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Airship Advocate

Archive Gallery: Revisiting the Golden Age of Zeppelins

April 12, 2011 by Airship Advocate Leave a Comment

Article from Popular Science:

When it comes to retrofuturism, few motifs lie closer to our hearts than the 1920s-style airship. These majestic “whales of the sky,” once considered a standard feature of future skylines, had an unfortunate tendency to burst into flames or get caught in thunderstorms. Only in the imaginations of science fiction enthusiasts do they continue flourishing.

Their demise is regrettable, considering our enthusiasm for their development in the 1920s. After serving the German army in World War I, zeppelins garnered popular appeal when Hugo Eckener re-established them as vessels of peaceful air travel rather than as weapons of warfare. Although Germany continued dominating the industry, American and British manufacturers produced airships that — for better or for worse — changed the course of aviation.

Read more here: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-04/archive-gallery-revisiting-golden-age-zeppelins

Filed Under: Airships in the News

The pioneering Brits who are heralding the dawn of the new Zeppelin age

February 23, 2011 by Airship Advocate Leave a Comment

Article from DailyMail.co.uk:

When the Hindenburg blew up in 1937, so did the airship industry. So why is Britain building a fleet of the world’s biggest, for the Americans, in our old Zeppelin sheds?

2015: Regent’s Park International Airport

A line of limousines and taxis snakes its way into the Royal Park to deliver 300 well-heeled passengers and their smart luggage to the discreet air terminal. They are in no rush because the flight they are about to board to New York will take two days.

Moored on the grass outside the terminal is a 600ft long behemoth, a vast Hybrid Air Vehicle. A cross between a balloon and an aircraft wing, this new-wave blimp is filled with non-flammable helium and air. Slung beneath is a vast passenger cabin akin to a miniature first-class cruise ship with dining rooms, a ballroom, bars and a casino.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1357747/Airships-Pioneering-Brits-heralding-dawn-new-Zeppelin-age.html?ITO=1490

Filed Under: Airships in the News

‘World’s largest’ airship coming to NASA Ames in Mountain View

December 17, 2010 by Airship Advocate Leave a Comment

From Mercury News:

A really big blimp is on its way to NASA Ames Research Center.

The Bullet Class 580, considered the world’s largest airship by volume, will have a new home at Moffett Field’s Hangar 2 as it prepares for a first flight, possibly in February, NASA announced last week.

The company developing the airship, E-Green Technologies Inc./21st Century Airships, has leased roughly 24,000 square feet of hangar space from NASA Ames beginning Jan. 1. The ship, 235 feet long and 65 feet in diameter, is expected to arrive in Mountain View packed into two 40-foot shipping containers this month or early next month, said Diane Murphy, spokeswoman for the Alabama-based company.

Read more here: http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_16813268?nclick_check=1

Filed Under: Airships in the News

The Flying Luxury Hotel

December 17, 2010 by Airship Advocate Leave a Comment

Popular Science Article:

This is not a Blimp. It’s a sort of flying Queen Mary 2 that could change the way you think about air travel. It’s the Aeroscraft, and when it’s completed, it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin or relax in their well-appointed staterooms.

Unlike its dirigible ancestors, the Aeroscraft is not lighter than air. Its 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two thirds of the craft’s weight. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body-driven by huge rearward propellers-generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising. During takeoff and landing, six turbofan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent.

Read more here: http://www.popsci.com/aeros/article/2006-02/flying-luxury-hotel

Filed Under: Airships in the News

BP Oil Spill: Navy Sends MZ-3A Blimp to Help Survey Gulf of Mexico

July 7, 2010 by Airship Advocate Leave a Comment

From ABC News:

The government says more than 45,000 people and 6,900 ships or boats are fighting the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But it’s time for heavier — or, perhaps, lighter — artillery.

The Navy has now sent a blimp — the MZ-3A Airship — to patrol the shoreline from above, direct skimmers trying to corral floating oil, and look out for wildlife in harm’s way.

The MZ-3A, almost identical to blimps used for advertising and bird’s-eye views of sporting events, has been brought in from Yuma, Arizona. The Navy says the helium-filled ship, 178 feet long and capable of carrying 10 people or equipment, can stay in the air far longer than helicopters or planes, burning just 10 gallons of fuel an hour at its maximum cruising speed of 55 mph.

