The Concept

Markets

Flight Simulator

The most profound difference between Dynalifters and other trans-continental modes of transportation is the low cost of ground infrastructure.  It is a little known fact that a $100K USD semi-truck is traveling on a $1T USD highway network.  Despite their relatively high unit cost of $250M USD per aircraft (compared with a semi-truck), Dynalifters require almost no ground infrastructure (only short runways).

"No Road? ...  No Problem!"

“Roadless Trucking” is Ohio Airships’ largest vision for Dynalifter® aircraft. Most of the world (Africa, Asia, South America, and Australia) has a desperate need for the market features that a sophisticated trucking system would offer. However, the largest cost in building any trucking system is not in the “mode” (i.e. the trucks or trains), but rather in the “road” (i.e. the highways or rails).

Conversely, a “roadless” system built entirely of existing freight aircraft would be prohibitively expensive for any nation (as is the case in the US). Therefore, a Dynalifter® “Roadless Trucking” system, with transport costs and speeds comparable to trucking without the need of building a sophisticated highway network, could essentially be afforded by every developing nation. Such a system could, almost overnight, improve a nation’s standard of living and rate of growth. 

Only a few times in a generation does a technology emerge that has the potential of changing the world’s economy. For centuries, man has sought to find more cost-effective ways of transporting goods over vast distances. Successful examples of this include the Roman road network, the Panama & Suez canals, the Trans-continental Railroad, and the US Freeway System.

There is a direct correlation between a nation’s transportation & communications infrastructure and their standard of living. Where developing nations once could not afford to ‘catch up’ with First World nations’ complex telecommunication systems, they are suddenly able to leapfrog ‘landline’ technology with the creation of wireless networks. Many people in these countries who have never had telephones in their home are currently conducting global business with cell phones and on the Internet.

A transportation breakthrough comparable to the wireless revolution does not yet exist. Ohio Airships feels that it holds the key to such a transportation revolution with the inception of Dynalifter “Roadless Trucking” systems.

	Based on the following general analysis, the Dynalifter offers a compelling alternative for governments requiring new highways or expansion of existing highways.
	Assumptions:            $        100,000   per new semi-truck $  250,000,000   per new Dynalifter Heavy Freighter $           2,000   per foot of paved highway $           5,000   per foot of paved runway (paved runway not required) 100   semi-trucks to transport 240,000 cu-ft of freight 2   Dynalifter Freighters to transport 240,000 cu-ft of freight 500   miles of highway 2   miles of runway

The cost of constructing a 500 mile freight network and purchasing either 100 semi-trucks or 2 Dynalifter freighters (equal transport volume):

Solution Cost = (total miles * cost per foot * 5,280 ft) + (vehicle cost * # of vehicles)

Transportation Challenges in the North

Dr. Barry Prentice, Director of the University of Manitoba’s Transport Institute, recently conducted a study titled “Economics of Airships for Northern Re-Supply”.  Although Dynalifters are technically more airplane than airship, his study reveals Canada’s need for “Roadless Trucking”.

Transportation challenges discourage investment in resource industries, limit employment prospects and increase the cost of living. Without an efficient and economic means of transport, the natural resource opportunities in the North remain unreachable. High freight rates inflate the cost of inputs and limit the selection of consumer goods available. Often, Canadians living in the North are cut off from public services that are taken for granted in the rest of the country. These socio-economic disparities are greatest in the remote communities that have no all-weather road access.

The North is served best by air transport. The distances are vast, the infrastructure costs of air transport are low, and the service is available year round. The technological problem is the volume of goods that can be moved economically by small airplanes. If the operating costs of air transport could be reduced, the socio-economic benefits would be significant. It is for this reason that the development of a new generation of cargo carrying airships presents such an appealing opportunity for the North.

Hybrid airships offer some new transportation options that are simply impossible using conventional modes of transportation. For example, it may be possible to transport a fully equipped portable medical/dental facility between communities on a regular basis. This may allow government agencies to provide better quality and regular health care that would reduce the movement of residents to larger urban facilities for routine medical procedures. These portable facilities would be fully equipped with living quarters for the medical personnel making the local delivery of medical services possible.

New options for economic development become possible if access to cost-effective transportation is available. These options might include forestry or light manufacturing, which could be developed locally thus providing jobs within these remote communities. If the hybrid could make market access possible, it is conceivable that local job creating industries could be established in these remote communities. The need for transportation to support a new sawmill was raised during a meeting at Berens River that was part of the 2020 Transportation Vision consultations. The potential social and economic benefits of job creation could be substantial. Finally, affordable transportation may also provide the much-needed support to other new non-community development activities such as mining that would bring economic activity to the North.

Transportation Challenges in Africa

A recent study, conducted by the World Bank Infrastructure Research titled “Road Upgrading and Trade Expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa”, noted:

Improving transport infrastructure in the land-locked interior of Africa is a high priority of the World Bank’s Africa Action Plan. A new research study investigates the likely trade benefits of investing in upgrading and maintaining a trans-African highway network. The proposed network links 83 major cities at a length of about 100,000 km. The estimated benefits are significant. On the road from Bangui in the Central African Republic to Kisangani in Congo DR, for instance, the increase in trade volume is estimated at 793 percent.

A new Development Research Group study estimated the likely increase in trade that would be triggered by upgrading primary roads connecting the main cities in the region. [2] The study finds that intra-African trade alone can be expected to increase from 10 to about 30 billion USD per year, while initial investments and annual maintenance costs would be relatively moderate over the course of the investment cycle.

Roads are essential for linking producers and consumers and the presence or absence of roads affects investment decisions by firms.[3] For land-locked African countries bad roads, especially in unstable regions, can effectively cut off trade linkages and access to the world economy.

For instance, there is essentially no formal trade between land-locked countries in north-central Africa and those in eastern and southern Africa. Many roads in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo are in such poor condition that goods are transported on bicycles pushed along muddy tracks. [4]

In other parts of Africa, transport infrastructure was typically designed for the efficient export of raw materials from the interior to world markets. Improving intra-African trade has rarely been a priority, even though such efforts could bring significant benefits to people in isolated regions. Increased internal trade would also promote broader economic and political integration on the continent.

The following table, provided by the World Bank, includes a list of underdeveloped nations in need of transformational shipping infrastructure:

(Ohio Airships will only conduct business with nations approved by the US Government)