Pick a blimp, any blimp

[leo-rcc]

When you think about it, a normal airliner is essentially a flying fuel tank, so when things go badly wrong it all ends up in a fireball. Hydrogen filled blimps are thus no worse.

Would someone be able to turn a hydrogen filled airship into a roaring fireball with nothing more than a sniper rifle?

No. But it can spring a leak.

[Pappa]

When you think about it, a normal airliner is essentially a flying fuel tank, so when things go badly wrong it all ends up in a fireball. Hydrogen filled blimps are thus no worse.

Would someone be able to turn a hydrogen filled airship into a roaring fireball with nothing more than a sniper rifle?

Good point.

Then I wondered the same about a plane.

I know aviation fuel has to be heated before it will ignite, but perhaps a rifle round is hot enough?

[Ele]

When you think about it, a normal airliner is essentially a flying fuel tank, so when things go badly wrong it all ends up in a fireball. Hydrogen filled blimps are thus no worse.

Would someone be able to turn a hydrogen filled airship into a roaring fireball with nothing more than a sniper rifle?

I guess it depends how hard the shell is and what kinds of materials are used to make these futuristic airships. Some of the models in the link mention nylon and strong fabrics over an aluminium frame, because it needs to be lightweight of course. But some of them look like they have harder solid casings. Maybe they will need to design missile repellant force fields too!

I love looking at these models on the website... some of them are just so Jetsons

[Deep Sea Isopod]

When you think about it, a normal airliner is essentially a flying fuel tank, so when things go badly wrong it all ends up in a fireball. Hydrogen filled blimps are thus no worse.

Would someone be able to turn a hydrogen filled airship into a roaring fireball with nothing more than a sniper rifle?

Good point.

Then I wondered the same about a plane.

I know aviation fuel has to be heated before it will ignite, but perhaps a rifle round is hot enough?

Aircraft fuel has a higher flashpoint and a smaller range between the upper and lower explosive limits than H2.

H2
Flashpoint: -253°C (-423°F)

Lower Explosive Limit : 17%
Upper Explosive Limit: 56%

Jet fuel:
Flashpoint: 38°C (100°F)

Lower explosive limit : 0.7 %
Upper explosive limit : 4.0 %

Making Jetfuel more stable.

[Pappa]

Making Jetfuel more stable.

Any idea what the likely outcome of firing a rifle round directly into a jet wing though?

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Making Jetfuel more stable.

Any idea what the likely outcome of firing a rifle round directly into a jet wing though?

It makes a hole, and if the tank is ruptured, fuel pisses out.

[Pappa]

Making Jetfuel more stable.

Any idea what the likely outcome of firing a rifle round directly into a jet wing though?

It makes a hole, and if the tank is ruptured, fuel pisses out.

Would it ignite the fuel though?

[leo-rcc]

Making Jetfuel more stable.

Any idea what the likely outcome of firing a rifle round directly into a jet wing though?

It makes a hole, and if the tank is ruptured, fuel pisses out.

Would it ignite the fuel though?

It's pretty hard to ignite jet-fuel actually. Even regular car fuel is not that easy to ignite.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Making Jetfuel more stable.

Any idea what the likely outcome of firing a rifle round directly into a jet wing though?

It makes a hole, and if the tank is ruptured, fuel pisses out.

Would it ignite the fuel though?

During the first Gulf war I saw a Puma helicopter and a couple of Tornado jets that were riddled with bullet holes. No explosions.
I'd say it's unlikely.

[Ele]

Making Jetfuel more stable.

Any idea what the likely outcome of firing a rifle round directly into a jet wing though?

It makes a hole, and if the tank is ruptured, fuel pisses out.

Would it ignite the fuel though?

It wouldn't take too many well targeted shots from a a 50-caliber anti-armor sniper rifle to bring down a commercial jetliner. according to Aviation Today here:

• These weapons pack a deadly wallop from ranges upwards of a 1,000 yards. The thumb-size bullets, which come in armor-piercing and incendiary variants, can punch through aircraft fuselages, fuel tanks and engines. Described as "just like bird hunting" when used against aircraft descending for landing, these new high-power sniper rifles pose a particular threat to aircraft on the ground.
  
  Consider this scenario, from inside the cabin of an airliner momentarily halted in a line of aircraft on a taxiway, waiting for the final turn onto the runway for takeoff. Suddenly, a five-inch section of the cabin sidewall panel blows inward as the first .50-caliber slug penetrates the fuselage. The second bullet strikes a passenger seated by a window in the head, spattering adjacent passengers with a bloody spray of bone and brain. Passengers scream. Some pop open the overwing emergency exits while others lunge at the doors in a frantic scramble to get out of the airplane. The third bullet, fired from a different direction by a second sniper team, penetrates the cockpit windscreen, instantly killing the copilot.
  
  The third slug strikes the engine pylon, severing the power feeder cable from the engine generator. The severed wires create massive electrical arcing to structure. The fourth bullet strikes the wing fuel tank. The jet fuel spills out of the hole and is ignited by the sparks of the severed power feeder cable. The landing gear collapses under the burning wing as a smoke-tinged orange fireball climbs into the sky.
  
  The snipers, having wreaked such havoc in less than a minute, turn their attention to the last airplane in line for takeoff. With burning airplanes at both ends of the queue, the snipers then direct their fire at the airport rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicles dispatched to the scene.
  
  Sound farfetched? Not according to a 1995 Rand Corp. study of the threat posed by .50-caliber sniper rifles to U.S. Air Force bases. Not according to a 2001 article in Airman, the official Air Force magazine, and not according to a new report by the Violence Policy Center, a Washington, D.C., educational organization that analyzes trends and patterns in firearms violence.

Terrorists can do this shit if they want to already. But has it happened yet? Not that I've heard of....

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Jet fuel:
Flashpoint: 38°C (100°F)

Lower explosive limit : 0.7 %
Upper explosive limit : 4.0 %

The temperature of the fuel needs to be higher than 38°C (100°F)
And the mixture of the fuel vapor in the air needs to be between 0.7% and 4.0%

Otherwise, no boom boom.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Terrorists can do this shit if they want to already. But has it happened yet? Not that I've heard of....

The range of a .50 cal bullet is less than 1.5 miles. A US Marine sniper holds the record of the longest confirmed distance of 2,286 meters (2,500 yards) or 1.42 miles (2.29 km) (source: Wiki)
So once the plane is in the sky it's out of range.

[Rum]

I love the long sticky up ones! They look like they would be more stable.

I like the idea of taking a week to cross the Atlantic.

[leo-rcc]

I love the long sticky up ones! They look like they would be more stable.

I like the idea of taking a week to cross the Atlantic.

I think the high ones will have too many problems with catching the wind.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

I love the long sticky up ones! They look like they would be more stable.

I like the idea of taking a week to cross the Atlantic.

I think the high ones will have too many problems with catching the wind.

And you can't dangle a line out of the window.