Known as the HAV304, aircraft is being displayed at hanger in Bedfordshire
It is 300ft (91m) long making it 60ft (18m) longer than the biggest airliners
It can stay in air for 3 weeks and will be vital to delivering humanitarian aid
Its funders have included the Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson
The aircraft, due to fly later this year, is 70 per cent more environmentally friendly than a cargo plane and doesn’t need a runway to take off
The world’s largest aircraft which can stay airborne for up to three weeks and will be vital in delivering several tonnes of humanitarian aid as well as transporting heavy freight across the world, has been unveiled.
The 300ft (91m) ship is part plane, airship and helicopter, and there are plans to eventually use it to transport hundreds of tonnes of freight across difficult terrain throughout the world as well as deliver aid to risky areas.
It is environmentally friendly, being part airship filled with inert helium, and will also be used for surveillance and communications. Developers hope to make more of the ‘green vehicles’ which they hope to make capable of taking off from land, water, desert, ice and fields.
Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd (HAV), which created the hybrid craft, said they expect there to be as many airships as helicopters in the sky in years to come as they provide an environmentally friendly and efficient solution to transporting dozens of tonnes of freight and reaching hard to access areas.
The company also expects to create ‘luxury’ hybrids, with infinity pools stretching across hundreds of feet, and planes being used for things like safaris and whale watching because they run on often just one engine so are quieter than traditional vehicles and can access hard to reach areas.
Chris Daniels, head of partnerships and communications at (HAV), said: “These do something nothing else does. There’s two variations – the ones that can stay in the air for a long period of time which can be used for things like communications and covering sports events.
“They also have a pseudo-military use. Rather than having a police helicopter which are noisy and can only stay up for a limited period of time, these can stay airborne for a long time and be as overt or not as people want.”
The latest hybrid, which cost about £30 million to make, will be used for communications but the company is set to start making an even larger version later this year which will be able to transport up to 50 tonnes of freight a
nd passengers. It hopes the industry could eventually create around 1,000 jobs.
Mr Daniels said because of the way helium is used to power the ships, every time the length is doubled they can carry up to eight times as heavy a load. He hopes this will mean they can eventually make crafts capable of carrying up to 200 tonnes.
However he said he can’t see the ships replacing railways traditionally used to transport freight, but instead said the hybrid machines would be suitable for transporting very heavy loads in hard to reach areas like Canada and Africa.
He added: “The climate change issue around ice roads in Canada mean another solution is needed, whereas with the security issue in Africa, this could solve part of the problem.
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