The Airlander 10 is here. It looks like a mix between something the Thunderbirds would operate and the futuristic looking blimp from the Golden Compass movie. The airship was built by an automotive engineering firm called Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV).
The ship is 302-feet long. That is 60-feet longer than a jumbo jet, says Gizmodo in their report. HAV has slapped a $35 million price on the vehicle and say that they have interested parties, wanting to purchase the ship. Standing at 26 metres high and weighing in at 20 tons, the hope is that the next strengthened, explode-proof Hindenberg is here. It will run on 1.3 millon cubic feet of helim and its max speed is 92 mph.
Chris Daniels, HAV’s head of partnerships and communications said: “There’s a number of militaries around the world [that are interested], but we can’t say who.”
Daniels further explained what they can use the massive blimp-like carrier for. In an interview with the BBC, he said: “We will not compete with a 747 flying across the Atlantic, but we can offer the ultimate flight experience for tourism and leisure purposes. It’s perfect for sightseeing because we can have floor to ceiling clear panels, and we can open the windows because we are not flying as high or as fast as traditional planes, but we will not be offering a service to get from A to B as quickly as possible.”
The company thinks it could be more useful for the transportation of sand, water, health materials and anything that can be delivered to places in need of assistance.
Daniels, speaking to Sky News, warned against calling it an airship. “It is not an airship, it’s a mix between an aeroplane, an airship, with a bit of helicopter thrown in. It uses the absolute latest materials…It uses the latest avionics and the latest computer software.”
How does it work? Here’s a video: