What is you guys excuse?
I think I know what you mean!
I object to the fact that so much spin and 'economical-with-the-truthisms' surrounds this project. It appears to prey upon those that want to believe and leverages the hard earned cash from these believers. Initially we were told that this project would be able to fly for a month with a significant surveillance payload - this proved wrong on both endurance (which is actually less than a 15% of the expected time on station) and anyone he knew anything about flying or airborne ISTAR knew this was a dumb idea anyway on a number of levels (if I recall correctly one of the capability ISTAR advisors (that ended up working for HAV) a few years was from the land environment, so it's hardly surprising). Then we were told it needs no significant ground support - apart from a massive hangar at Cardington, a mooring post (I saw that the ground had been prepared for this at Cardington when I flew past the other day) and a whole bunch of "Santa's little helpers". The payload is woefully small and it's speed is very slow (with even a moderate 40kt headwind a trains and roadfreight will outrun it). The latest made up task is "won't it be great to take a dozen or so rich tourists on sightseeing/wildlife tours?" - well there is a massive market for that, isn't there? What a waste of money...and it all appears to be based upon apparent lies.
How would I spend the money wasted on this project? I agree that STEM projects in this country are worthwhile investing in. How about investing in General Aviation:
- the Single Seat De Regulated (SSDR) market is one where only small amounts of certification work is needed to see aircraft fly. I'm not talking about aircraft like the 'E-Go' (
http://www.e-goaeroplanes.com/wp-con...March-2016.pdf) which is also somewhat doomed due to its high cost, but for a more simple and affordable aircraft.
- how about spending the money on resurgence of youth gliding in the UK? We all know that that the Air Cadets have been let down badly. But generating youth involvement in gliding, or even the lesser certified end of powered flying like microlights/permit aircraft, generates interest that leads to motivated individuals working in that sector.
- finding a certifiable non-cooperative solution to 'sense and avoid' for drones and/or light aircraft might prove more lucrative than a re-invented gas bag?
There are bound to be many other projects with more potential than my 5 minute's of musing; and it certainly isn't a re-invented airship.
LJ