Read more here: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/bp-oil-spill-navy-sends-mz-3a-blimp/story?id=11096348&page=1

Filed Under: Airships in the News

Northrop Grumman Awarded $517 Million Agreement for U.S. Army Airship With Unblinking Eye

June 14, 2010 by Airship Advocate Leave a Comment

MELBOURNE, Fla., BETHPAGE, N.Y., and LONDON, June 14, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A new hybrid airship weapons system, just larger than the length of a football field, will take to the skies in just 18 months to provide an unblinking, persistent eye for more than three weeks at a time to aid U.S. Army troops in Afghanistan, according to Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) officials.

The company today announced it has been awarded a $517 million (£350.6 million) agreement to develop up to three Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) systems for the U.S. Army. Northrop Grumman has designed a system with plug-and-play capability to readily integrate into the Army’s existing common ground station command centers and ground troops in forward operating bases—the main objective to provide U.S. warfighters with persistent ISR capability to increase awareness of the ever changing battlefield.

“This opportunity leverages our longstanding leadership positions in developing innovative unmanned air vehicles, C4ISR weapon systems, and leading edge systems integration, and moves Northrop Grumman into this rapidly emerging market space of airships for the military and homeland defense arenas,” said Gary Ervin, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems sector.

Under the agreement, awarded by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, Northrop Grumman will design, develop and test a long-duration hybrid airship system within an 18-month time period, and then transport the asset to the Middle East for military assessment.

“It is critical that our warfighters are equipped with more enabling integrated ISR capability to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s conflicts,” said Alan Metzger, Northrop Grumman LEMV program manager. “Our offering supports the Army’s Joint Military Utility Assessment that this disruptive innovation must meet the Army’s objective of a persistent unblinking stare while providing increased operational utility to battlefield commanders. Part of our innovative offering includes open architecture design in the payload bay to allow sensor changes by service personnel in the field.”

LEMV will sustain altitudes of 20,000 feet for a three-week period, and it will operate within national and international airspace. It will be forward-located to support extended geostationary operations from austere operating locations using beyond-line-of-sight command and control.

Northrop Grumman has teamed with Hybrid Air Vehicles, Ltd. of the United Kingdom using its HAV304 platform, Warwick Mills, ILC Dover, AAI Corporation, SAIC, and a team of technology leaders from 18 U.S. states to build LEMV. Northrop Grumman will provide system integration expertise and flight and ground control operations to safely take off and land the unmanned vehicle for worldwide operations.

Filed Under: Airship Company Press Releases

Boeing Completes Major Design Milestone for SkyHook Heavy Lift Vehicle

July 28, 2009 by Airship Advocate Leave a Comment

ST. LOUIS, July 28, 2009 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and SkyHook International Inc. today announced that the design of the SkyHook Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV) has reached the configuration freeze milestone, meaning the aircraft’s overall performance and layout have been established.

Boeing and SkyHook have worked on the SkyHook HLV’s structural and systems design and its concept of operations since July 2008, resulting in the following improvements:

– the addition of a three-piece tail for enhanced maneuverability
– integration of lifting and thrusting propulsion systems
– improved aerodynamics for increased payload capacity and range.

“Boeing’s Advanced Rotorcraft Systems team and our industry partner, SkyHook International Inc., are extremely pleased with the progress on the engineering of the aircraft,” said Kenneth Laubsch, SkyHook program manager for Boeing. “We all sense that we are part of something revolutionary in the advancement of this extraordinary technology, and the aerospace industry in general.”

The next major program milestone will be Detailed Design in 2011, which centers on the design, analysis and specification of all hardware, software and related aircraft and ground support systems interfaces.

“The SkyHook HLV technology is like nothing that has ever existed. We anticipate that the operational capability of this aircraft will allow SkyHook’s customers to radically change the way they resupply and operate in remote regions, especially the north,” said Rob Mayfield, director of SkyHook. “In the oil and gas industry, there are significant pressures on cost, speed, safety, and environmental impact, and the SkyHook HLV represents solutions to each of these challenges in various applications.”

SkyHook is designed to carry 80,000-pound (40-ton) sling loads up to 200 nautical miles without refueling — a capability that is not currently available, but is desired by several industries, including oil exploration and mining operations in the Canadian Arctic and Alaska, as well as companies operating in remote locations in South America, Europe and Africa.

Boeing is designing and will fabricate a production SkyHook HLV prototype at its Rotorcraft Systems facility in Ridley Park, Pa. The new aircraft will enter commercial service after it is certified by Transport Canada and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The first SkyHook HLV aircraft is scheduled to fly in 2014.

SkyHook International Inc. is a privately owned company located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.

Filed Under: Airship Company Press Releases

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