• 33550336@lemmy.worldOP
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    7 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
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      7 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
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        7 months ago

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