Apparently, there’s a global race to develop reliable cargo airships (let’s call it what it is: a blimp), and France just threw their hat in the ring with the “alternative aviation” company Flying Whales.
The company is joining a contest that includes the likes of Lockheed Martin, and a handful of other smaller players, each looking to revitalize the blimp-dustry.
Introducing the Flying Whale
At 500 feet, the Flying Whale will be twice as long as a Boeing 747 and will lift an industry-leading 60-ton payload (specifically lumber from deep woodland).
FW’s has already secured close to $246m in capital and plans to IPO in 2021 — the same year a Flying Whale prototype is scheduled for its first flight.
CEO Sebastien Bougon believes, if all goes as planned, their oversized helium-filled balloon animal could create $6B in sales over the next 10 years.
That is, if people can put the Hindenburg behind them
Attempts have been made to revive blimps in the past to no avail. Seems people still haven’t forgotten the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, which left 35 passengers and crew dead as the 800-foot zeppelin crashed in a fury of flames.
On the bright side, it gave one of the greatest rock bands of all time their namesake… so, rock on, blimps. Rock on.