Airships

We've been following the story of the Airlander 10 airship since 2010, back when it was being developed for the US Army. It's now aimed at civilian use, with information on the planned production version of the aircraft having just been released.

The University of the Highlands and Islands Perth College has developed and flown what is claimed to be the first aircraft powered by variable-buoyancy propulsion. In March, the unmanned Phoenix prototype made an indoor maiden flight, when it repeatedly flew for a distance of 120 m (395 ft).

​There's still some conjecture about exactly who got to the North pole first, but you can have a say in who goes there next. Swedish company OceanSky is selling a 30-hour travel package taking folk for a luxury picnic lunch at magnetic North, in the world's largest aircraft, the Airlander 10.

​It was just last year that we heard about the Plimp, a sort of plane/blimp/helicopter hybrid drone manufactured by Egan Airships. As was hinted at then, the Seattle-based company has now officially announced that it's working on a passenger-carrying variant known as the Model J.

​Last October, British aerospace firm Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) announced that it was developing a luxury-tourism-oriented version of its otherwise-industrial Airlander 10 airship. This Wednesday, the company revealed what the interior of that aircraft's cabin will look like.

​Airships may indeed be well-suited to tasks like cargo transport, surveying and surveillance, but what really captures peoples' imaginations is the thought of travelling aboard one as a tourist. Well, according to Britain's Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), such a scenario could soon be a reality.

​What do you get when you cross a plane with a blimp? A Plimp. That's not a joke, it's what the thing is actually called. The unmanned aircraft has a helium-filled envelope allowing for blimp-like buoyancy, while its winged rigid body allows it to travel quick-ish like a conventional drone.​

Last August, the flight deck of the Airlander 10 airship was damaged during a "heavy landing" at the end of its second test flight. Now, protective airbags have been installed to keep that deck from smacking into the ground.

​When it comes to delivery-by-drone, one of the main limiting factors is battery life. Well, a recently-unearthed patent filed by Amazon addresses that issue. It proposes using airships as "airborne fulfillment centers" that would drop cargo-carrying drones toward the buildings below.

The world's largest aircraft, Airlander 10, crashed today during its second test flight. No-one was hurt in the incident, but the airship, from Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), sustained damage to its flight deck, which is positioned underneath the hull.

The world's largest aircraft has taken to the skies for the first time in its new guise as the Airlander 10. On Wednesday afternoon local time, the airship from Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) made its short maiden voyage at a UK airfield, after a technical issue grounded a previous attempt on Sunday.

The world's largest aircraft made its first public outing this week when Hybrid Air Vehicles​' helium-buoyant Airlander 10 airship was guided out of its hangar at RAF Cardington, Bedfordshire, UK,​ ahead of a short series of ground tests in anticipation of its first flight in Britain.