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Google co-founder is quietly building the world’s biggest aircraft

Google共同創辦人正悄悄打造全球最大飛行器

· 每日跟讀單元 Daily English

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is working on a high-tech airship in Silicon Valley — a behemoth that will be the largest aircraft in the world, according to a report.

報導指出,Google共同創辦人布林正在矽谷進行一項高科技飛船的建造計畫 —一個將成為全球最大飛行器的龐然大物。

The dirigible will likely be almost 657 feet long, making it by far the largest aircraft today – though smaller than Germany’s iconic Zeppelins of the 1930s, or the US Navy’s airship USS Macon.

這艘可駕駛的飛船可能長達近657英尺,使它顯然成為當今最大的飛行器—儘管比1930年代德國代表性的齊柏林飛船,或美國海軍飛船「梅肯號」小。

The Macon, which crashed in 1935, was 784 feet long. The ill-fated Hindenburg, which was more than 800 feet long, crashed in an infamous disaster in New Jersey two years later. Today, by comparison, the Russian Antonov An-225 Mriya is 276-feet long and the Airbus A380 is about 240 feet long.

1935年墜毀的梅肯號有784英尺長。2年後,長逾800英尺、命運乖舛的(齊柏林)興登堡號在新澤西州一場聲名狼藉的災難中墜毀。相較之下,現今的俄羅斯安托諾夫An-225型運輸機「夢幻號」長276英尺,空中巴士A380客機則約240英尺長。

Brin, who has remained mum on the project, is personally funding the airship. He wants the mammoth aircraft to be able to deliver supplies on humanitarian missions to remote locations — but it also will serve as a luxurious intercontinental “air yacht” for his relatives and pals, sources told The Guardian. The project will cost $100 million to $150 million to complete, one source said.

對這項計畫保持緘默的布林獨資打造這艘飛船。他希望這艘龐大的飛行器可執行運送物資到偏遠地區的人道任務—不過,它也將作為他親朋好友的豪華洲際「空中快艇」,消息來源告訴「衛報」。這項計畫將斥資1億至1.5億美元,一名消息人士說。

Source article: http://iservice.ltn.com.tw/Service/english/english.php?engno=1110497&day=2017-06-14