How could an airship be repaired midflight?How could a sail powered airship work?Airship Aircraft Carrier DimensionsFlying Battleship/ Armored Airship CombatAirship weapons, glidersHow could something fly (steampunk tech) without lifting gas?Airship lifeboats, design alternativesHow to sail into the wind on an airship?How could an airship made of magic wood propel itself through the sky without an engine?Smallest possible size for a manned airshipAirship Propulsion System
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How could an airship be repaired midflight?
How could a sail powered airship work?Airship Aircraft Carrier DimensionsFlying Battleship/ Armored Airship CombatAirship weapons, glidersHow could something fly (steampunk tech) without lifting gas?Airship lifeboats, design alternativesHow to sail into the wind on an airship?How could an airship made of magic wood propel itself through the sky without an engine?Smallest possible size for a manned airshipAirship Propulsion System
$begingroup$
In the scene of one of my stories, an airship gets hit by a violent storm. Apart from exploding (which isn't helpful to the main character), what other things could go wrong that would be fixable?
Most of the examples I can find online of airship problems almost always resulted in total disaster. Some thoughts I have are: fixing a rudder, hull damage that could be patched, or some other result of high turbulence or lightning. Perhaps a fire? This is an American airship, so it's using helium and isn't subject to igniting like the hydrogen airships.
airships steampunk
edited yesterday
Peter Mortensen
23316
asked 2 days ago
AustinAustin
10014
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|
show 14 more comments
$begingroup$
In the scene of one of my stories, an airship gets hit by a violent storm. Apart from exploding (which isn't helpful to the main character), what other things could go wrong that would be fixable?
Most of the examples I can find online of airship problems almost always resulted in total disaster. Some thoughts I have are: fixing a rudder, hull damage that could be patched, or some other result of high turbulence or lightning. Perhaps a fire? This is an American airship, so it's using helium and isn't subject to igniting like the hydrogen airships.
airships steampunk
edited yesterday
Peter Mortensen
23316
asked 2 days ago
AustinAustin
10014
New contributor
Austin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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33
$begingroup$
Duct tape is the answer. It's always the answer.
$endgroup$
– farmersteve
2 days ago
8
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! - Just a note that your title asks, "How can an airship be repaired mid-flight..." but the body of the question appears to be, "What might go wrong midflight?" This may give rise to different types of answer. Maybe a title like, "What airship disasters can realistically be repaired mid-flight?" might be more accurate. (?)
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
2 days ago
9
$begingroup$
@SteveS. Duct tape is for everyday. What the OP needs is gaffer's tape. Now that fixes everything.
$endgroup$
– Cyn
2 days ago
14
$begingroup$
Go to airships.net and read. Airships were designed to be repaired in flight. They are ships, after all; travel times were on the order of days (typically two and a half days to cross the Atlantic, five days from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro), not hours.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
2 days ago
12
$begingroup$
Airships dont really explode. Even the Hindenburg when it was fully aflame just fell down while flames engulfed it, and it did this so slowly (as it was already landing) that most of the occupants could get out. And while storms are dangerous, Airships are actually extremely resilient to storms and most accidents were human made rather than environmental, such as being so confident in their airship's capabilities that they braved storms too tough to handle and get destroyed from being blown against a Mountain rather than things breaking. Rule of thumb: max speed (100 to 130km) is maximum storm
$endgroup$
– Demigan
2 days ago
|
show 14 more comments
$begingroup$
In the scene of one of my stories, an airship gets hit by a violent storm. Apart from exploding (which isn't helpful to the main character), what other things could go wrong that would be fixable?
Most of the examples I can find online of airship problems almost always resulted in total disaster. Some thoughts I have are: fixing a rudder, hull damage that could be patched, or some other result of high turbulence or lightning. Perhaps a fire? This is an American airship, so it's using helium and isn't subject to igniting like the hydrogen airships.
airships steampunk
edited yesterday
Peter Mortensen
23316
asked 2 days ago
AustinAustin
10014
New contributor
Austin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
$endgroup$
In the scene of one of my stories, an airship gets hit by a violent storm. Apart from exploding (which isn't helpful to the main character), what other things could go wrong that would be fixable?
Most of the examples I can find online of airship problems almost always resulted in total disaster. Some thoughts I have are: fixing a rudder, hull damage that could be patched, or some other result of high turbulence or lightning. Perhaps a fire? This is an American airship, so it's using helium and isn't subject to igniting like the hydrogen airships.
airships steampunk
airships steampunk
edited yesterday
Peter Mortensen
23316
asked 2 days ago
AustinAustin
10014
New contributor
Austin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited yesterday
Peter Mortensen
23316
asked 2 days ago
AustinAustin
10014
New contributor
Austin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited yesterday
Peter Mortensen
23316
edited yesterday
Peter Mortensen
23316
edited yesterday
Peter Mortensen
23316
23316
asked 2 days ago
AustinAustin
10014
New contributor
Austin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 days ago
AustinAustin
10014
asked 2 days ago
AustinAustin
10014
10014
New contributor
Austin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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New contributor
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33
$begingroup$
Duct tape is the answer. It's always the answer.
$endgroup$
– farmersteve
2 days ago
8
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! - Just a note that your title asks, "How can an airship be repaired mid-flight..." but the body of the question appears to be, "What might go wrong midflight?" This may give rise to different types of answer. Maybe a title like, "What airship disasters can realistically be repaired mid-flight?" might be more accurate. (?)
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
2 days ago
9
$begingroup$
@SteveS. Duct tape is for everyday. What the OP needs is gaffer's tape. Now that fixes everything.
$endgroup$
– Cyn
2 days ago
14
$begingroup$
Go to airships.net and read. Airships were designed to be repaired in flight. They are ships, after all; travel times were on the order of days (typically two and a half days to cross the Atlantic, five days from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro), not hours.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
2 days ago
12
$begingroup$
Airships dont really explode. Even the Hindenburg when it was fully aflame just fell down while flames engulfed it, and it did this so slowly (as it was already landing) that most of the occupants could get out. And while storms are dangerous, Airships are actually extremely resilient to storms and most accidents were human made rather than environmental, such as being so confident in their airship's capabilities that they braved storms too tough to handle and get destroyed from being blown against a Mountain rather than things breaking. Rule of thumb: max speed (100 to 130km) is maximum storm
$endgroup$
– Demigan
2 days ago
|
show 14 more comments
33
$begingroup$
Duct tape is the answer. It's always the answer.
$endgroup$
– farmersteve
2 days ago
8
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! - Just a note that your title asks, "How can an airship be repaired mid-flight..." but the body of the question appears to be, "What might go wrong midflight?" This may give rise to different types of answer. Maybe a title like, "What airship disasters can realistically be repaired mid-flight?" might be more accurate. (?)
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
2 days ago
9
$begingroup$
@SteveS. Duct tape is for everyday. What the OP needs is gaffer's tape. Now that fixes everything.
