"Aeroscraft – Mega Airship Back in the air ..." Topic

…in Tustin, California.

"Two days after receiving experimental airworthiness certification from the Federal Aviation Administration Aeros Corp. began flight-testing the Aeroscraft airship. For safety, the current flights are tethered, and, according to John Kiehle, communications director at Aeros, untethered flights are expected to follow within few weeks. Francis Govers of Gizmag reports.

The Aeroscraft half scale prototype is 266 ft (79 m) long and 97 ft (29.5m) wide. The final design is expected to be more than 400 feet (121m) long and be able to lift a cargo weight of 66 tons. The prototype is powered by three swiveling engines – two on the sides and one in the back – that provide both lift and thrust to lift the airship into the air and propel it forward. The rear engine gives control at low airspeeds by pushing the tail around, side to side or up and down. Two sets of wing-like control surfaces are mounted fore and aft, and two large rudders push up vertically from the tail end. These aerodynamic surfaces will be used at higher speeds (above 20 mph / 30 kph).

The Aeroscraft is a fully rigid airship, of the type that has not been seen in the air since 1940. A rigid airship has a stiff outer frame that maintains its aerodynamic shape regardless of the amount of helium inside the ship. The Aeroscraft maintains a given capacity of helium in pressurized containers. When loaded with cargo, helium will be expanded into buoyancy containers, like air is used to float submarines. The company calls this system COSH, an acronym for "Control of Static Heaviness…"

Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand

Very cool indeed. and not so far away from me.

Are they going to house the thing in the old Tustin blimp hangers? What used to be MCAS Tustin?

They built it in the hangar and are using it as a … hangar.

Be fun to see one fitted out as an Air Battleship. I know it's not practical but would still be cool to see.

Awesome… Thunderbird 2?!

This is so much more efficient, fuel/ton wise, than conventional cargo transport, it blows the mind why this was not worked on harder earlier.

I heard an in depth interview with the project head and main test pilot, and this is the coolest thing in aviation to me in a long time. Thanks for sharing.

Beyond cool and mega hopes the future of aviation as well.

"This is so much more efficient, fuel/ton wise, than conventional cargo transport, it blows the mind why this was not worked on harder earlier."

High winds are still a serious problem.

It is really cool, though.

Hmmmm… Must be that time again. Every few years the airship fanboys make a big push about 'the future is the AIRSHIP!!!' And just like every other time, it falls flat on its face to same old problems. Some people never learn…

This is so much more efficient, fuel/ton wise, than conventional cargo transport, it blows the mind why this was not worked on harder earlier.

It's a little thing called the 'H-word', James. Hindenburg.

Then there's the two big USN airships, the Akron and the Macon: Both lost in storms. As long as airships can't outrun the weather, there will be a problem with storms.

Glad you enjoyed the news boys!.

Amicalement
ARmand

Doesn't reference a max airspeed aside from "..over 20mph"

20 mph is only 17 knots and change. Consider a Cessna 172SP runs around at cruise of 120 knots. And that is sloooowww . Consider for our aiship a 20 knot headwind (not uncommon) means you are moving backwards.

I see enormous benefit in these airships, but someone has got to get these things up to speed. I really wonder what the max flat-out speed of this thing is. It looks fast and usually that is a good indicator.

If it can get to 40 knots cruise, that would be cool.

You're misreading. It only says that the flight control surfaces become effective at about 20mph. Design top speed is 120 knots.

However, the world is facing an imminent Helium crisis…

link

Yes, the gas bill is going to be fairly large. link