• 33550336@lemmy.worldOP
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    8 months ago

    Helicopter can also go into autorotation mode, i.e., to “gently” land even with engine failure. I think airships has no moving parts, what’s safe, and with the gas leak, I think it is rather slow process, so it would be easy to gently land.

    • 5too@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      Yep, airships aren’t overpressurized like a balloon - any leak will be extremely slow, as the heavier ambient air gradually displaces the helium inside the airship through whatever hole might be created. As I understand it, one of the big maintenance issues they have is even finding the holes from normal wear and tear. The usual failure scenarios involve storms with huge pressure changes.

      • 33550336@lemmy.worldOP
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        8 months ago

        Helium could be detected with some specialized detectors, but I suppose approximately – so, as you said, finding exact leak place is challenging.