$endgroup$
– Cyn
2 days ago
14
$begingroup$
Go to airships.net and read. Airships were designed to be repaired in flight. They are ships, after all; travel times were on the order of days (typically two and a half days to cross the Atlantic, five days from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro), not hours.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
2 days ago
12
$begingroup$
Airships dont really explode. Even the Hindenburg when it was fully aflame just fell down while flames engulfed it, and it did this so slowly (as it was already landing) that most of the occupants could get out. And while storms are dangerous, Airships are actually extremely resilient to storms and most accidents were human made rather than environmental, such as being so confident in their airship's capabilities that they braved storms too tough to handle and get destroyed from being blown against a Mountain rather than things breaking. Rule of thumb: max speed (100 to 130km) is maximum storm
$endgroup$
– Demigan
2 days ago
33
33
$begingroup$
Duct tape is the answer. It's always the answer.
$endgroup$
– farmersteve
2 days ago
$begingroup$
Duct tape is the answer. It's always the answer.
$endgroup$
– farmersteve
2 days ago
8
8
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! - Just a note that your title asks, "How can an airship be repaired mid-flight..." but the body of the question appears to be, "What might go wrong midflight?" This may give rise to different types of answer. Maybe a title like, "What airship disasters can realistically be repaired mid-flight?" might be more accurate. (?)
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
2 days ago
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! - Just a note that your title asks, "How can an airship be repaired mid-flight..." but the body of the question appears to be, "What might go wrong midflight?" This may give rise to different types of answer. Maybe a title like, "What airship disasters can realistically be repaired mid-flight?" might be more accurate. (?)
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
2 days ago
9
9
$begingroup$
@SteveS. Duct tape is for everyday. What the OP needs is gaffer's tape. Now that fixes everything.
$endgroup$
– Cyn
2 days ago
$begingroup$
@SteveS. Duct tape is for everyday. What the OP needs is gaffer's tape. Now that fixes everything.
$endgroup$
– Cyn
2 days ago
14
14
$begingroup$
Go to airships.net and read. Airships were designed to be repaired in flight. They are ships, after all; travel times were on the order of days (typically two and a half days to cross the Atlantic, five days from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro), not hours.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
2 days ago
$begingroup$
Go to airships.net and read. Airships were designed to be repaired in flight. They are ships, after all; travel times were on the order of days (typically two and a half days to cross the Atlantic, five days from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro), not hours.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
2 days ago
12
12
$begingroup$
Airships dont really explode. Even the Hindenburg when it was fully aflame just fell down while flames engulfed it, and it did this so slowly (as it was already landing) that most of the occupants could get out. And while storms are dangerous, Airships are actually extremely resilient to storms and most accidents were human made rather than environmental, such as being so confident in their airship's capabilities that they braved storms too tough to handle and get destroyed from being blown against a Mountain rather than things breaking. Rule of thumb: max speed (100 to 130km) is maximum storm
$endgroup$
– Demigan
2 days ago
$begingroup$
Airships dont really explode. Even the Hindenburg when it was fully aflame just fell down while flames engulfed it, and it did this so slowly (as it was already landing) that most of the occupants could get out. And while storms are dangerous, Airships are actually extremely resilient to storms and most accidents were human made rather than environmental, such as being so confident in their airship's capabilities that they braved storms too tough to handle and get destroyed from being blown against a Mountain rather than things breaking. Rule of thumb: max speed (100 to 130km) is maximum storm
$endgroup$
– Demigan
2 days ago
|
show 14 more comments
10 Answers
10
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
- The outer skin of a zeppelin could start to rip. Someone would have to go on top to sew it up and stop the rip.
- Internally, bracing struts might snap and need to be replaced.
- Many airships had engine pods which were designed for in-flight maintenance.
- Malfunctions might make it necessary to go to the ballast tanks and manually release them. (First image on this page).
answered 2 days ago
o.m.o.m.
62.1k790202
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt: Repairing the Hull of the Graf Zeppelin During the Flight over the Atlantic, 1934
answered 2 days ago
RogerRoger
3,333419
$endgroup$
6
$begingroup$
:-) Yes, this is proof-of-concept, but a bit more detail (including a list of the types of things that could be fixed this way) would improve this answer substantially.
$endgroup$
– JBH
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@JBH While I don't disagree that this answer could do with some words explaining HOW they're repairing it, I think it's a bit more than proof of concept!
$endgroup$
– UKMonkey
8 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
A failure that's quite likely in a violent storm is damage to fins, rudders, or elevators. Presuming these are built similarly to what they were on the Zeppelins of the 1900-1940 era, turbulence could snap rudder cable, tear off guy attachments, fracture and buckle ribs or spars, even tear fabric covering.
None of these present a great danger of an immediate crash, just extra drama trying to control pitch by shifting fuel and water ballast, or steer with differential thrust (throttle up starboard engines, idle port side, to turn slowly to port). Even better, all are repairable without landing, at least to the extend of jury rigging something to restore limited control until the ship can land in a safe place.
answered 2 days ago
Zeiss IkonZeiss Ikon
1,683114
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The engine could break down. If your engine is a steam engine this could be anything from the fire going out to the boiler rupturing/exploding.
Also if the propellers are driven by chains (or similar) they might break. That might require someone to go outside to affix a new chain.
answered 2 days ago
mwarrenmwarren
1593
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
There's an answer here that talks about the USS Macon having landed safely after experiencing structural damage. How? Because the entire drivetrain still worked. Dead in the water is one thing. Dead in the air, is dead. +1
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– Mazura
2 days ago
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Is this based on any actual airships, or are you just giving us a word salad of random retro tech?
$endgroup$
– Harper
yesterday
$begingroup$
@Harper All airships ran on combustion engines. ;-) However some (namely the two large US ships) had them inside the hull, allowing the gondolas to be much smaller, lowering their air resistance. So hey must have had a transmission belt or Cardan.
$endgroup$
– Karl
15 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
First, read: Airship R505
Here are some of the things that can go wrong:
- Damaged engines
- Damaged propellers
- Leaking fuel
- Damaged fuel lines
- Leaking gas
- Low gas and low ballast from maneuvers during the storm
- Ripped gas bags
- Damaged skin of the airship
- Damaged control surfaces of the airship
- Damaged cables going to said control surfaces
- Damaged structural members (beams, supports)
- Loss of the gondola
answered 2 days ago
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.4k2052
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Loss of structural integrity in the inner truss system:
The USS Macon, a rigid airship of the US Navy, was badly damaged while transiting through mountains of Arizona. Among other failures, mechanical failures of the rigid truss structure were repaired in flight:
Following a severe drop, a diagonal girder in ring 17.5, which supported the forward fin attachment points, failed. Rapid damage control by Chief Boatswain's Mate Robert Davis repaired the girders before further failures could occur. The Macon completed the journey safely but the buckled ring and all four tailfins were judged to be in need of strengthening. (Wikipedia)
The failure of the Navy to heed advice and have design flaws mitigated lead to the crash of the airship Macon on February 12, 1935.
answered 2 days ago
JimJim
22115
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I don't know what other complications there might have been, but they both crashed due to bad weather.
