This article was taken from the July 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
In Britain's largest aircraft hangar, near Cardington in Bedfordshire, a new type of hybrid is being designed -- the Airlander 50. "It's like an airship, in that it uses helium to generate buoyancy, but it also has a specifically engineered hull design to generate aerodynamic lift and thrust," says aeronautical engineer Nick Allman, programme director at Hybrid Air Vehicles.
The 119-metre long vehicle, which will make its maiden voyage in 2018, has a hovercraft undercarriage system so it can take off vertically and land on any flat surface, including water, marsh or snow. It will also be able to hover like a helicopter while carrying about 40 per cent of its full cargo, making it ideal for transporting goods to remote areas. "If you need to build a mine in Africa or northern Canada, at the moment you have to build a road first and then transport materials," says Allman. Early next year, a 92-metre-long version known as the Airlander 10 (pictured), which can climb to 6,000 metres for up to three weeks at a time, will be demonstrated as a stable platform for communications, geological survey or filming. "Our plan is to set up an aerial mobile-phone mast and fly out over areas with no coverage, and also use it during the Rio 2016 Olympics as a satellite and telecommunications platform," says Allman.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
