A British company, Hybrid Air Vehicles, is sending up a trial balloon for its planned fleet of airships that it hopes can see passenger service by 2028, carrying 100 passengers at a time with little fuel and not much speed.
HAV says it's building a major factory in Yorkshire, England where it will be able to turn out 24 of the ships a year, creating 1,200 new jobs. But while local politicians are rolling out the welcome mat and the company has orders from a number of airlines including Air Nostrum, there's reason to be a bit skeptical.
The concept uses aerodynamic lift from its body shape, aerostatic lift from its full load of helium and 'vectored thrust' from four small diesel engines used mainly for take-off and landing. In theory, it could stay aloft for weeks.
But while It has had successful tests it's also had a checkered history.
HAV built an unmanned scale-model version in 2007 that was successful enough for it and Northrop Grumman to land a half-billion dollar contract U.S. Army contract for a full-size version, which was delivered in 2012 and had a successful flight only months before the Army decided it didn't need one after all.
HAV bought back the demonstrator and rebuilt it as Airlander 10 in 2014. But, on a test flight in 2016, it landed nose down and suffered damage. It was repaired within months, but a few months after that, high winds tore it loose from its mooring mast and it fell to the ground and was written off. HAV is now preparing to build new ships.
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