Comments on: Don’t Let Your Money Fly Away: A 1909 Warning to Airship Investors

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 12:42:48 +0000

Has someone said recently that the passenger airline industry is a poor investment?

Making airliners has been profitable. Leasing airliners has been profitable. Operating them? Not so much. Cutthroat competition is a property of industries with high capital costs and no large barriers to entry.

By: jayessell

jayessell — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:24:31 +0000

Has someone said recently that the passenger airline industry is a poor investment?

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:07:38 +0000

#2: airships have fundamental problems that will likely always render them uncompetitive for transportation applications.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/05/27/helium-hokum-why-airships-will-never-be-part-of-our-transportation-infrastructure/

By: George P

George P — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 02:14:21 +0000

Airships probably would have been a good investment if not for the Hindenburg disaster, and that wouldn’t have happened had there not been a ban on the exportation of helium.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 31 May 2012 20:44:08 +0000

Lighter than air vehicles turned out to have only limited military utility. Heavier than air vehicles, of course, were a different story.

Perhaps the story here is that skepticism is essential, but it must be finely tuned.