Is it a bird?
Is it a plane?
No, it's superman!
*crowd muffled apathy* Wait no, I was wearing my novelty turn-everything-into-superman
glasses!
It's actually a blimp!
*crowd oooh* Believe it or not, you are statistically extremely
lucky to see a blimp these days.
In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a blimp in my life.
But I am from Ireland, and well, there's just not enough blimps in the world for every country
to enjoy!
But even if you live in - let's say America, for example - and you have seen a blimp before,
you may have noticed they're not as common as they once were.
Actually, I'd say it's probably more likely that you didn't notice and are only considering
it now that I've brought it up.
Well, it is true - blimps used to be more prevalent than they are now.
They're quite rare now, in fact.
Would you be able to guess how many blimps there are in the entire world?
I'll give you a minute, I understand this is probably not something you've spent any
time thinking about before.
Well, there are only about 25 blimps in the entire world.
Just think about how rare that makes blimps.
Think of all the crazy things that are somehow more common, all the rare diseases, all the
endangered species, all the ancient artefacts - hell, Jesus Christ appears in toast more
often than a blimp appears in the sky.
So why is this?
Well, first ask yourself why you find this so interesting despite the fact you didn't
even notice it in the first place and never spent any time thinking about it.
The only answer I can give you to that question is maybe you have a brain like mine, in which
case, you should probably get back to whatever you're supposed to be doing instead of learning
about why there's only 25 blimps in the world.
But I do have answers to that question, so let's get into it.
Firstly, a blimp is an airship.
An airship, or dirigible, is a type of lighter-than-air aircraft, meaning its lift is controlled by
a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
They are also able to move under their own power, through the use of engines - which
separates them from hot-air balloons, which rely on the wind for navigation.
The first steam-powered airship took to the skies in 1852.
There are different kinds of airships.
In a rigid airship, the envelope is supported by an internal framework.
This is known as a Zeppelin.
The most famous example, other than Led Zeppelin which does not meet any of the requirements
of an airship - is probably the Hindenburg - which, y'know is already kind of a bad sign
for the airship - we're not very far into the video and we've already reached a major
negative.
When the most famous example of a mode of transport was actually a massive disaster,
we start to understand that maybe there were good reasons these things didn't stick around.
A lot of people tend to think of the Hindenburg as a sort of Titanic, but it made 62 flights
before it crashed, it was actually a successful transatlantic airliner.
Then in 1937 it burned up and killed 36 people.
But the Titanic sank on its very first voyage and killed over a thousand people.
I mean that's way worse right?
And ocean liners are still popular.
So what happened to the airship?
Well, you may have heard of this thing called an aeroplane.
The first one was invented in 1903.
As technology progressed, the aeroplane became faster, bigger, more reliable.
Airships became largely obsolete, and high-profile disasters like the Hindenburg just served
to accelerate their declining popularity.
Eventually, airships were only really favourable in situations where hovering in one spot for
an extended period of time was more important than speed and maneuverability.
This brings us to the blimp.
The blimp is a non-rigid airship.
Meaning, unlike a Zeppelin, it is not supported by an internal framework, and instead maintains
its shape thanks to the pressure of the gas inside.
They're used for a variety of purposes but in modern times they're most known for advertising
and capturing aerial footage of events - thanks to their ability to stay in one spot for extended
periods.
Once again, technology did catch up to the blimp, with the advent of the helicopter,
which can also hover in one spot.
But the helicopter is constantly guzzling fuel, if the engines stop, it falls out of
the sky.
A blimp also needs fuel to power its engines, but the engines aren't what keep blimps in
the sky, it's the gas inside them.
They're basically big bouyant balloons, so fuel is not quite as pressing a concern as
it is for the helicopter.
A blimp could theoretically stay in the air for days.
But there's only an estimated 25 of them left in the world, and only about half of those
are still in use.
Out of over 400,000 commercial pilots in the USA, only about 120 have a rating to fly an
airship.
So if you ever meet a blimp pilot, appreciate the rarity and perhaps the historical significance
of what they do.
Although, probabilistically, you will almost certainly never meet one, so I don't know
why I bothered conjuring that scenario in our heads.
So why are they so rare?
Well, as I mentioned, technology sort of passed them by.
Even in the last few years, they've been made more obsolete.
Remember I said they're sometimes used to capture aerial footage?
Well, we've got drones for that now, and they're a lot cheaper.
How much does a blimp cost?
About a million dollars, maybe two, maybe three, maybe dozens if you're building a new
state-of-the art one.
Then you've got to find one of those elusive pilots, or alternatively you could fly it
yourself, after the required 400 hours of training - compare that to the 40 hours it
takes to qualify for a private pilot's license.
Then you've got to fill it with the gas.
Airships like the Hindenburg were filled with Hydrogen, but it turns out that stuff is pretty
flammable, so we moved on to Helium instead.
Unfortunately Helium is non-renewable.
We have a finite supply.
Once it's gone, it's gone.
It's also quite rare.
In a more intelligent species this would probably mean the safegaurding of the element for important
purposes, but we're humans, so it's party time.
Fill up the balloons, who cares if we run out?
A blimp holds hundreds of thousands of cubic feet's worth of Helium - that's expensive.
And with our Helium reserves being depleted, it's only going to get more expensive as time
goes on.
Taking a blimp into the air could cost you 100,000 dollars - for a single trip.
So all they're really good for anymore is advertising, which I'd wager is what most
people recognise them for, and it costs an insane amount of money.
I mean yeah, everyone is gonna look up at a blimp - but everyone would look at an aircraft
carrier too, it doesn't mean it's a good idea to buy one for advertising - just put your
money into digital marketing and you'll probably go much further with much less cash.
So blimps, and more generally airships are just no longer cost-efficient.
Technology made airships largely obsolete, but it could also bring them back.
If we could figure out the prohibitive cost issues, maybe bring Hydrogen back into the
equation - [explosion] - ok, well, if we can figure out something, it's been suggested
that airships would be great for large-scale cargo transport, because they can travel massive
distances and deliver cargo to places with lacking infrastructure.
They could be useful in space programs too - they could potentially get us to orbit cheaper
than a rocket.
There are companies looking into these possibilities, so we may see the airship reclaim its former
glory.
At present, the future of airships is in great darkness, a darkness that stretches on forever,
but there is a small glimmer of light, a light that simultaneously promises to extinguish
and be swallowed by the darkness, or re-ignite and illuminate the way forward.
Similarly, as this video draws to a close you stand at the threshold of a doorway.
Beyond its gaping mouth sits the darkness and the glimmer.
As the video ends and you pass through the door, you realise the darkness is the absense
of Qxir, an eternal plunge into blackness, and the slamming of the door forever.
The light is the presence of Qxir, which you can embrace by subscribing, ensuring your
future will be graced by the touch of more of my videos.
Now the video is complete, and the light dims - will you re-ignite it?
Will you subscribe?
I leave you now to the darkness, but I will return once more to bring the light.
I hope to see you there.