UK design and innovation company Seymourpowell have just revealed their visionary transportation concept known as Aircruise – a clipper in the clouds. Are we looking at the future of transport?
The concept is basically a giant, vertical airship powered by natural energy and designed to carry travellers in style and luxury.
Originally a self-generated project, Seymourpowell’s Aircruise is the concept design for a hotel in the sky, with low passenger numbers and huge internal spaces offering room for living, dining and relaxing, as well as scope for dramatic and inspirational public spaces. The initial design proposes a bar/lounge zone, four duplex apartments, a penthouse and five smaller apartments.
From the docking rig at the base to the tip, the ship is 265 metres tall. Hydrogen, the lightest gas, is used as the lifting gas, and is capable of lifting around 1.2Kg per cubic metre of volume.
The service ceiling is limited to 12,000 feet, given the attenuation of the atmosphere (the hotel is not pressurised) and the limits of gas expansion within the envelope. If however, there are specific locations of interest en route, the ship can drop down to within a few hundred feet of the ground.
Cruising speed without tail or headwind is 100 – 150 Km/hr. This equates to journey times that are appropriate to the cruise experience: London to New York in 37 hours; Los Angeles to Shanghai in 90 hours.
Six-flight crew will include two flight engineers, and will fly the ship in shifts, given the likely cruise durations. 14 support staff will run the hotel experience for the guest passengers.
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