Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
Helicopters and autogyros are less fuel efficient. But a well built autogyro (also airship) has the advantage over a fixed wing aircraft of not being able to stall.
Airships have the potential of being more fuel efficient. But I guess there are fixed wing aircraft that are pretty fuel efficient too.
My dream aircraft would be an airship covered in lightweight solar cells.
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1) with a gyrocopter, pay attention to doppler radar advisories.
2) A friend's dad was a very experienced, high-time gyrocopter pilot, however, bought the farm in a micro-burst downdraft.
3) Seems like Leonardo DiCaprio's Howard Hughes dialogue about the Lockheed Constellation, in The AVIATOR, foreshadowed the demise of the airship: Once a fixed-wing could fly 'above the weather', the smoothness and efficiency of large airships would lose ground to the speed of heavier-than-air travel. The Concord SST would be an extreme example.
4) People really bit on the notion: 'time is money.'