SoylentNews

Wakaranai writes:

"BBC News has a video report that a UK company, Hybrid Air Vehicles, is developing helium-filled hybrid airships for passengers and cargo.

The first prototype was 91 m long, and was built for the US Army. However, the military project was scrapped due to budget cuts, and the airship was returned to the UK. A larger vehicle is on the drawing board.

One of the companies shareholders is... err.. Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden!"

takyon writes:

The development of next-generation airships continues, but Hybrid Air Vehicles is struggling to get its Airlander 10 craft off the ground.

It could be the future of aviation, British eccentric genius on a grand scale, or possibly a bit of both. Secreted in a hangar a few miles south of Bedford sits the world’s largest aircraft: a hybrid of plane, balloon and hovercraft, an airship that the company modestly says will change the world. The Airlander 10 can fly for weeks, land virtually anywhere that’s flat, and burns just a fifth of the fuel of a conventional aircraft.

The Airlander is filled with helium, kept from leaking using a "super-tough skin" made of Vectran, Kevlar, and Mylar, but can also take off using aerodynamic lift like a conventional airplane. An earlier version was selected by the United States Army for the Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle program, intended to provide surveillance for ground troops using unmanned blimps, but LEMV was cancelled in 2013.

Could this be the future of Airships? As one of the main investors, Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson believes so:

I’m not expecting to get my money back any time soon, I just want to be part of it. Being a rock person, I could put it up my nose, or buy a million Rolls Royces and drive them into swimming pools, or I could do something useful. ... There are very few times in your life when you’re going to be part of something big.

Phoenix666 writes:

Airlander 10, the world's largest and longest aircraft, is preparing to gently glide out of its gargantuan shed—which is incidentally the largest hangar in the UK—at Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire.

Earlier this month, Airlander 10, which is being built by Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), was officially named Martha Gwyn by the duke of Kent. HAV is now in the "final stages of testing" before it can exit the hangar, which will be a "matter of weeks" rather than months.

The Martha Gwyn is an odd beast. At its most basic, it's a 92-metre (302ft) blimp filled with 38,000 cubic metres of helium. There are four propellers—two at the back, one on the front left, one on the front right—that provide vectored thrust from four V8 turbo-diesel engines. But in addition to those rather mundane elements, the envelope (the bit that holds all the helium) has an aerofoil silhouette that reportedly increases lift efficiency by 40 percent. Tucked in just below the front of the envelope is a tiny cockpit capsule with space for a pilot and a handful of personnel. The Airlander 10 will theoretically be able to carry payloads of up to 10 tonnes (thus the name), though that has never been tested. HAV has future plans to build an Airlander 50 with five times the capacity. It will be presumably be about the same size as Wales.
...
Whether it will actually fly, and land, and then fly again with a 10-tonne payload remains to be seen. Hybrid Air Vehicles maintains that there's strong demand for giant airships from myriad sectors, ranging from communications and surveillance, through to logistics, militaristic settings, and scientific endeavour.

"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," here we come!

Original Submission

MostCynical writes:

Airlander 10, the large, helium-filled plane/balloon/bum-shaped flying thing still hasn't left the ground since Hybrid Air Vehicles of the UK (HAV) bought it back from the US Military and reassembled it.

The cost of development was $USD 297 million when it was canned. HAV paid $301,000 for it (minus military hardware, software, and the helium)

The original version flew once, for 90 minutes, in August 2012. The makers are still claiming 90mph (148kph) maximum speed and up to five days aloft.

Sources:

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3740746/Grounded-Maiden-flight-world-s-largest-aircraft-nicknamed-flying-bum-postponed-minute-technical-issues.html

• http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-37086999

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Air_Vehicles_HAV_304_Airlander_10

I still want a ride on it, if it ever flies.

Original Submission

"exec" writes:

The Airlander 10—also known as the world's largest aircraft, better known as a giant, ass-shaped vessel—took off for the first time today.

The "flying bum," as it's apparently known, was supposed to take its maiden voyage on Sunday, but the flight was postponed due to "a slight technical issue." The aircraft's maker, Hybrid Air Vehicles, didn't say on Sunday when the flight would happen, but luckily for ass and aircraft enthusiasts everywhere, it finally took off from Cardington airfield near London.

The flight itself wasn't long—just half an hour, according to the AP—but apparently drew a crowd of hundreds. The 302-foot aircraft combines elements of "fixed wing aircraft and helicopters with lighter-than-air technology," resulting in a Frankenstein-esque behemoth that its creators say can stay in the air for over two weeks unmanned.

The AP says the Airlander 10 was originally created for the US military, which wanted to use it "for surveillance in Afghanistan," but the plan was axed in 2013. (It's hard to miss a giant butt.)

http://gizmodo.com/worlds-largest-aircraft-takes-off-for-the-first-time-s-1785420329

-- submitted from IRC

[Ed note: This is the world's largest aircraft, currently, but the Graf Zeppelin had nearly three times the volume.]

Original Submission

Fnord666 writes:

After almost six months, Airlander 10 has finally been repaired and will continue its flight test programme. Back in August the giant airship crashed into the ground, crushing the flight deck—but somehow the crew escaped unscathed. The flight deck's instrument panels, overhead console, and associated wiring had to be reinstalled.

There will now be a period of "rigorous" training and testing before the blimp once again takes flight, which will presumably be later this year.

Following an investigation after the crash, Hybrid Air Vehicles said it "fully understands" the root causes of the incident—but it didn't say what those causes were. We've asked the company for more details and will update this story if we hear back.

Source:

https://arstechnica.co.uk/business/2017/02/airlander-10-largest-aircraft-airship-details-test-flight/

Previously:
Hybrid Air Vehicles Seeking Investors for Airlander 10 Hybrid Airship
Airlander 10 - Test Flight Delayed
World's Largest Aircraft Takes Off for the First Time

Original Submission