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Air Balloons
A zeppellin made of multiple tiny air balloons (with a bigger protection on top) might be more resistant to any event (bullets for instance, or a lightning/hailstorm in your case), because only a few ones will pop.
However, after an accident, the crew will have to repair/use new ones, and inflate them, then replace them.
answered 2 days ago
AsoubAsoub
367312
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
A zeppelin's gas bags aren't pressurized (and they're rather large). Putting a bullet-sized hole in one will cause a slow leak that will need to be repaired sometime in the next few months. Putting an entire fighter airplane's-worth of machine-gun bullet holes in one will still only be a minor nuisance, as the British found out when they tried to shoot down German zeppelin bombers during World War I.
$endgroup$
– Mark
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Mark The zepplins didn't start going down until the brits started using incendiary bullets.
$endgroup$
– Efialtes
10 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Crew is incapacitated or dead.
New technology was installed in the control cabin. It was not appreciated that this new tech effectively bypassed the built-in lightning protection on the airship, allowing a channel for lightning to traverse the airship that took the charge right through the control cabin.
After the strike, the airship is fine but many crew members who were in the control cabin are dead from side splash charge and others badly hurt. The new tech is beyond repair but the airship is otherwise ok. Your protagonist can save one or two crew members s(he) finds in the control cabin, and then must pilot the ship.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
113k27211472
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The book "Slide Rule" by Neville Shute documents exactly this happening to the R100 after it flew into a storm over the St. Lawrence river. They had crew members walk out on top of the ship and patch the damage while in flight.
answered 13 hours ago
jbayjbay
1511
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Volcanic ash can potentially a violent storm, and has the potential to damage/stall the engines
This is also what happened with British Airways Flight 9, where the airplane entered a volcanic cloud in the night, despite seeing nothing on their weather radar. After a while, the ash melted inside the engines, stalling them.
They eventually recovered their engines by flying low enough (and the usual turbulence shaking the solidified ash away), and repeated attempts of restarting, but 1 engine caught fire, so it had to be shut down again.
With a bit of creativity, this fits your definition of "repairable failure", as to repair the damage, they basically need to shutdown their engines (if they didn't stall already),
decent below the ash cloud and "shake the engines up" to remove the ash (or make them fly though an patch of turbulent air)
answered 9 hours ago
FerrybigFerrybig
13916
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Unfortunately for this scenario, airships use piston engines, not turbofans. Those will either be damaged beyond repair (if they don't have intake air filters) or essentially unaffected (if they do).
$endgroup$
– Mark
8 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Mark would enough of it block the filters though?
$endgroup$
– Aethenosity
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yes, but swapping out the filter for a new one (or knocking the dust out of the old one) is a quick, easy procedure. For a classic airship with one mechanic per engine, I expect the total downtime to be under a minute -- quick enough that they probably won't bother notifying the control room.
$endgroup$
– Mark
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
@mark But to swap out the air filter, you first need to get out of the storm (as the lungs of people don't like the dust filled atmosphere), something that is hard to do when you have no thrust
$endgroup$
– Ferrybig
17 mins ago
$begingroup$
An airship typically has more than one engine: the Graf Zeppelin had five, the USS Akron had eight, the R100 had six. It's unlikely that all of them will fail at the same time, and even if they do, you don't need to leave the storm to change the filter. The engine gondolas of an airship are semi-sealed for aerodynamic purposes, and you can just put a scarf or something over your mouth to deal with what dust does get in.
$endgroup$
– Mark
10 mins ago
add a comment |
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10 Answers
10
active
oldest
votes
10 Answers
10
active
oldest
votes
active
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votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
- The outer skin of a zeppelin could start to rip. Someone would have to go on top to sew it up and stop the rip.
- Internally, bracing struts might snap and need to be replaced.
- Many airships had engine pods which were designed for in-flight maintenance.
- Malfunctions might make it necessary to go to the ballast tanks and manually release them. (First image on this page).
answered 2 days ago
o.m.o.m.
62.1k790202
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
- The outer skin of a zeppelin could start to rip. Someone would have to go on top to sew it up and stop the rip.
- Internally, bracing struts might snap and need to be replaced.
- Many airships had engine pods which were designed for in-flight maintenance.
- Malfunctions might make it necessary to go to the ballast tanks and manually release them. (First image on this page).
answered 2 days ago
o.m.o.m.
62.1k790202
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
- The outer skin of a zeppelin could start to rip. Someone would have to go on top to sew it up and stop the rip.
- Internally, bracing struts might snap and need to be replaced.
- Many airships had engine pods which were designed for in-flight maintenance.
- Malfunctions might make it necessary to go to the ballast tanks and manually release them. (First image on this page).
answered 2 days ago
o.m.o.m.
62.1k790202
$endgroup$
- The outer skin of a zeppelin could start to rip. Someone would have to go on top to sew it up and stop the rip.
- Internally, bracing struts might snap and need to be replaced.
- Many airships had engine pods which were designed for in-flight maintenance.
- Malfunctions might make it necessary to go to the ballast tanks and manually release them. (First image on this page).
answered 2 days ago
o.m.o.m.
62.1k790202
answered 2 days ago
o.m.o.m.
62.1k790202
answered 2 days ago
o.m.o.m.
62.1k790202
answered 2 days ago
o.m.o.m.
62.1k790202
62.1k790202
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt: Repairing the Hull of the Graf Zeppelin During the Flight over the Atlantic, 1934
answered 2 days ago
RogerRoger
3,333419
$endgroup$
6
$begingroup$
:-) Yes, this is proof-of-concept, but a bit more detail (including a list of the types of things that could be fixed this way) would improve this answer substantially.
$endgroup$
– JBH
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@JBH While I don't disagree that this answer could do with some words explaining HOW they're repairing it, I think it's a bit more than proof of concept!
$endgroup$
– UKMonkey
8 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt: Repairing the Hull of the Graf Zeppelin During the Flight over the Atlantic, 1934
answered 2 days ago
RogerRoger
3,333419
$endgroup$
6
$begingroup$
:-) Yes, this is proof-of-concept, but a bit more detail (including a list of the types of things that could be fixed this way) would improve this answer substantially.
$endgroup$
– JBH
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@JBH While I don't disagree that this answer could do with some words explaining HOW they're repairing it, I think it's a bit more than proof of concept!
$endgroup$
– UKMonkey
8 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt: Repairing the Hull of the Graf Zeppelin During the Flight over the Atlantic, 1934
answered 2 days ago
RogerRoger
3,333419
$endgroup$
Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt: Repairing the Hull of the Graf Zeppelin During the Flight over the Atlantic, 1934
answered 2 days ago
RogerRoger
3,333419
answered 2 days ago
RogerRoger
3,333419
answered 2 days ago
RogerRoger
3,333419
answered 2 days ago
RogerRoger
3,333419
3,333419
6
$begingroup$
:-) Yes, this is proof-of-concept, but a bit more detail (including a list of the types of things that could be fixed this way) would improve this answer substantially.
$endgroup$
– JBH
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@JBH While I don't disagree that this answer could do with some words explaining HOW they're repairing it, I think it's a bit more than proof of concept!
$endgroup$
– UKMonkey
8 hours ago
add a comment |
6
$begingroup$
:-) Yes, this is proof-of-concept, but a bit more detail (including a list of the types of things that could be fixed this way) would improve this answer substantially.
$endgroup$
– JBH
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@JBH While I don't disagree that this answer could do with some words explaining HOW they're repairing it, I think it's a bit more than proof of concept!
$endgroup$
– UKMonkey
8 hours ago
6
6
$begingroup$
:-) Yes, this is proof-of-concept, but a bit more detail (including a list of the types of things that could be fixed this way) would improve this answer substantially.
$endgroup$
– JBH
2 days ago
$begingroup$
:-) Yes, this is proof-of-concept, but a bit more detail (including a list of the types of things that could be fixed this way) would improve this answer substantially.
$endgroup$
– JBH
2 days ago
1
1
$begingroup$
@JBH While I don't disagree that this answer could do with some words explaining HOW they're repairing it, I think it's a bit more than proof of concept!
$endgroup$
– UKMonkey
8 hours ago
$begingroup$
@JBH While I don't disagree that this answer could do with some words explaining HOW they're repairing it, I think it's a bit more than proof of concept!
$endgroup$
– UKMonkey
8 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
A failure that's quite likely in a violent storm is damage to fins, rudders, or elevators. Presuming these are built similarly to what they were on the Zeppelins of the 1900-1940 era, turbulence could snap rudder cable, tear off guy attachments, fracture and buckle ribs or spars, even tear fabric covering.
None of these present a great danger of an immediate crash, just extra drama trying to control pitch by shifting fuel and water ballast, or steer with differential thrust (throttle up starboard engines, idle port side, to turn slowly to port). Even better, all are repairable without landing, at least to the extend of jury rigging something to restore limited control until the ship can land in a safe place.
answered 2 days ago
Zeiss IkonZeiss Ikon
1,683114
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
A failure that's quite likely in a violent storm is damage to fins, rudders, or elevators. Presuming these are built similarly to what they were on the Zeppelins of the 1900-1940 era, turbulence could snap rudder cable, tear off guy attachments, fracture and buckle ribs or spars, even tear fabric covering.
None of these present a great danger of an immediate crash, just extra drama trying to control pitch by shifting fuel and water ballast, or steer with differential thrust (throttle up starboard engines, idle port side, to turn slowly to port). Even better, all are repairable without landing, at least to the extend of jury rigging something to restore limited control until the ship can land in a safe place.
answered 2 days ago
Zeiss IkonZeiss Ikon
1,683114
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
A failure that's quite likely in a violent storm is damage to fins, rudders, or elevators. Presuming these are built similarly to what they were on the Zeppelins of the 1900-1940 era, turbulence could snap rudder cable, tear off guy attachments, fracture and buckle ribs or spars, even tear fabric covering.
None of these present a great danger of an immediate crash, just extra drama trying to control pitch by shifting fuel and water ballast, or steer with differential thrust (throttle up starboard engines, idle port side, to turn slowly to port). Even better, all are repairable without landing, at least to the extend of jury rigging something to restore limited control until the ship can land in a safe place.
answered 2 days ago
Zeiss IkonZeiss Ikon
1,683114
$endgroup$
A failure that's quite likely in a violent storm is damage to fins, rudders, or elevators. Presuming these are built similarly to what they were on the Zeppelins of the 1900-1940 era, turbulence could snap rudder cable, tear off guy attachments, fracture and buckle ribs or spars, even tear fabric covering.
None of these present a great danger of an immediate crash, just extra drama trying to control pitch by shifting fuel and water ballast, or steer with differential thrust (throttle up starboard engines, idle port side, to turn slowly to port). Even better, all are repairable without landing, at least to the extend of jury rigging something to restore limited control until the ship can land in a safe place.
answered 2 days ago
Zeiss IkonZeiss Ikon
1,683114
answered 2 days ago
Zeiss IkonZeiss Ikon
1,683114
answered 2 days ago
Zeiss IkonZeiss Ikon
1,683114
answered 2 days ago
Zeiss IkonZeiss Ikon
1,683114
1,683114
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The engine could break down. If your engine is a steam engine this could be anything from the fire going out to the boiler rupturing/exploding.
Also if the propellers are driven by chains (or similar) they might break. That might require someone to go outside to affix a new chain.
answered 2 days ago
mwarrenmwarren
1593
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
There's an answer here that talks about the USS Macon having landed safely after experiencing structural damage. How? Because the entire drivetrain still worked. Dead in the water is one thing. Dead in the air, is dead. +1
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
$begingroup$
Is this based on any actual airships, or are you just giving us a word salad of random retro tech?
$endgroup$
– Harper
yesterday
$begingroup$
@Harper All airships ran on combustion engines. ;-) However some (namely the two large US ships) had them inside the hull, allowing the gondolas to be much smaller, lowering their air resistance. So hey must have had a transmission belt or Cardan.
$endgroup$
– Karl
15 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The engine could break down. If your engine is a steam engine this could be anything from the fire going out to the boiler rupturing/exploding.
Also if the propellers are driven by chains (or similar) they might break. That might require someone to go outside to affix a new chain.
answered 2 days ago
mwarrenmwarren
1593
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
There's an answer here that talks about the USS Macon having landed safely after experiencing structural damage. How? Because the entire drivetrain still worked. Dead in the water is one thing. Dead in the air, is dead. +1
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
$begingroup$
Is this based on any actual airships, or are you just giving us a word salad of random retro tech?
$endgroup$
– Harper
yesterday
$begingroup$
@Harper All airships ran on combustion engines. ;-) However some (namely the two large US ships) had them inside the hull, allowing the gondolas to be much smaller, lowering their air resistance. So hey must have had a transmission belt or Cardan.
$endgroup$
– Karl
15 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The engine could break down. If your engine is a steam engine this could be anything from the fire going out to the boiler rupturing/exploding.
Also if the propellers are driven by chains (or similar) they might break. That might require someone to go outside to affix a new chain.
answered 2 days ago
mwarrenmwarren
1593
$endgroup$
The engine could break down. If your engine is a steam engine this could be anything from the fire going out to the boiler rupturing/exploding.
