The Tribune

A BLIMP-shaped, helium-filled airship considered the world’s largest aircraft flew for the first time last week with a short but historic jaunt over an airfield in central England.

Engines roaring, the 302-foot Airlander 10 rose slowly into the air from Cardington airfield.

A hybrid of blimp, helicopter and airplane, it can stay aloft for days and has been nicknamed the “flying bum” because of its bulbous front end.

The stately aircraft performed a circuit of the area - watched by hundreds of local people who had parked their cars around the perimeter of the airfield - before touching down about half an hour later.

The Airlander is designed to use less fuel than a plane, but carry heavier loads than conventional airships. Its developer, Hybrid Air Vehicles, says it can reach 16,000 feet, travel at up to 90mph and stay aloft for up to two weeks.

“It’s a great British innovation,” said chief executive Stephen McGlennan. “It’s a combination of an aircraft that has parts of normal fixed-wing aircraft, it’s got helicopter, it’s got airship. It can provide air transportation for people and goods without the need for a runway. But this thing can take more over longer distances, it’s cheaper and it’s greener.”

The aircraft was initially developed for the US military, which planned to use it for surveillance in Afghanistan. The US blimp programme was scrapped in 2013 and since then Hybrid Air Vehicles, a small British aviation firm that dreams of ushering in a new era for airships, has sought funding from government agencies and individual donors.

The vast aircraft is based at Cardington, where the first British airships were built during and after World War I.

That programme was abandoned after a 1930 crash that killed almost 50 people, including Britain’s air minister.

That accident and others - notably the fiery 1937 crash in New Jersey of the Hindenburg, which killed 35 - dashed the dream of the airship as a mode of transportation for decades. Unlike hydrogen, the gas used in the Hindenburg, helium is not flammable.

The Airlander 10’s successful journey was a milestone in the development of a vehicle that remains untested as a commercial proposition.

Mr McGlennan is confident there will be plenty of customers for Airlander - civilian and military - because of its potential to gather data and conduct surveillance for days on end. It can also carry up to 22,050 pounds of passengers or cargo.

The company hopes to have an even bigger aircraft, capable of carrying 110,000 pounds), in service by the early 2020s.

Chris Pocock, defence editor of aviation magazine AIN, said the jury is still out on whether the craft is commercially viable.

“Airships and hybrids have still got a credibility gap to cover,” he said. “Technically I think they are there now, but economically I’m not so sure.”

JILL LAWLESS

Associated Press