Imagine a flying machine that can cruise in the air for three weeks without landing – and does not need a runway when it finally comes back to earth.
It may sound like science fiction, but the Hybrid Air Vehicle – which looks like a traditional airship – can land anywhere and on any surface.
See the video with details from the BBC
Residents of Caribou, Maine, who happened to glance up at the skies over the former Loring Air Force Base recently got a glimpse of the future—although they might have thought they were looking at something out of the past. Engineers from my company, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), in McLean, Va., have been conducting test flights of a new type of lighter-than-air vehicle. Link to article on IEEE Spectrum
A long time has passed since Americans witnessed the flight of a zeppelin; an airship that uses an inner superstructure for support inside of an ‘envelope’. A rare chance exists in Oregon for enthusiasts to actually ride aboard a zeppelin, in fact it is the largest such craft in the entire world.
Most people have seen the Goodyear Blimp and similar airships, but nobody in the United States has seen a zeppelin since a fiery night in 1937 when the German zeppelin ‘The Hindenburg’ exploded in flames in front of a crowd of horrified people.
Recent research has proven that a flammable coating applied to the outside of the Hindenburg caused it to burst into flames; it wasn’t sabotaged and the actual design of the airship had nothing to do with the disaster. ‘Return of the Zeppelin’ – a Video Essay
The zero emissions solar powered blimp Nephelios is preparing for a crossing of the English Channel this summer and the two videos in this post are of some initial flights of the blimp Nephelios as it prepares for this epic and important flight. The original flight was scheduled for the Summer of 2009 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Louis Bleriot’s historic crossing of the Channel in an airplane. Solar powered blimp Nephelios prepares for Channel crossing
The Graf Zeppelin ruled the uncluttered skies like no other monarch could. The sight of the silver ship gliding over head brought crowds of people streaming from their houses and into the streets. …
From ABC WTVG Toledo: “A new company that will build giant airships is getting off the ground here and it could mean hundreds of jobs!The company is called Ohio Airships and it’s built a prototype of what’s called a Dynalifter aircraft. Right now employees are working on the prototype at Toledo Express Airport. The full scale models will be capable of hauling incredible amounts of cargo.” (more…)
A German-American venture says it is now days from the maiden flight of its 111-foot long, tadpole-esque “segmented” drone airship. The STS-111 “Stratellite”, produced by Sanswire of Florida and TAO Technologies GmbH of Stuttgart, has now been assembled at the firm’s German test centre. According to a Sanswire-TAO announcement issued yesterday, “the first flight of the full scale STS-111 is expected to take place at the end of August”. The test video below shows a smaller prototype Unmanned German sperm dirigible ‘to fly within days’
The first known way (that at least establishment caveman-to-spaceman mythology historians accept) for men to fly was by Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) aircraft. Today’s Lockheed-Martin “Skunk Works” P-791 LTA hybrid heavy lifter with an air-cushion landing system (ACLS) to firmly connect the airship to the ground in suction mode is a good contrast for the LTA balloon attack envisioned during the 1800s by Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon.
From aopa.org: “Is there a more iconic corporate symbol than the Goodyear blimp? Company research shows that whenever the word “blimp” is used, most every American thinks “Goodyear.” Such name recognition and association doesn’t occur without a major investment in time and money, and Goodyear has made both over the past 84 years to support commercial blimp operations. However, the company’s contributions to aviation go back even further.” One giant icon: Flying a piece of aviation history
From kqed.org: “The Hindenburg wasn’t the only air ship to end in a catastrophic crash. In 1935, the USS Macon went down in 1000 feet of water off the coast of Monterey, California. Now, as scientists study the recently-discovered wreckage, dirigibles are returning to the Bay Area and are poised to rule the skies once again. But these aren’t the same dirigibles – these are new and improved.”
