REMOTE Mount Isa locals in north western Queensland have their hopes pinned becoming the dirigible capital of the country, if not the world, reports the australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Some dare hope that within four years Mount Isa (pop 18,300) will be first of six airship bases in Australia for moving freight around the country after the Mount Isa Regional council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with French-Canadian aeronautical group Flying Whales.
With a conceptual rendering of a Flying Whale, 200-metre airship, one can imagine in a remote desert such an oblong balloon, the length of three Airbus A380s hovers overhead.
It descends toward the ground without the need for a runway or landing pad, cargo is emptied onto the surface below, the airship ascends as high as 3,000 metres and jets off into the outback horizon.
The town council and the company are set to begin a technical feasibility study and business case with a view to developing the Mount Isa base by 2028.
Both the company and council have yet to confirm the cost of the proposed project.
Flying Whales, a consortium of more than 50 partners including the French and Canadian governments, says the technology would revolutionise freight globally while addressing traditional large cargo issues including cost, environmental impact and logistics.
But is up to 60 tonnes of cargo, more than most trucks carry, strapped inside an airship flying thousands of metres up in the sky really where we're headed in Australia?
SeaNews Turkey
Some dare hope that within four years Mount Isa (pop 18,300) will be first of six airship bases in Australia for moving freight around the country after the Mount Isa Regional council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with French-Canadian aeronautical group Flying Whales.
With a conceptual rendering of a Flying Whale, 200-metre airship, one can imagine in a remote desert such an oblong balloon, the length of three Airbus A380s hovers overhead.
It descends toward the ground without the need for a runway or landing pad, cargo is emptied onto the surface below, the airship ascends as high as 3,000 metres and jets off into the outback horizon.
The town council and the company are set to begin a technical feasibility study and business case with a view to developing the Mount Isa base by 2028.
Both the company and council have yet to confirm the cost of the proposed project.
Flying Whales, a consortium of more than 50 partners including the French and Canadian governments, says the technology would revolutionise freight globally while addressing traditional large cargo issues including cost, environmental impact and logistics.
But is up to 60 tonnes of cargo, more than most trucks carry, strapped inside an airship flying thousands of metres up in the sky really where we're headed in Australia?
SeaNews Turkey
