Posted on May 26, 2017, and tagged as
How one billionaire's luxury air yacht will relieve world hunger on its way to Monaco. Yeah, right.
The Guardian reveals Google founder "Sergey Brin's secret plans to build the world's biggest aircraft:"
“It’s going to be massive on a grand scale,” said one [unidentified source], adding that the airship is likely to be nearly 200 meters long. This would make it by far the world’s largest aircraft today ... Brin has revealed nothing of his airship ambitions and is building the airship in a giant hangar on a Nasa airfield far from the eyes of the public.
Brin wants the gargantuan airship, funded personally by the billionaire, to be able to deliver supplies and food on humanitarian missions to remote locations. However, it will also serve as a luxurious intercontinental “air yacht” for Brin’s friends and family. One source put the project’s price tag at $100m to $150m.
Tech billionaires drool over transportation projects. Electric cars, rockets, tunnels, drone deliveries and antonymous vehicles from the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and others are in the works and the headlines. My cynical side tells me the bonanza from potential government subsidies is too temping for them to ignore. Stories like this one are typically spun as public-benefit stories, meaning they're meant to benefit one person. Will Brin's tricked out spruce goose ever schedule a layover in Syria to deliver food?
So I throw down the gauntlet: Prove me wrong. Rather than spend $150 million to build a blimp, feed every hungry American for two days instead. You'll have enough left over to send all your friends and family into space on Virgin Galactic.
I'm not the first to say it, but it needs to be said.
