Those of you following the saga of Hybrid Air Vehicles AIrlander may recall that an early test flight ended on August 24, 2016 with a nose-down impact with the ground during an approach to landing, one that damaged the cabin although the test crew walked away afterwards without injury. Statements from Hybrid Air Vehicles stress that accidents during a test program developing a new aircraft are not unusual.
HAV believes it understands what led to the accident, proceeded with repairs to the airship, and has resumed test flights. Some of the developments arising from the accident are new airbags to allow landing at a greater range of angles and an improved mobile mooring mast.
The return to flight took place on May 10, 2017, and was a success.
This test flight recommenced the Flight Test Programme of the Airlander 10, which started on August 17, 2016. During each of its 3 phases, the Airlander will perform more tasks and be permitted to fly further away from its base in Cardington.
This marks the return to the skies of the world’s largest aircraft, the Airlander 10, and draws a line under the heavy landing it experienced last August. The Airlander has now flown three times in addition to a successful flight as HAV-304 during the US Army’s Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle program in 2012. There were considerable modifications since it was the HAV-304 and the Hybrid Air Vehicles team have made a number of additional modifications since last August, the main ones visible today being a new more powerful and more manoeuvrable Mobile Mooring Mast (MMM), and the additional “landing feet” of the Auxiliary Landing System (ALS).
There were three Test Objectives during today’s flight, all of which were successfully achieved:
- To conduct a full test flight – i.e. complete a safe take-off, flight and landing of the aircraft.
- To establish basic handling characteristics of Airlander within a well-defined flight envelope including assessment of the new ALS.
- To collect flight performance data, such as handling, airspeed and all vehicle systems, for post-flight analysis. (This increases the understanding of the aircraft’s performance, capabilities and operating envelope.)
The ALS performed as expected on landing, and the Flight Test Team were very pleased with the initial analysis of this new addition to Airlander’s landing system.
A 5th test flight on July 4, 2017 continued the test program as HAV explores the flight envelope of the Airlander, builds experience, and proves the modifications that have been made.
The May return to flight got a lot of attention from airship fans. Here’s video showing the mooring mast detaching, moving out from under, and then the Airlander rises up and leisurely cruises away. You can see the bulges for the landing air bags on either side of the cabin.
Here’s video, showing the approach and landing. You can see the airbags have been deployed.
The backers of Airlander see it as a form of transport that will find a niche due to it’s unique characteristics. It can stay aloft for days, carry a range of cargo, and can operate from minimal facilities. It is supposed to have a much smaller carbon footprint than alternatives. Its structure is simple — its shape is maintained by internal gas pressure. The Airlander generates part of the lift that keeps it in flight through its motion though the air; engines that can be pointed in various directions provide lift for takeoff and greater maneuverability.
Airlander lacks a rigid internal framework, unlike the new Goodyear Airships. (The last Goodyear blimp has been deflated.) This video shows the internal frame being erected and the rest of the Goodyear airship being assembled around it. The new design will allow Goodyear’s airships to reach higher speeds than their blimps could.
Meanwhile, a group in Brazil is making plans for an airship revival of their own. Via the BBC,
The ADB-3-3 looks like the kind of airship you find in a faded photo in a history book - or flying over the Super Bowl. It is about the size of a small Airbus airliner and underneath its huge helium-filled envelope is a gondola that can take six people, and two engines that can move it through the air at a maximum speed of 55mph (95km/h).
It is the prototype of the smallest of a range of airships that its developer, Airship do Brasil (ADB), hopes will soon lead to a giant design that can carry 30 tonnes of cargo – or even a small tank. Their first goal is to get the ADB-3-3 certified safe to fly commercially and into production. Then in 2018 they hope to begin development of the cargo airship.
The rationale is simple. Large parts of Brazil are difficult to reach; airships could be a better solution than carving out airfields or building a highway network through the rainforest. They’re starting with a basic design to gain experience before scaling up to more ambitious craft.
Here’s a picture I put together showing Airlander compared to the giants of the past.
Will Airlander lead to new cruisers of the sky? It remains to be seen — but there’s a certain amount of romance to the idea of living in a world where one could talk about The Sky Pirates of Tahiti….