Image by getty images

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is in the midst of constructing what will become the world’s largest aircraft, a blimp that will supposedly double as both a luxury “air yacht” and a humanitarian aid carrier able to bypass road traffic and airport congestion. Sources close to the project peg the eventual cost at up to $150 million.

The blimp, according to the Washington Post, is being built at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif, and will reach a length of more than 200 yards.

Original plans for the blimp included hydrogen as a lifting gas, a cheaper and more effective alternative to helium. Hydrogen, of course, was the lifting gas used on the Hindenburg, the notorious 1937 aircraft that claimed 36 lives. Today, FAA regulations require all airships to use non-flammable lifting gasses, so the hydrogen plan was scrapped, and helium will be used in its place.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Whether Brin’s luxury blimp is a yacht disguised as a humanitarian vehicle has become a subject of debate.

“A flying yacht that’s also going to do deliver assistance is long on the yacht part and a little short on the humanitarian aid part,” said Rob Enderle, technology industry analyst at the analysis firm Enderle Group, told the Washington Post. “I guess [Brin] was looking for a tax deduction. Maybe he can cut back on taxes and operational costs.”

__

Contact Jesse Bernstein at bernsteinf@forward.com or on Twitter @__jbernstein

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount