Longer than a soccer pitch and filled to the brim with helium, at 302 feet long, the Airlander 10
will be the world's biggest aircraft. Part blimp, part plane, part
helicopter, it was originally created by British design
company Hybrid
Air Vehicles (HAV) for military surveillance by the U.S. Army.
But
budget cuts doomed the project and HAV bought the airship back across
the pond, where it seemed set to remain on solid ground until the
company received a £3.4 million ($5.1 million) grant from the UK
government. Thanks to this recent injection of financing, designers and
engineers are now readying the craft for first flight tests scheduled
for later this year.
Old concept, new tricks
While
the concept has been around for nearly a century, airships fell out of
fashion following the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, when the German
passenger craft erupted into flames while trying to dock, killing 36.
While
an airship might seem like a craft from a time long passed, it has been
given a 21st century design overhaul and HAV hopes to have airships
back in the skies over the UK by 2016.
Chris
Daniels, HAV head of partnerships and communications, said: "The sole
problems existing old-style airships had (were) having lots of ground
crew, limited ability to carry payloads and to be susceptible to weather
conditions. We solved all those problems with a new concept -- a hybrid
aircraft. So a mix between a wing and an airship."
The
Airlander 10 -- named because it can carry 10 tons -- is made of a
bespoke fabric of carbon fiber, kevlar and mylar, while the pressure of
the helium inside maintains the aircraft's shape. Diesel fuel helps the
Airlander take off and land and powers the propellers. The spacious
cockpit is currently configured to accommodate a pilot and one observer
but Daniels says this can easily be reconfigured to end-user
specifications
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