Deus Ex Traffic Balloon

Yesterday, Modern Mechanix featured an article from 1932 proposing to use airships to solve traffic problems. An officer would sit inside a booth hanging from a small dirigible hoovering over the notorious traffic-jams caused by major football games. This officer would serve as a “traffic dictator”, single-handedly controlling the traffic from above by wielding the “necessary signal apparatus”, and thus preventing motorists from doing what motorists do best; “defeat the very thing that they are trying to accomplish”.

The lack of wireless communication in the 30’s would be overcome by linking the airship to a base station by a thick, and presumably very long cable. Or as the article puts it:

“Carried up with the captive balloon would be a large cable containing the nerve centers of the entire system that would terminate in a master-control switchboard spread out before the great traffic god who by the mere manipulation of switches “would rid the traffic-burdened city of its excess vehicles in one hour, instead of the customary two or three hours now required.”

The magnificent referral to the airborne officer as a great traffic god is an instant classic.

Cory ran this on Boing Boing as well, and also linked to an interesting blog called Paleo-Future, with the to die for tagline; “A look into the future that never was”.

It all starts with hot air

To break airships down to basics, they are really just controllable balloons. All it takes to fly is a large bag made from light fabric and a fire – the two things needed for a basic hot air balloon. This blog is mainly about controllable craft, but there is really no better place to begin than with the balloons.

There are some things that indicate that man has been airborne for longer than is generally conceived. Apparently, it’s been suggested that the awesome Nazca Lines in Peru – dating back approximately 1500 years – could not have been created without the ability to gain significant altitude. The immense and carefully drawn geometric figures are up to 270 meters long, and almost go unnoticed from ground level. This gave Jim Woodman the idea that pre-Inca Peruvians might have used hot-air balloons to plan their wonder. In 1975, he tested this idea with master balloonist Julian Nott, and together they managed to create a fully workable balloon using only materials and techniques available to the pre-Incan era, resulting in the funny-looking balloon in this image. Their success proved that not only the pre-Incans, but just about every civilization with access to a loom and fire, could have flown. You can read about their endeavor here.

Anything that flies.

A new empty blog, and a new project ahead. I want to learn about airships, and what better way is there than blogging for greater knowledge? A few years ago I saw a documentary on some British engineer that was working on a new generation of airships. His idea was to use them for transporting goods, but I remember thinking – I would love to travel in one of those. I kind of left it at that thought back then.

I have decided that I want to learn everything I can about airships. Be they of fictional, historical, contemporary or future design. This blog is about airships. I’m planning to write one entry every week for an undecided period. Good luck to me. The first entry will be posted shortly.

I open this blog with the cover of an awesome book that features airships. China Mieville’s The Scar is a fantastic steampunk epic, well worthy of a read.