The zeppelin threads started me thinking about other ways of crossing the Atlantic/Pacific by air in the pre-WW2 period which might have retarded the development of big airliners. I know some of these have been considered before by people who know alot more than I, but here is a partial list:
(1) Commercial aircraft carriers. Imagine a big ship almost the size of a modern US Navy carrier (70-80,000 tons) with a compliment of 20 or so twin engined DC-3 type airliners, decked out as an ocean liner with a full or partial flight deck. It would function as a normal ocean liner for the majority of passengers willing to take 7 days to cross and play shuffleboard and dance the whole way. For those rich and adventurous 100-200 (think Concorde passengers) they could shorten their trip two only 2-3 days by flying one way from Birmingham to a mid ocean locale, spend an evening partying, and then fly one way on to New York
(2) Permanent artifical islands (floating presumably in mid ocean and possibly fixed on continental shelves). Luxury seaborne hotels, with just enough motive power to mantain a relatively fixed station. Perhaps 2-3 sited in set locations along multiple flight routes, so bad weather in one location would not shut everything down. Much bigger than the carriers in (1) and able to service (possibly even build) more planes, allowing more people to fly across in smaller planes.
(3) Rockets. A stretch, but it does not seem out of the realm of possibility that with a suitable POD rocket technology could develop enough to provide a ballistic means of delivering freight and possibly even passengers (again a few very adventurous ones) very fast over long distances, perhaps denying airplanes a spot in the mix altogether.
Any others?
(1) Commercial aircraft carriers. Imagine a big ship almost the size of a modern US Navy carrier (70-80,000 tons) with a compliment of 20 or so twin engined DC-3 type airliners, decked out as an ocean liner with a full or partial flight deck. It would function as a normal ocean liner for the majority of passengers willing to take 7 days to cross and play shuffleboard and dance the whole way. For those rich and adventurous 100-200 (think Concorde passengers) they could shorten their trip two only 2-3 days by flying one way from Birmingham to a mid ocean locale, spend an evening partying, and then fly one way on to New York
(2) Permanent artifical islands (floating presumably in mid ocean and possibly fixed on continental shelves). Luxury seaborne hotels, with just enough motive power to mantain a relatively fixed station. Perhaps 2-3 sited in set locations along multiple flight routes, so bad weather in one location would not shut everything down. Much bigger than the carriers in (1) and able to service (possibly even build) more planes, allowing more people to fly across in smaller planes.
(3) Rockets. A stretch, but it does not seem out of the realm of possibility that with a suitable POD rocket technology could develop enough to provide a ballistic means of delivering freight and possibly even passengers (again a few very adventurous ones) very fast over long distances, perhaps denying airplanes a spot in the mix altogether.
Any others?