Airlander 10 - Underway

Yes, yes, yes - I know you blinkered troglodytes like to make fun of my and Campbell's faith in these aircraft - but I'm sorry; we should have at least two squadrons of these on order; one we give to the logistics guys, the other one to the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance guys and tell them; figure out what you can do with these.

From long-dwell ASW patrols to humanitarian assistance (not to mention a few SEAL missions I'll keep my mouth shut about), this platform has a lot of capabilities that have not been thought of yet. Perfect for the Reserves ... but that would require imagination and the willingness to take risks with proven technology. I know that isn't fun; but it sure has a good track record.

Well, we don't live in Salamander's world, so just watch her take off and ponder.

We believe in a new vision for air transport. That new vision is called Airlander. Hybrid Air Vehicles’ goal is to change the world of aviation through Airlander.
- We believe aircraft should be able to land and take-off anywhere.
- We believe aircraft should be able to fly for weeks at a time.
- We believe aircraft should be low cost and should pollute as little as possible.

Airlander takes the best of aeroplanes, helicopters and airships and combines them with the latest innovations in materials to create a truly revolutionary aircraft. The Airlander is a “hybrid” of an aeroplane and an airship – we get 40% of our lift from the aerodynamic wing shape of our aircraft, and 60% from the helium fill – it is therefore inherently more efficient than other forms of air transport. It uses the very latest fabrics to maintain its shape and is technologically years ahead of other aircraft. Airlander has flown before under a US Government programme, but is now being developed for commercial purposes, such as freight, remote access, aid distribution, advertising, surveillance, communications and luxury passenger transport.

Airlander aims to revolutionise transport and travel by:
- Being one of the lowest carbon emissions aircraft in the world, like for like.
- Having game-changing endurance (it can stay airborne for weeks rather than hours).
- Providing significantly lower delivery cost for airborne freight.
- Being able to land anywhere (water, land, desert, ice) thus opening up new point-to-point routes to previously inaccessible areas.

We will focus initially on Airlander 10, which has a 10 tonne payload, and ultimately could produce a range of hybrid aircraft capable of carrying up to 1000 tonnes.