A hybrid airship successfully passed the first tests

The American company Aeros announced the successful first flight test of its hybrid aircraft-airship Aeroscraft. The aircraft is 64 meters long. It demonstrated the function of vertical take-off and landing, as well as the ability to reach speeds of 222 km / h. According to the forecasts of experts, the new aircraft-airship can be put into operation over the next few years. It is planned to use it as an air cruise liner - the Aeroscraft design allows you to wield a large number of comfortable cabins for passengers and not only. However, the creators of the aircraft-airship do not exclude other options for its use. In particular, their plans include the creation of a cargo version of Aeroscraft, reaching a length of 137 meters and capable of carrying up to 60 tons of cargo.

The airship will be able to descend on any flat platform and to perform instant unloading. It is planned to use the following technology: when approaching the ground, hidden for better aerodynamics in the airship hull, the transport container moves out, and at the moment of touching the earth's surface, the container is disengaged. Then the airship, which has increased its buoyancy, abruptly gains altitude, and the transport container remains on the ground.

Tests were held in Tastin, California. During the tests, the reduced prototype of the airship did not leave the hangar during the Second World War. The purpose of the test was to check the lift system changes during loading and unloading.

Igor Pasternak, the head and founder of Aeros, announced the successful completion of the tests. In the cockpit was Munir Jojo Verdje, a company engineer and test manager. According to him, the concern of the creators of the airship is the ability of the device to withstand strong winds.
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The device will be able to take on board several times more cargo than modern transport planes do, while consuming three times less fuel. The ability for vertical takeoff and landing will allow using small sites as airfields, and the range will be thousands of kilometers. Hybrid this aircraft is considered to be due to the shape of the hull and wings, creating additional lift when moving.

The “golden age” of classic airships became the 20s and the first half of the 1930s. last century. With a large carrying capacity and efficiency, they had two serious drawbacks - combustible hydrogen gas that can destroy the device in a few seconds, and the need for complex manipulations with ballast during loading and unloading.

If modern engineers coped with the first drawback a long time ago, replacing hydrogen with an inert gas with helium, then the second problem was much more difficult to solve. The airship, possessing enormous lift, is able to get out of control and fly into the stratosphere. Therefore, when loading or unloading, the team is forced to perform complex manipulations with ballast, which is usually water. Each kilogram of cargo removed from the board must be replaced with a liter of water, loading is accompanied by discharge of water from ballast tanks. These procedures require the use of special ground equipment, and also harm the environment: the water used must be drained somewhere.



The designers of Aeroscraft were able to solve the problem by storing helium in compressed form in special compartments. After taking the cargo on board, the airship can easily increase its lifting force by supplying helium to the main volume and displacing air. In this case, the apparatus has a rigid structure, the gas pumping is controlled by a computer, and the innovative lift variation system allows minimizing the composition of the serving team and the number of ground equipment. This will allow you to use the device to deliver goods to unequipped landing sites.

Aeros was founded in 1987 in Ukraine by Igor Pasternak. After the collapse of the USSR, the entrepreneur transferred the company to the United States. Now Aeros, which is the largest manufacturer of airships in the world, is leading in the competition to create a transport hybrid aircraft for the Pentagon. It is reported on the company's website that full-size Aeroscraft will be able to lift up to 500 tons of cargo.





Source www.aeroscraft.com