Also if the propellers are driven by chains (or similar) they might break. That might require someone to go outside to affix a new chain.
answered 2 days ago
mwarrenmwarren
1593
answered 2 days ago
mwarrenmwarren
1593
answered 2 days ago
mwarrenmwarren
1593
answered 2 days ago
mwarrenmwarren
1593
1593
1
$begingroup$
There's an answer here that talks about the USS Macon having landed safely after experiencing structural damage. How? Because the entire drivetrain still worked. Dead in the water is one thing. Dead in the air, is dead. +1
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
$begingroup$
Is this based on any actual airships, or are you just giving us a word salad of random retro tech?
$endgroup$
– Harper
yesterday
$begingroup$
@Harper All airships ran on combustion engines. ;-) However some (namely the two large US ships) had them inside the hull, allowing the gondolas to be much smaller, lowering their air resistance. So hey must have had a transmission belt or Cardan.
$endgroup$
– Karl
15 hours ago
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
There's an answer here that talks about the USS Macon having landed safely after experiencing structural damage. How? Because the entire drivetrain still worked. Dead in the water is one thing. Dead in the air, is dead. +1
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
$begingroup$
Is this based on any actual airships, or are you just giving us a word salad of random retro tech?
$endgroup$
– Harper
yesterday
$begingroup$
@Harper All airships ran on combustion engines. ;-) However some (namely the two large US ships) had them inside the hull, allowing the gondolas to be much smaller, lowering their air resistance. So hey must have had a transmission belt or Cardan.
$endgroup$
– Karl
15 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
There's an answer here that talks about the USS Macon having landed safely after experiencing structural damage. How? Because the entire drivetrain still worked. Dead in the water is one thing. Dead in the air, is dead. +1
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
$begingroup$
There's an answer here that talks about the USS Macon having landed safely after experiencing structural damage. How? Because the entire drivetrain still worked. Dead in the water is one thing. Dead in the air, is dead. +1
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
$begingroup$
Is this based on any actual airships, or are you just giving us a word salad of random retro tech?
$endgroup$
– Harper
yesterday
$begingroup$
Is this based on any actual airships, or are you just giving us a word salad of random retro tech?
$endgroup$
– Harper
yesterday
$begingroup$
@Harper All airships ran on combustion engines. ;-) However some (namely the two large US ships) had them inside the hull, allowing the gondolas to be much smaller, lowering their air resistance. So hey must have had a transmission belt or Cardan.
$endgroup$
– Karl
15 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Harper All airships ran on combustion engines. ;-) However some (namely the two large US ships) had them inside the hull, allowing the gondolas to be much smaller, lowering their air resistance. So hey must have had a transmission belt or Cardan.
$endgroup$
– Karl
15 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
First, read: Airship R505
Here are some of the things that can go wrong:
- Damaged engines
- Damaged propellers
- Leaking fuel
- Damaged fuel lines
- Leaking gas
- Low gas and low ballast from maneuvers during the storm
- Ripped gas bags
- Damaged skin of the airship
- Damaged control surfaces of the airship
- Damaged cables going to said control surfaces
- Damaged structural members (beams, supports)
- Loss of the gondola
answered 2 days ago
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.4k2052
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
First, read: Airship R505
Here are some of the things that can go wrong:
- Damaged engines
- Damaged propellers
- Leaking fuel
- Damaged fuel lines
- Leaking gas
- Low gas and low ballast from maneuvers during the storm
- Ripped gas bags
- Damaged skin of the airship
- Damaged control surfaces of the airship
- Damaged cables going to said control surfaces
- Damaged structural members (beams, supports)
- Loss of the gondola
answered 2 days ago
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.4k2052
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
First, read: Airship R505
Here are some of the things that can go wrong:
- Damaged engines
- Damaged propellers
- Leaking fuel
- Damaged fuel lines
- Leaking gas
- Low gas and low ballast from maneuvers during the storm
- Ripped gas bags
- Damaged skin of the airship
- Damaged control surfaces of the airship
- Damaged cables going to said control surfaces
- Damaged structural members (beams, supports)
- Loss of the gondola
answered 2 days ago
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.4k2052
$endgroup$
First, read: Airship R505
Here are some of the things that can go wrong:
- Damaged engines
- Damaged propellers
- Leaking fuel
- Damaged fuel lines
- Leaking gas
- Low gas and low ballast from maneuvers during the storm
- Ripped gas bags
- Damaged skin of the airship
- Damaged control surfaces of the airship
- Damaged cables going to said control surfaces
- Damaged structural members (beams, supports)
- Loss of the gondola
answered 2 days ago
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.4k2052
answered 2 days ago
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.4k2052
answered 2 days ago
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.4k2052
answered 2 days ago
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.4k2052
15.4k2052
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Loss of structural integrity in the inner truss system:
The USS Macon, a rigid airship of the US Navy, was badly damaged while transiting through mountains of Arizona. Among other failures, mechanical failures of the rigid truss structure were repaired in flight:
Following a severe drop, a diagonal girder in ring 17.5, which supported the forward fin attachment points, failed. Rapid damage control by Chief Boatswain's Mate Robert Davis repaired the girders before further failures could occur. The Macon completed the journey safely but the buckled ring and all four tailfins were judged to be in need of strengthening. (Wikipedia)
The failure of the Navy to heed advice and have design flaws mitigated lead to the crash of the airship Macon on February 12, 1935.
answered 2 days ago
JimJim
22115
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I don't know what other complications there might have been, but they both crashed due to bad weather.
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Loss of structural integrity in the inner truss system:
The USS Macon, a rigid airship of the US Navy, was badly damaged while transiting through mountains of Arizona. Among other failures, mechanical failures of the rigid truss structure were repaired in flight:
Following a severe drop, a diagonal girder in ring 17.5, which supported the forward fin attachment points, failed. Rapid damage control by Chief Boatswain's Mate Robert Davis repaired the girders before further failures could occur. The Macon completed the journey safely but the buckled ring and all four tailfins were judged to be in need of strengthening. (Wikipedia)
The failure of the Navy to heed advice and have design flaws mitigated lead to the crash of the airship Macon on February 12, 1935.
answered 2 days ago
JimJim
22115
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I don't know what other complications there might have been, but they both crashed due to bad weather.
