The HAV 304 Airlander is green, efficient, a hybrid, and, well, quite bizarre. A touch scary? (Credit: Airlander/Vimeo screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) Thanks to technology, the world is becoming a darker place. No, I'm not suggesting that we're becoming less and less enlightened, as we sacrifice our minds to the robots. Instead, I'm merely indicating that we will soon not be able to see that thing we currently call the sky. There'll be Jeff Bezos's drones flying around all day, delivering dictionaries and diapers to the distressed. There'll be journalistic drones all around, capturing every aerial detail of multiple car crashes. And then there'll be the HAV 304 Airlander, which is so large that it will block the view of several planets as it waddles through the heavens. I confess I hadn't heard of this plane before the Telegraph told me it was the world's largest aircraft. Indeed, when you look at the promotional video above, it's got massive green credentials, can fly for three days, and is a marvelous hybrid of airship, plane, and helicopter. It's 300 feet long and doesn't need an airport to take off. Yes, if you have a large garden, it can take off from it. More Technically Incorrect Obama: We're building Iron Man Daughter's Facebook foghorn blows dad's $80,000 Comcast really, really doesn't care about you (allegedly) Software consultant banned by Hilton for snake 'joke' Lab making salami out of Jennifer Lawrence? It can land on water, sand, or ice. Some might be disturbed, though, by its potential uses. Though it can be used to deliver vast amounts of humanitarian aid, I was moved by the words of Hybrid Air Vehicles' technical director, who says in the video: "You can put 7 or 8 tons of surveillance equipment on board." Honestly, we can never have enough surveillance. What fun to have it being transported in a vehicle the size of Vegas. Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of metal band Iron Maiden, is one of those involved in this fine project, which has been given 2.5 million British pounds (about $4.2 million) to prepare itself for a maiden flight in the fall. Some, though, have observed that its rear end resembles, well, a large human rear end. That would surely be one more discombobulating sight in the skies of the future. Just so beautiful. (Credit: Airlander/Vimeo screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)
The HAV 304 Airlander is green, efficient, a hybrid, and, well, quite bizarre.
A touch scary?
(Credit: Airlander/Vimeo screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)
Thanks to technology, the world is becoming a darker place.
No, I'm not suggesting that we're becoming less and less enlightened, as we sacrifice our minds to the robots.
Instead, I'm merely indicating that we will soon not be able to see that thing we currently call the sky.
There'll be Jeff Bezos's drones flying around all day, delivering dictionaries and diapers to the distressed. There'll be journalistic drones all around, capturing every aerial detail of multiple car crashes.
And then there'll be the HAV 304 Airlander, which is so large that it will block the view of several planets as it waddles through the heavens.
I confess I hadn't heard of this plane before the Telegraph told me it was the world's largest aircraft.
Indeed, when you look at the promotional video above, it's got massive green credentials, can fly for three days, and is a marvelous hybrid of airship, plane, and helicopter.
It's 300 feet long and doesn't need an airport to take off. Yes, if you have a large garden, it can take off from it.
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- Obama: We're building Iron Man
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- Comcast really, really doesn't care about you (allegedly)
- Software consultant banned by Hilton for snake 'joke'
- Lab making salami out of Jennifer Lawrence?
It can land on water, sand, or ice.
Some might be disturbed, though, by its potential uses. Though it can be used to deliver vast amounts of humanitarian aid, I was moved by the words of Hybrid Air Vehicles' technical director, who says in the video: "You can put 7 or 8 tons of surveillance equipment on board."
Honestly, we can never have enough surveillance. What fun to have it being transported in a vehicle the size of Vegas.
Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of metal band Iron Maiden, is one of those involved in this fine project, which has been given 2.5 million British pounds (about $4.2 million) to prepare itself for a maiden flight in the fall.
Some, though, have observed that its rear end resembles, well, a large human rear end.
That would surely be one more discombobulating sight in the skies of the future.
Just so beautiful.
(Credit: Airlander/Vimeo screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)
