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The
92-metre Airlander 10 floated in a hangar in Cardington, central
England, at a media event where its backers showcased a vessel
they said could stay airborne for up to two weeks.
Hybrid Air Vehicles is hoping the slow-moving, helium-filled
Airlander 10 will catch the eye of potential customers who might
want to use it to carry cargo or deliver aid, for surveillance,
communications or leisure purposes. It can carry 48 passengers.
The Airlander can take off and land vertically meaning it does
not need a tarmac runway. It can also operate from open fields,
deserts, ice or water, meaning it could be useful for
humanitarian missions or coastguard monitoring.
Airships have a long history stretching back to the nineteenth
century, although their use was curtailed by competition from
aeroplanes in the twentieth century and high-profile accidents
such as the Hindenburg disaster in 1937.
Hybrid Air Vehicles is a privately-held firm funded so far by
17.5 million pounds ($25.2 million) raised from 1,000
shareholders, and which has benefited from U.S. investment and
British and EU grants.
It will undertake additional ground testing before a first
flight in the coming months.
The airship could then become a familiar sight over the central
English countryside as it aims to complete 200 hours of test
flights before demonstrations to would-be customers.
Hybrid Air Vehicles hopes to be building 12 of the airships a
year by 2018.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Mark Potter)
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