from the video, it looked like the pilot stayed in his seat at the controls until the (slow) end? Looked like the cockpit just in front of him broke away so he might have been better advised to slowly stroll to the back of the craft having tied his belt to the stick and pull it from there!

Amazon connection
 

Was not Amazon toying with Airlander type floating warehouses and something to launch their range of drones currently being tested in my neck of the woods in the Fens?

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...ouses-revealed


Cheers

Took off last night
 

Good news :)

Airlander 10 takes to skies for first time since crash - BBC News

cheers

That pointless gasbag has just got even uglier:

Are the Kardashians are sponsoring it?
:eek:

Don't you like thongs? Some Brazilians might get offended, you know.

Oh dear! I am reminded of the term "if it looks right, it is right"! :eek:

OAP

Special piles to land on then, maybe painful.

Was Wednesday the first windless day since last August?

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is building a hi-tech airship in Silicon Valley
 

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is building a hi-tech airship in Silicon Valley
https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...e_iOSApp_Other

(Apologies for the clumsy link pasting - not at my desk at the mo')

In The Engineer:-
Airlander 10 set for maiden international flight with luxury travel company No, it is not dated April 1st... :rolleyes:

On the other hand, it looks like they are having to find a new base...
Airlander 10's base to move from Cardington, Bedfordshire Trouble paying the rent?

Not trouble paying the rent, trouble keeping the safety case on an even keel whilst new houses keep crowding into the vicinity of the sheds, so I'm told.

G

The old ATG was chasing the tour-bus market with its conventional airships about 20 years ago.

Considering that people make money offering scenic flights with helos, which cost a bomb per passenger, and with fixed-wings that you can't see out of, and that the scenery passes at >150 knots; and considering that noise is a limiter, particularly at night --- there's a market there. I should think you could keep a few ships busy doing Vegas at night and the Grand Canyon by day.

And as for cabins - I guess what happens 2000 feet over Vegas stays 2000 feet over Vegas, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

So this has gone from being the next best thing since sliced bread for long endurance ISR to it would probably be good for a large cargo carrying capability to a couple of hours over Vegas as an airborne “shag palace”. Not exactly ground breaking is it? :ugh:

A sale is a sale! And their point is to sell as many all they can.

Bang...
It's all gone horribly wrong. Again...

It's currently sitting in a field deflating.

It appears it came off it's mast and blew away...


https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net...a9&oe=5A95497B

Thankfully no one hurt bar the company pride. Hopefully they will be able to pick themselves up after this ( no pun intended ).

TBH I did not think it needed to be moored / ties up to a mast as it was nicely settled on the ground hence no need for a traditional berthing.

Then again does the P-791 needed to be parked up the same way?

Cheers

Company statement:

Today there was an incident with the Airlander aircraft at Cardington airfield. The aircraft was not flying at the time of the incident. Our initial assessment is that the aircraft broke free from its mooring mast for reasons that will be investigated. The aircraft has a safety system which operates automatically in circumstances of the aircraft breaking free of its mast, and is designed to rip open the hull and deflate the aircraft. This is a safety feature to ensure our aircraft minimises any potential damage to its surroundings in these circumstances. The aircraft is now deflated and secure on the edge of the airfield. The fuel and helium inside the Airlander have been made safe.
A member of HAV staff sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital for assessment as a precaution. She has since been discharged. A separate member of staff also sustained minor injuries while dealing with the aftermath of the incident.
A number of local roads and a local footpath were temporarily closed off by Bedfordshire Police and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused local residents.
We are testing a brand new type of aircraft and incidents of this nature can occur during this phase of development. We will assess the cause of the incident and the extent of repairs needed to the aircraft in the next few weeks.

Well, surprise, surprise! Hopefully the snake oil salesmen will pack their medicine bags and leave town for another 10-20 years. What a complete waste of money and effort on a pointless technology. It should have been spent on hybrid rocket engines at the cutting edge - or even on a British built light aircraft to replace the aging Cessna/Piper fleets.

Thank goodness no one was seriously hurt after 2 accidents with this pointless gas bag...

It’s not exactly windy today. Originally, this was something that would be the next great thing because:

1. It could fly for weeks on end and give unblinking surveillance - endurance FAIL

2. It had some vast market queuing up to buy it - customer FAIL

3. It doesn’t need any special handling - light wind FAIL

4. It doesn’t need any special facilities - apart from a mahoosive hangar FAIL

I think it’s time to stop a relegate it to the history books along with Aerospace Developments, Airship Industries, Thermo-Skyships, Wren Skyships, Advanced Airship Corporation, SkyCat and Airship Technology Group. All have their genes stamped in today’s Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd. All had little success.