Three airships that might fly you to Europe someday

We at EcoGeek have a crush on airships. They're elegant, efficient, exciting, and require very little infrastructure. Airships have the potential to be more efficient than airplanes, cars, and even passenger trains and barges.

In a carbon-conscious world, passenger flight is difficult to rationalize. But we've got to get from point A to point B -- there are births, funerals, weddings, and graduations to attend. Right now, there's no alternative to traditional heavier-than-air travel.

Here are three airships that have a good chance at changing that:

The Aeroscraft

Aeroscraft comes first because it seems both more ambitious and farther along in development than the others. As lighter-than-air (LTA) craft are completely subject to the weather when not under their own propulsion, low-speed control is a big deal. Aeroscraft has kept that in its sights.

Their current project is a small airship designed to be a luxury cabin for the über-wealthy, or a commercial transport for tourism (complete with a glass bottom). Neither are particularly environmentally friendly but both are significant steps toward larger projects.

The SkyCat

While SkyCat has a less impressive marketing department, their initiative is nonetheless impressive. A working one-sixth scale mock-up (the SkyKitten) already has been produced and flown by remote control.

The mock-up was a success, and their first prototype airship (the SkyCat 20) is under construction and slated to be operational in 2009.

SkyCat is focusing primarily on the shipping industry, at least in the beginning, hoping to fill the gap between high-speed (expensive) air freight and low-speed (cheap) ground freight.

SkyFreighter

Another airship company focusing on freight is Canada's SkyFreighter. They started out as part of a US Defense project for an amphibious LTA craft (the Walrus Program). But now they're looking at both military and commercial possibilities.

Unfortunately, it looks as if they're stuck at the engineering level. Since the Walrus Program was cancelled, their funding has stalled.

But they're still planning for a possible U.S. to Canada LTA shipping route. With competition like Aeroscraft and SkyCat, they're gonna have to fight to stay alive.

Continue to EcoGeek for video of airships in action.

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