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| The World Sky Race will take airships over famed world landmarks, including the great Egyptian pyramids |
(CNN) -- Don Hartsell knows his idea could be considered crazy.
"I thought this project
was so large, so ambitious, that no one would take me seriously," says
the Texas resident and aircraft enthusiast. "In fact, I was concerned
they would think I was insane."
Hartsell is talking about his World Sky Race,
which as conceived would be a grand global spectacle. If all goes
according to plan, a fleet of airships will take off from London in 2014
and race each other around the world, watched by millions of
spectators, before finishing six months later just outside of Paris.
The event is planned as a
series of 18 back-to-back races that will circumnavigate the globe.
Although the route isn't finalized, the proposed path will take pilots
over at least four continents and about 130 United Nations Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage sites -- among them the Egyptian pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty and the Palace of Versailles.
Hartsell, founder of a
group of blimp enthusiasts known as the World Air League, expects
celebrations in each of the cities where the airships touch down, with
wide-eyed children gathering to see the blimps float overhead. He
estimates 140 million people around the world will witness the race -- a
number that dwarfs the 5 million or so spectators for the London Olympic Games.
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| Don Hartsell, commissioner of the World Air League. |
The first-place prize for
the speediest airship? Hartsell promises at least $5 million and the
title of World Sky Champion. He plans to officially announce the race at
Versailles this fall, giving interested competitors almost two years to
prepare.
A far-fetched dream?
As you can imagine, there
are still a lot of "ifs" surrounding the World Sky Race. Skeptics might
rightly wonder if it will ever happen. Start dates have been thrown
around for years -- September 2011 was one that was widely reported --
and yet Hartsell's race has yet to get off the ground.
Hartsell says he is still
securing sponsors and raising prize money, as well as negotiating with
princes and politicians for permission to fly airships over their
landmarks. The market crash of 2008 caused delays and led potential
sponsors to walk away, he says.
Hartsell estimates there
are 30 to 35 airships in the world, and he hopes to rally at least five
of them to participate in the race. Each blimp will represent a nation,
region or city, which he believes will encourage fan and sponsor
support. He expects the race to cost about $50 million, to be financed
by donations and sponsorships.
"It's being funded purely by that good old mechanism we call capitalism," he said.
For each of the 18 legs
of the race, the blimps will have to follow a set flight path. They will
fly about 2,000 feet above sea level, making them visible to people on
the ground. The airships expect to average about 70 miles per hour,
which would allow them to travel about 1,000 miles a day, Hartsell says.
Competitors will be
timed from the moment they depart to the moment they arrive at an
official endpoint. The blimp with the shortest cumulative time will be
crowned the victor.
From the Hindenburg to Goodyear
Mention of airships brings to mind the 1937 Hindenburg disaster,
in which a German passenger airship went up in flames while attempting
to dock in New Jersey, killing 36 people. The Hindenburg was a rigid
blimp, with an aluminum frame containing hydrogen-filled bags that
lifted it into the air. Many airships today are non-rigid vessels that
have no frame and are instead filled with helium -- which, unlike
hydrogen, is not flammable.
Tim Crouch, senior curator of aeronautics at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum,
said airships had their heyday during the first 40 years of the 20th
century because they were more capable than airplanes of carrying heavy
loads over long distances. But as airplanes grew larger and faster,
blimps were used less often to ferry cargo.
The military used blimps
for surveillance and reconnaissance until the 1960s, said Crouch,
noting that the U.S. Navy has been experimenting with a blimp again in
recent years. In recent decades airships such as the Goodyear or DirecTV
blimps have been used for commercial purposes, usually at parades and
sporting events.
Crouch said using
airships as advertising is an age-old tradition he can see investors
buying into, especially in a race around the world.
"Those kinds of aeronautical challenges always pique people's interests," he said. "I mean, I'd watch that -- wouldn't you?"
UNESCO's role
The idea for the World
Sky Race first came to Hartsell when he was 23 years old and in New York
City for the U.S. bicentennial celebration of 1976. As he watched the
Goodyear blimp hover over tall-masted sailing ships in the harbor, he
envisioned creating an airship race that would unite and inspire people
like the bicentennial did.
But it wasn't until 30
years later, after he worked as a accountant, an attorney and an
entrepreneur, that Hartsell decided it was finally time to make the
World Sky Race a reality.
"I started this out
with, 'OK, you're at a point in your life where either you can retire or
you can do something worthwhile.' I went, 'Are you still crazy?' Then
the next question I asked myself was, 'How's your health?' Because to
put this together has turned into a large undertaking. Then the third
question: 'If not now?' And so with that, it started."
Hartsell has found
backing for his venture from such heavyweights as the former CEO of
Lockheed Martin, a member of Jordan's royal family and officials at
UNESCO. Francesco Bandarin, UNESCO's assistant director general for
culture, said the race would allow the U.N. to highlight its World
Heritage sites, which range from natural wonders such as the Grand
Canyon to man-made landmarks like the Sydney Opera House.
"This offers a great
opportunity to publicize the sites, and ... the need to rally
international support for their conservation," Bandarin said. "This race
would be a world premiere -- something never tried."
'He thinks big'
As Hartsell sees it, his event isn't just about racing blimps.
He has enlisted the help
of Scott McNealy, former chairman of tech giant Sun Microsystems, to
use the World Sky Race as a teaching tool for children around the world.
Since his days in
Silicon Valley, McNealy has helped create Cirriki, a nonprofit that
allows educators to share K-12 curricula on its website. McNealy hopes
to use Cirriki.org to help
teachers and students track the race and to give them lesson plans about
geology, ecology, history and culture related to the airships' travel
around the world.
"Anything that gets
students out of the rut of the physical textbook I think is a good
thing," McNealy said. "I never would have come up with a blimp race as a
way to do that, but you can see that it would be very fascinating to
young kids."
Hartsell also hopes the
race will spur the development of new airship technology. He sees these
vessels, which require less fuel and infrastructure than many other
means of transportation, as the future of aviation.
"It makes so much sense
for the environment, and it also makes so much sense for not having to
build the roads and not having to dredge the harbors," he said.
Even as a member of the
World Sky Race's advisory council, McNealy confesses he doesn't know
exactly when, or even if, the race will happen. But he hopes Hartsell's
dream for this one-of-a-kind event comes to fruition someday.
"You've got to give him credit," McNealy said. "He thinks big."
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Texas aircraft enthusiast is planning a blimp race that would circle the globe
- The World Sky Race would kick off in 2014 from London and end outside of Paris
- Organizer Don Hartsell estimates 140 million people around the world will witness the race
- Hartsell says he is still securing sponsors and raising the $5 million prize money
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