Huge helium-filled Airlander 10 airship makes maiden flight.
- Airlander has flown for the first time with a short but historic jaunt over an airfield in central England
- Airlander: A blimp-shaped, helium-filled airship, considered the world’s largest aircraft
- A hybrid of blimp, helicopter and airplane, it can stay aloft for days at a time
- Can reach 16,000 feet, travel at up to 148 kmph and stay aloft for up to two weeks
- Nicknamed the flying bum because of its bulbous front end
- Designed to use less fuel than a plane, but carry heavier loads than conventional airships
- Developer: Hybrid Air Vehicles
- It’s a British innovation.
Background.
- The aircraft was initially developed for the U.S. military
- But the U.S. blimp program was scrapped in 2013
- Since then Hybrid Air Vehicles, a small British aviation firm that dreams of ushering in a new era for airships, has sought funding from government agencies and individual donors
- The vast aircraft is based at Cardington, where the first British airships were built during and after World War I
- That program was abandoned after a 1930 crash that killed almost 50 people
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