipper will be able to become operational by 2050 when our first floating city hosts the World Expo during the Fall into the Winter when hurricanes are not a threat.  After the world's fair, the marine city will be towed closer to the equator where hurricanes do not go.

You ask, what about another Hindenburg disaster?  I have reason to believe that an airship can be designed to avoid any hydrogen explosion.  The H2 Clipper will pave the way for the Orient Express, a commercial jet flying using hydrogen to operate at 17,000 miles/hour, which would take you from Los Angeles to Tokyo in less than a hour.  Perhaps the National Aerospace Plane at Mach 2.7 would come first, reducing a New York City to Paris nonstop from 14 to 4 hours.  I take special pride in writing about this subject, for I drafted the original hydrogen bill for the U.S. Senate in 1980, which included this aircraft.

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