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Loss of structural integrity in the inner truss system:
The USS Macon, a rigid airship of the US Navy, was badly damaged while transiting through mountains of Arizona. Among other failures, mechanical failures of the rigid truss structure were repaired in flight:
Following a severe drop, a diagonal girder in ring 17.5, which supported the forward fin attachment points, failed. Rapid damage control by Chief Boatswain's Mate Robert Davis repaired the girders before further failures could occur. The Macon completed the journey safely but the buckled ring and all four tailfins were judged to be in need of strengthening. (Wikipedia)
The failure of the Navy to heed advice and have design flaws mitigated lead to the crash of the airship Macon on February 12, 1935.
answered 2 days ago
JimJim
22115
$endgroup$
Loss of structural integrity in the inner truss system:
The USS Macon, a rigid airship of the US Navy, was badly damaged while transiting through mountains of Arizona. Among other failures, mechanical failures of the rigid truss structure were repaired in flight:
Following a severe drop, a diagonal girder in ring 17.5, which supported the forward fin attachment points, failed. Rapid damage control by Chief Boatswain's Mate Robert Davis repaired the girders before further failures could occur. The Macon completed the journey safely but the buckled ring and all four tailfins were judged to be in need of strengthening. (Wikipedia)
The failure of the Navy to heed advice and have design flaws mitigated lead to the crash of the airship Macon on February 12, 1935.
answered 2 days ago
JimJim
22115
answered 2 days ago
JimJim
22115
answered 2 days ago
JimJim
22115
answered 2 days ago
JimJim
22115
22115
$begingroup$
I don't know what other complications there might have been, but they both crashed due to bad weather.
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I don't know what other complications there might have been, but they both crashed due to bad weather.
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
$begingroup$
I don't know what other complications there might have been, but they both crashed due to bad weather.
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
$begingroup$
I don't know what other complications there might have been, but they both crashed due to bad weather.
$endgroup$
– Mazura
2 days ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Air Balloons
A zeppellin made of multiple tiny air balloons (with a bigger protection on top) might be more resistant to any event (bullets for instance, or a lightning/hailstorm in your case), because only a few ones will pop.
However, after an accident, the crew will have to repair/use new ones, and inflate them, then replace them.
answered 2 days ago
AsoubAsoub
367312
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
A zeppelin's gas bags aren't pressurized (and they're rather large). Putting a bullet-sized hole in one will cause a slow leak that will need to be repaired sometime in the next few months. Putting an entire fighter airplane's-worth of machine-gun bullet holes in one will still only be a minor nuisance, as the British found out when they tried to shoot down German zeppelin bombers during World War I.
$endgroup$
– Mark
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Mark The zepplins didn't start going down until the brits started using incendiary bullets.
$endgroup$
– Efialtes
10 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Air Balloons
A zeppellin made of multiple tiny air balloons (with a bigger protection on top) might be more resistant to any event (bullets for instance, or a lightning/hailstorm in your case), because only a few ones will pop.
However, after an accident, the crew will have to repair/use new ones, and inflate them, then replace them.
answered 2 days ago
AsoubAsoub
367312
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
A zeppelin's gas bags aren't pressurized (and they're rather large). Putting a bullet-sized hole in one will cause a slow leak that will need to be repaired sometime in the next few months. Putting an entire fighter airplane's-worth of machine-gun bullet holes in one will still only be a minor nuisance, as the British found out when they tried to shoot down German zeppelin bombers during World War I.
$endgroup$
– Mark
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Mark The zepplins didn't start going down until the brits started using incendiary bullets.
$endgroup$
– Efialtes
10 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Air Balloons
A zeppellin made of multiple tiny air balloons (with a bigger protection on top) might be more resistant to any event (bullets for instance, or a lightning/hailstorm in your case), because only a few ones will pop.
However, after an accident, the crew will have to repair/use new ones, and inflate them, then replace them.
answered 2 days ago
AsoubAsoub
367312
$endgroup$
Air Balloons
A zeppellin made of multiple tiny air balloons (with a bigger protection on top) might be more resistant to any event (bullets for instance, or a lightning/hailstorm in your case), because only a few ones will pop.
However, after an accident, the crew will have to repair/use new ones, and inflate them, then replace them.
answered 2 days ago
AsoubAsoub
367312
answered 2 days ago
AsoubAsoub
367312
answered 2 days ago
AsoubAsoub
367312
answered 2 days ago
AsoubAsoub
367312
367312
2
$begingroup$
A zeppelin's gas bags aren't pressurized (and they're rather large). Putting a bullet-sized hole in one will cause a slow leak that will need to be repaired sometime in the next few months. Putting an entire fighter airplane's-worth of machine-gun bullet holes in one will still only be a minor nuisance, as the British found out when they tried to shoot down German zeppelin bombers during World War I.
$endgroup$
– Mark
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Mark The zepplins didn't start going down until the brits started using incendiary bullets.
$endgroup$
– Efialtes
10 hours ago
add a comment |
2
$begingroup$
A zeppelin's gas bags aren't pressurized (and they're rather large). Putting a bullet-sized hole in one will cause a slow leak that will need to be repaired sometime in the next few months. Putting an entire fighter airplane's-worth of machine-gun bullet holes in one will still only be a minor nuisance, as the British found out when they tried to shoot down German zeppelin bombers during World War I.
$endgroup$
– Mark
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Mark The zepplins didn't start going down until the brits started using incendiary bullets.
$endgroup$
– Efialtes
10 hours ago
2
2
$begingroup$
A zeppelin's gas bags aren't pressurized (and they're rather large). Putting a bullet-sized hole in one will cause a slow leak that will need to be repaired sometime in the next few months. Putting an entire fighter airplane's-worth of machine-gun bullet holes in one will still only be a minor nuisance, as the British found out when they tried to shoot down German zeppelin bombers during World War I.
$endgroup$
– Mark
2 days ago
$begingroup$
A zeppelin's gas bags aren't pressurized (and they're rather large). Putting a bullet-sized hole in one will cause a slow leak that will need to be repaired sometime in the next few months. Putting an entire fighter airplane's-worth of machine-gun bullet holes in one will still only be a minor nuisance, as the British found out when they tried to shoot down German zeppelin bombers during World War I.
$endgroup$
– Mark
2 days ago
1
1
$begingroup$
@Mark The zepplins didn't start going down until the brits started using incendiary bullets.
$endgroup$
– Efialtes
10 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Mark The zepplins didn't start going down until the brits started using incendiary bullets.
$endgroup$
– Efialtes
10 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Crew is incapacitated or dead.
New technology was installed in the control cabin. It was not appreciated that this new tech effectively bypassed the built-in lightning protection on the airship, allowing a channel for lightning to traverse the airship that took the charge right through the control cabin.
After the strike, the airship is fine but many crew members who were in the control cabin are dead from side splash charge and others badly hurt. The new tech is beyond repair but the airship is otherwise ok. Your protagonist can save one or two crew members s(he) finds in the control cabin, and then must pilot the ship.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
113k27211472
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Crew is incapacitated or dead.
New technology was installed in the control cabin. It was not appreciated that this new tech effectively bypassed the built-in lightning protection on the airship, allowing a channel for lightning to traverse the airship that took the charge right through the control cabin.
After the strike, the airship is fine but many crew members who were in the control cabin are dead from side splash charge and others badly hurt. The new tech is beyond repair but the airship is otherwise ok. Your protagonist can save one or two crew members s(he) finds in the control cabin, and then must pilot the ship.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
113k27211472
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Crew is incapacitated or dead.
