Image shows Spirit of Dubai - The Palm, on the UK leg of her 2006 tour. Note the scale of the airship from the two technicians standing below her. Photo by: Antony McCallum

I have written in the past about airships as a green option to today’s dirty aviation. Since the disaster with Hindenburg in May 1937 we haven’t heard much from them. But now, when the fuel prices are rising, more and more people are looking towards their direction again.

This week the US navy announced that they were going to acquire a Skyship 600 (see picture above), which is almost as large as a Boeing 747. The manned airship will help the US coast guard chase smugglers between Florida’s southern coast and Cuba.

George Spyrou, president of Airship Management Services Inc, said that the airship is “considered a very green machine,” and added that a “regular jet uses more fuel to travel from the gate to the taxiway than we would to fly for a whole week.”

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The manned airship will help the US coast guard chase smugglers between Florida’s southern coast and Cuba.

They have another attribute that makes them ideal, lack of noise, that means they could cover lots of territory and may never be seen.

They have another attribute that makes them ideal, lack of noise, that means they could cover lots of territory and may never be seen.

yeah but it isn't very discreet, with clear sky it could be easily spotted by smugglers

Image shows Spirit of Dubai - The Palm, on the UK leg of her 2006 tour.

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Gosh 2006, I remember The Palm flying over work. It did a few circles before flying on. Very quiet, almost stationary in the sky above.