Mechta et.al.
I agree, it was not lighter than air. Had made this impression for a little time while hovering above the Airfield. But when it came down, it sat on the cushions and made no attempt to lift off again. So it shoud be proven.
On a closer look, it is visible that it came to a rest on the cabin/cockpit and only the front half of the cushions, with the aft half cushions not on the ground. That make me think, it was indeed out of trim, as the nose-down orientation in the approach indicated before.
The attitude then was excessively downwards, and I have never seen a plane come in with a negative AoA. Hence my problems to accept the stall hypothesis.
Many thanks for the Aviation Week article. It teached me a lot about the Airlander.
By one detail I was a little shocked, otherwise. The lateral engines are pivotable only by +/-20 deg!!? Despite the vanes with their additional angle, to me it seems not sufficient to make it fully maneuverable.
Last edited by minimum clean; 2nd Sep 2016 at 09:56.