Interesting concept. Here are some stats for current airship, the one being built in the UK

- Cost: $100M to lift 1.225 tonnes, aimed for 2015. Larger model on drawing board can lift 5 tonnes (cost more presumably). So, lifting capacity from 1-5 tonnes would be considered not too great.

- Range: far enough, can cover 500km easily

- Speed: 80 knots = ~150 km/h. This looks a bit fast (faster than a regular Mustang?) given the bulky size, and seemingly small fans (two in back, one on each side). Concern is can it take head wind.

A Hercules rental (from First Air) could be much better

- Lifting capacity 20 tonnes

- Speed: 500km/h and should be able to take head wind (proven)

- Can land on ice or short runway. One landed in the RoF before (check with Richard Nemis? he knows the rental rate). It can land on an aircraft carrier. Check with Google for both landings).

I would suspect that a Herc would probably be a cheaper option for shorter solution. It would be interesting to compare this with trucking some 20-tonne load, even double that.

And you can do it right now if you have the money to rent the plane. A Herc would cost some $30-60 M, if you want to buy it, but you would need pilots, supporting crews, hangars...too much headache. Rental is better, let First Air take care of all that.

I am thinking about NOT shipping Ni concentrates out of the RoF (or getting equipment in). Is it economical using the Herc, since the EW road is not there yet and it would cost money to build (some $240 M for the EW portion, may be I am wrong on this number) and time to please everybody, EA, etc.

Comments anyone?

Cheers,

goldhunter