Oliver Parken, su The Drive, ci narra la storia della progettazione di un dirigibile, più leggero dell’aria, che aveva preso il via negli anni ottanta del novecento, grazie all’inventore e imprenditore canadese Frederick D. Ferguson e al suo interesse per lo sviluppo e la ricerca su questo tipo di aeromobili. Ferguson era un pronipote di Samuel F. B. Morse, coinventore del telegrafo e del relativo alfabeto. Il progetto riguardava l’LTA 20-1 della Magnus Aerospace Corporation, un dirigibile riempito di elio che sfruttava l’effetto Magnus come metodo di propulsione, fenomeno che viene spiegato sulle pagine di Scienceabc:
The Magnus Effect is a physical phenomenon whereby a spinning object creates a low-pressure zone on one side and a high-pressure zone on the other. This pressure difference causes a force that pushes the object in the direction of the low-pressure zone. The Magnus Effect is named after the German physicist Gustav Magnus, who was the first person to investigate the phenomenon. The Magnus Effect explains the curving motion of a soccer ball when it is struck with a spin, as well as the unpredictable motion of a knuckleball in baseball.
L’idea era di sviluppare un dirigibile che, in termini di potenzialità commerciali, sfruttasse la capacità di decollo e di atterraggio verticale, oltre alla possibilità di portare pesanti carichi. Queste caratteristiche lo avrebbero reso utile in una varietà di contesti: il trasporto di attrezzature pesanti per l’edilizia, la risposta nelle emergenze (trasporto di aiuti o lo spostamento di oggetti pesanti), lo sviluppo delle risorse in aree remote (petrolio, gas e industrie minerarie), l’utilizzo in contesti militari per la fornitura di approvvigionamenti e, non ultima, la deforestazione.
One particular industry the corporation aimed to target was logging. A specific “logging version” of the aerostat, which featured a balloon 28 meters (some 92 feet) in diameter would supposedly be able to carry a payload of 16,000 kilograms (some 35,000 pounds) at zero fuel. The vehicle could be used for roughly 2.5 hours during a typical yarding operation, so the corporation claimed. “In the logging industry, steep terrain, prohibitive road development costs and a short operating season virtually eliminate the feasibility and profitability of harvesting rich forest areas,” the brochure reads. “With the LTA 20-1 [logging version], the entire operation’s flexibility is considerably increased. With heavy-lift aerial logging, fewer roads are required. By targeting their operations towards a particular variety or grade of timber in demand, companies can react quickly to changing market conditions.” Futuristic artwork of LTA 20-1s carrying lumber was also produced by the corporation to underscore this.
Nonostante l’interesse di alcune compagnie straniere la Magnus Aerospace Corporation dopo varie vicissitudini è stata poi sciolta nel 2002, senza arrivare mai a completare il progetto dell’LTA 20-1. Negli ultimi anni c’è stato però un ritorno di interesse per i veicoli più leggeri dell’aria, specialmente per quanto riguarda le loro possibili applicazioni militari.
While LTA 20-1 never made it to full-scale testing, let alone production, in recent years there’s been a revival of interest in lighter-than-air vehicles, especially for military applications. The U.S. and Chinese armed forces, in particular, have explored various high-altitude lighter-than-air projects, often intended as surveillance platforms designed to travel across long distances and for long durations. The Chinese spy balloon — which was shot down by a U.S. Air Force F-22 on February 4 off the coast of South Carolina — underscores this, which featured a large payload apparatus for intelligence gathering. Interest in lighter-than-air craft for communications relay, drone motherships, and even kinetic strikes has increased in recent years, as well.
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