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Boeing Plans Bold Airship Hauler

Deal With SkyHook
To Produce Blimps
For Commercial Use
By J. LYNN LUNSFORD
July 9, 2008; Page B3

Boeing Co. has teamed with Canada's closely held SkyHook International Inc. to combine a blimp and four helicopter rotors into a behemoth airship capable of hauling heavy drilling, mining and timber equipment into remote wilderness areas.
The two companies say they hope to have the 302-foot long airship ready for commercial service by 2012, although the marriage of helicopter and lighter-than-air technologies will require them to overcome some significant hurdles that doomed an attempt at a similar contraption in the mid-1980s.
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/im...0708214437.jpgBoeing The SkyHook JHL-40's ability to carry dense items into remote areas will limit ecological damage caused by road construction.
The aircraft will break new ground by achieving what is known as neutral buoyancy, in which the helium-filled blimp will provide enough lift to bear the weight of the aircraft, including the engines and rotors. By doing this, all the lift generated by the rotors will be available for lifting payloads, a significant advantage over conventional helicopters that expend much of their energy getting the aircraft to fly. The plan is for the ship to carry loads as heavy as 80,000 pounds as far as 230 miles.
"SkyHook is what we describe in our industry as a game-changer," said Dave Koopersmith, vice president of Boeing's Advanced Precision Engagement and Mobility Systems unit.
The two companies did not disclose the financial terms of their agreement, although Boeing said it plans to defray development costs as much as possible by using existing rotor technology from its Chinook heavy-lift helicopter, as well as other easily adaptable components. Officials said they will develop two prototypes that will be used for testing and government certification in Canada and the U.S.
Officials said the aircraft's ability to lift and easily transport dense or bulky items such as drilling rigs or other oil-field equipment will make it possible for oil, timber and mining companies to more quickly explore remote areas while reducing the environmental damage caused by road construction. The companies say they believe there is demand for roughly 65 of these aircraft, mainly for use in remote regions of North America. They said the aircraft has potential military-cargo uses as well, but their first goal is to get it into the commercial market.
The aircraft, called the SkyHook JHL-40, was conceived by Peter Jess, SkyHook's chief executive, during his 30 years of experience in providing logistics for oil exploration and other ventures in isolated parts of the world. Mr. Jess said he approached Boeing in 2006, hoping officials at the Chicago aerospace company would buy into the idea.
Ken Laubsch, Boeing's manager for the SkyHook program, said the biggest technical hurdle will be developing the electronic flight controls, which he said will be a "more complicated flight control system than on a commercial airliner."
In 1986, an attempt by helicopter pioneer Frank Piasecki to build a similar machine for the U.S. Forest Service ended in disaster when a test pilot died in a crash.