Iron Maiden soloist looking for investors for his airship

Bruce Dickinson on the background of his project

I do not know why the airship theme is so attractive. Whether it is a longing for the “good old time,” or a love for a steampunk who cannot do without these slow-moving giants. Or hidden fatigue from the insane rhythm of life, when you want to look from the height at the slowly floating below the earth. And not only I feel it - as soon as artists are accepted for some alternative history or a parallel universe, the plump devices that are gradually floating in the sky become one of the main visual differences from the real world.

After abandoning airships, mankind lost their indisputable advantages. Their payload, efficiency in terms of cargo weight, range of non-stop flights surpass any aircraft and helicopters. They do not need to spend fuel to keep themselves in the air. They can stay in the air for weeks and do not require a runway. Their disadvantages include low speed, low maneuverability and the need for giant hangars for maintenance.

Unfortunately, after the famous and tragic death of Hindenburg , which took the lives of 36 people, people began to fear the airships and their development stopped. Interestingly, it was not even the largest accident in terms of the number of victims - the crash of the American airship USS Akron killed 73 people, despite the fact that it was filled with helium, and not hydrogen, like Hindenburg. Another famous accident occurred with the British airship R101 (48 victims), which was built at the shipyards of Cardington.
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Existing airships are used for scientific or entertainment purposes. But some enthusiasts want to change that. One of them is none other than Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of the Iron Maden group. His brainchild is now in one of the Cardington hangars, where they began to build airships almost 100 years ago. Dickinson's dream - the resumption of passenger and cargo transportation, and thousands of airships in the sky of the planet. Therefore, he co-invested with Hybrid Air Vehicles , founded by inventor Roger Munk.



The airlander 10 airship was originally manufactured by order of the US military. The company won a half-million contract to build a hybrid aircraft for the purpose of conducting observations from the air. After the war ran out of money, Hybrid Air Vehicles redeemed the prototype, and overtook it back to England.

Hybrids have the shape of a wing, which gives them lifting power. They spend a little more fuel than classic airships, but they have a greater speed of movement, while retaining the advantages of the apparatus lighter than air - in particular, the ability to land on any fairly flat place.



Airlander 10 can move at speeds of up to 160 km / h, and its four engines at the rear accelerate. Lifting force is given in the form of a wing and 38,000 cubic meters of helium.



The owners of the company believe that the potential for the use of their apparatus is enormous. Transportation of oversized cargo (the same wind turbines or mining equipment), minerals, search and rescue operations, passenger transportation, tourism. Flights can be made to any place where the infrastructure is missing or has long become unusable.

Bruce Dickinson shares his thoughts on the idea: “I don’t expect to receive a profit from my investment soon. I just want to be part of this project. As a rock star, I could spend money on drugs or luxury cars - or I can do something useful. There are rarely moments in life when you can take part in something big. ”

Now, Hybrid Air Vehicles are looking for investors to promote their product to the masses and dispel people's fears about airships. "People say - oh my God, this is the Hindenburg," - says Dickinson. “But in reality our project is the world's largest fire extinguisher.”