New technology was installed in the control cabin. It was not appreciated that this new tech effectively bypassed the built-in lightning protection on the airship, allowing a channel for lightning to traverse the airship that took the charge right through the control cabin.
After the strike, the airship is fine but many crew members who were in the control cabin are dead from side splash charge and others badly hurt. The new tech is beyond repair but the airship is otherwise ok. Your protagonist can save one or two crew members s(he) finds in the control cabin, and then must pilot the ship.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
113k27211472
$endgroup$
Crew is incapacitated or dead.
New technology was installed in the control cabin. It was not appreciated that this new tech effectively bypassed the built-in lightning protection on the airship, allowing a channel for lightning to traverse the airship that took the charge right through the control cabin.
After the strike, the airship is fine but many crew members who were in the control cabin are dead from side splash charge and others badly hurt. The new tech is beyond repair but the airship is otherwise ok. Your protagonist can save one or two crew members s(he) finds in the control cabin, and then must pilot the ship.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
113k27211472
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
113k27211472
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
113k27211472
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
113k27211472
113k27211472
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The book "Slide Rule" by Neville Shute documents exactly this happening to the R100 after it flew into a storm over the St. Lawrence river. They had crew members walk out on top of the ship and patch the damage while in flight.
answered 13 hours ago
jbayjbay
1511
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The book "Slide Rule" by Neville Shute documents exactly this happening to the R100 after it flew into a storm over the St. Lawrence river. They had crew members walk out on top of the ship and patch the damage while in flight.
answered 13 hours ago
jbayjbay
1511
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The book "Slide Rule" by Neville Shute documents exactly this happening to the R100 after it flew into a storm over the St. Lawrence river. They had crew members walk out on top of the ship and patch the damage while in flight.
answered 13 hours ago
jbayjbay
1511
$endgroup$
The book "Slide Rule" by Neville Shute documents exactly this happening to the R100 after it flew into a storm over the St. Lawrence river. They had crew members walk out on top of the ship and patch the damage while in flight.
answered 13 hours ago
jbayjbay
1511
answered 13 hours ago
jbayjbay
1511
answered 13 hours ago
jbayjbay
1511
answered 13 hours ago
jbayjbay
1511
1511
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Volcanic ash can potentially a violent storm, and has the potential to damage/stall the engines
This is also what happened with British Airways Flight 9, where the airplane entered a volcanic cloud in the night, despite seeing nothing on their weather radar. After a while, the ash melted inside the engines, stalling them.
They eventually recovered their engines by flying low enough (and the usual turbulence shaking the solidified ash away), and repeated attempts of restarting, but 1 engine caught fire, so it had to be shut down again.
With a bit of creativity, this fits your definition of "repairable failure", as to repair the damage, they basically need to shutdown their engines (if they didn't stall already),
decent below the ash cloud and "shake the engines up" to remove the ash (or make them fly though an patch of turbulent air)
answered 9 hours ago
FerrybigFerrybig
13916
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Unfortunately for this scenario, airships use piston engines, not turbofans. Those will either be damaged beyond repair (if they don't have intake air filters) or essentially unaffected (if they do).
$endgroup$
– Mark
8 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Mark would enough of it block the filters though?
$endgroup$
– Aethenosity
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yes, but swapping out the filter for a new one (or knocking the dust out of the old one) is a quick, easy procedure. For a classic airship with one mechanic per engine, I expect the total downtime to be under a minute -- quick enough that they probably won't bother notifying the control room.
$endgroup$
– Mark
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
@mark But to swap out the air filter, you first need to get out of the storm (as the lungs of people don't like the dust filled atmosphere), something that is hard to do when you have no thrust
$endgroup$
– Ferrybig
17 mins ago
$begingroup$
An airship typically has more than one engine: the Graf Zeppelin had five, the USS Akron had eight, the R100 had six. It's unlikely that all of them will fail at the same time, and even if they do, you don't need to leave the storm to change the filter. The engine gondolas of an airship are semi-sealed for aerodynamic purposes, and you can just put a scarf or something over your mouth to deal with what dust does get in.
$endgroup$
– Mark
10 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Volcanic ash can potentially a violent storm, and has the potential to damage/stall the engines
This is also what happened with British Airways Flight 9, where the airplane entered a volcanic cloud in the night, despite seeing nothing on their weather radar. After a while, the ash melted inside the engines, stalling them.
They eventually recovered their engines by flying low enough (and the usual turbulence shaking the solidified ash away), and repeated attempts of restarting, but 1 engine caught fire, so it had to be shut down again.
With a bit of creativity, this fits your definition of "repairable failure", as to repair the damage, they basically need to shutdown their engines (if they didn't stall already),
decent below the ash cloud and "shake the engines up" to remove the ash (or make them fly though an patch of turbulent air)
answered 9 hours ago
FerrybigFerrybig
13916
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Unfortunately for this scenario, airships use piston engines, not turbofans. Those will either be damaged beyond repair (if they don't have intake air filters) or essentially unaffected (if they do).
$endgroup$
– Mark
8 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Mark would enough of it block the filters though?
$endgroup$
– Aethenosity
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yes, but swapping out the filter for a new one (or knocking the dust out of the old one) is a quick, easy procedure. For a classic airship with one mechanic per engine, I expect the total downtime to be under a minute -- quick enough that they probably won't bother notifying the control room.
$endgroup$
– Mark
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
@mark But to swap out the air filter, you first need to get out of the storm (as the lungs of people don't like the dust filled atmosphere), something that is hard to do when you have no thrust
$endgroup$
– Ferrybig
17 mins ago
$begingroup$
An airship typically has more than one engine: the Graf Zeppelin had five, the USS Akron had eight, the R100 had six. It's unlikely that all of them will fail at the same time, and even if they do, you don't need to leave the storm to change the filter. The engine gondolas of an airship are semi-sealed for aerodynamic purposes, and you can just put a scarf or something over your mouth to deal with what dust does get in.
$endgroup$
– Mark
10 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Volcanic ash can potentially a violent storm, and has the potential to damage/stall the engines
This is also what happened with British Airways Flight 9, where the airplane entered a volcanic cloud in the night, despite seeing nothing on their weather radar. After a while, the ash melted inside the engines, stalling them.
They eventually recovered their engines by flying low enough (and the usual turbulence shaking the solidified ash away), and repeated attempts of restarting, but 1 engine caught fire, so it had to be shut down again.
With a bit of creativity, this fits your definition of "repairable failure", as to repair the damage, they basically need to shutdown their engines (if they didn't stall already),
decent below the ash cloud and "shake the engines up" to remove the ash (or make them fly though an patch of turbulent air)
answered 9 hours ago
FerrybigFerrybig
13916
$endgroup$
Volcanic ash can potentially a violent storm, and has the potential to damage/stall the engines
This is also what happened with British Airways Flight 9, where the airplane entered a volcanic cloud in the night, despite seeing nothing on their weather radar. After a while, the ash melted inside the engines, stalling them.
They eventually recovered their engines by flying low enough (and the usual turbulence shaking the solidified ash away), and repeated attempts of restarting, but 1 engine caught fire, so it had to be shut down again.
With a bit of creativity, this fits your definition of "repairable failure", as to repair the damage, they basically need to shutdown their engines (if they didn't stall already),
decent below the ash cloud and "shake the engines up" to remove the ash (or make them fly though an patch of turbulent air)
answered 9 hours ago
FerrybigFerrybig
13916
answered 9 hours ago
FerrybigFerrybig
13916
answered 9 hours ago
FerrybigFerrybig
13916
answered 9 hours ago
FerrybigFerrybig
13916
13916
1
$begingroup$
Unfortunately for this scenario, airships use piston engines, not turbofans. Those will either be damaged beyond repair (if they don't have intake air filters) or essentially unaffected (if they do).
$endgroup$
– Mark
8 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Mark would enough of it block the filters though?
$endgroup$
– Aethenosity
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yes, but swapping out the filter for a new one (or knocking the dust out of the old one) is a quick, easy procedure. For a classic airship with one mechanic per engine, I expect the total downtime to be under a minute -- quick enough that they probably won't bother notifying the control room.
$endgroup$
– Mark
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
@mark But to swap out the air filter, you first need to get out of the storm (as the lungs of people don't like the dust filled atmosphere), something that is hard to do when you have no thrust
$endgroup$
– Ferrybig
17 mins ago
$begingroup$
An airship typically has more than one engine: the Graf Zeppelin had five, the USS Akron had eight, the R100 had six. It's unlikely that all of them will fail at the same time, and even if they do, you don't need to leave the storm to change the filter. The engine gondolas of an airship are semi-sealed for aerodynamic purposes, and you can just put a scarf or something over your mouth to deal with what dust does get in.
$endgroup$
– Mark
10 mins ago
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
Unfortunately for this scenario, airships use piston engines, not turbofans. Those will either be damaged beyond repair (if they don't have intake air filters) or essentially unaffected (if they do).
$endgroup$
– Mark
8 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Mark would enough of it block the filters though?
$endgroup$
– Aethenosity
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yes, but swapping out the filter for a new one (or knocking the dust out of the old one) is a quick, easy procedure. For a classic airship with one mechanic per engine, I expect the total downtime to be under a minute -- quick enough that they probably won't bother notifying the control room.
$endgroup$
– Mark
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
@mark But to swap out the air filter, you first need to get out of the storm (as the lungs of people don't like the dust filled atmosphere), something that is hard to do when you have no thrust
$endgroup$
– Ferrybig
17 mins ago
$begingroup$
An airship typically has more than one engine: the Graf Zeppelin had five, the USS Akron had eight, the R100 had six. It's unlikely that all of them will fail at the same time, and even if they do, you don't need to leave the storm to change the filter. The engine gondolas of an airship are semi-sealed for aerodynamic purposes, and you can just put a scarf or something over your mouth to deal with what dust does get in.
$endgroup$
– Mark
10 mins ago
1
1
$begingroup$
Unfortunately for this scenario, airships use piston engines, not turbofans. Those will either be damaged beyond repair (if they don't have intake air filters) or essentially unaffected (if they do).
$endgroup$
– Mark
8 hours ago
$begingroup$
Unfortunately for this scenario, airships use piston engines, not turbofans. Those will either be damaged beyond repair (if they don't have intake air filters) or essentially unaffected (if they do).
$endgroup$
– Mark
8 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Mark would enough of it block the filters though?
$endgroup$
– Aethenosity
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
@Mark would enough of it block the filters though?
$endgroup$
– Aethenosity
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yes, but swapping out the filter for a new one (or knocking the dust out of the old one) is a quick, easy procedure. For a classic airship with one mechanic per engine, I expect the total downtime to be under a minute -- quick enough that they probably won't bother notifying the control room.
$endgroup$
– Mark
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
Yes, but swapping out the filter for a new one (or knocking the dust out of the old one) is a quick, easy procedure. For a classic airship with one mechanic per engine, I expect the total downtime to be under a minute -- quick enough that they probably won't bother notifying the control room.
$endgroup$
– Mark
1 hour ago
$begingroup$
@mark But to swap out the air filter, you first need to get out of the storm (as the lungs of people don't like the dust filled atmosphere), something that is hard to do when you have no thrust
$endgroup$
– Ferrybig
17 mins ago
$begingroup$
@mark But to swap out the air filter, you first need to get out of the storm (as the lungs of people don't like the dust filled atmosphere), something that is hard to do when you have no thrust
$endgroup$
– Ferrybig
17 mins ago
$begingroup$
An airship typically has more than one engine: the Graf Zeppelin had five, the USS Akron had eight, the R100 had six. It's unlikely that all of them will fail at the same time, and even if they do, you don't need to leave the storm to change the filter. The engine gondolas of an airship are semi-sealed for aerodynamic purposes, and you can just put a scarf or something over your mouth to deal with what dust does get in.
$endgroup$
– Mark
10 mins ago
$begingroup$
An airship typically has more than one engine: the Graf Zeppelin had five, the USS Akron had eight, the R100 had six. It's unlikely that all of them will fail at the same time, and even if they do, you don't need to leave the storm to change the filter. The engine gondolas of an airship are semi-sealed for aerodynamic purposes, and you can just put a scarf or something over your mouth to deal with what dust does get in.
$endgroup$
– Mark
10 mins ago
add a comment |
Austin is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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33
$begingroup$
Duct tape is the answer. It's always the answer.
$endgroup$
– farmersteve
2 days ago
8
$begingroup$
Welcome to Worldbuilding! - Just a note that your title asks, "How can an airship be repaired mid-flight..." but the body of the question appears to be, "What might go wrong midflight?" This may give rise to different types of answer. Maybe a title like, "What airship disasters can realistically be repaired mid-flight?" might be more accurate. (?)
$endgroup$
– chasly from UK
2 days ago
9
$begingroup$
@SteveS. Duct tape is for everyday. What the OP needs is gaffer's tape. Now that fixes everything.
$endgroup$
– Cyn
2 days ago
14
$begingroup$
Go to airships.net and read. Airships were designed to be repaired in flight. They are ships, after all; travel times were on the order of days (typically two and a half days to cross the Atlantic, five days from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro), not hours.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
2 days ago
12
$begingroup$
Airships dont really explode. Even the Hindenburg when it was fully aflame just fell down while flames engulfed it, and it did this so slowly (as it was already landing) that most of the occupants could get out. And while storms are dangerous, Airships are actually extremely resilient to storms and most accidents were human made rather than environmental, such as being so confident in their airship's capabilities that they braved storms too tough to handle and get destroyed from being blown against a Mountain rather than things breaking. Rule of thumb: max speed (100 to 130km) is maximum storm
$endgroup$
– Demigan
2 days ago