The Skycat puzzle continues

I think the Word SkyCat is not really derived from Sky Catamaran but more really from the Animal cause it seems that this Project has nine lives, or even more. So it was just back in May 2007 when we reported that Roger Munk's SkyCat is back with a multinational Company called the SkyCat Group Limited. But just 4 days after that we had to report that Lockheed Martin was suing Roger Munk because of Patent infringement. Only a few weeks after this on July 1st 2007 the Skycat Group went into Administration. 18 Days later that same month we reported about a new Hybrid Airship research Project at the University of Cambridge in the UK. And everything pointed to a company called Tensys who have helped to build the SkyKitten and the Lockheed Martin P-791 that looked a lot like the SkyCat.
After this it got quiet for a while, but now the SkyCat is back once again, or so it seems. We got word of a short press release by a Company called HYBRID AIR VEHICLES, we did a search for them on the Web but besides this Information from UK Data we couldn't find much. The Company Details that UK Data provides are not very broad, you would have to buy certain document to get more information. We don't know of any free way to access these documents, maybe someone from the UK knows how we could get access to those. So searching for the Company Number in the UK Companyhouse turned up this page of Company Details one thing that was most interesting was the Date of Incorporation which is according to the Companyhouse June 6th 2007 just around two weeks after the court filing of Lockheed against Roger Munk. So let's take a look at the press release, we are not going to name our source, since we didn't obtain this press release officially or got it from a source online. So we do not know how valid this information is:

HYBRID AIR VEHICLES

Hangar 2
Cardington Field
Shortstown
Bedford
MK42 0TG

STATEMENT - HYBRID AIR VEHICLES

SkyCat Group, previously owned by Italian and UK Investor Groups, has been in Administration for restructuring purposes since 25 June 2007.  The business of SkyCat, including all of the IP and assets, with technical team intact and free of any encumbrance from SkyCat Group, was acquired on 3 August 2007 by UK investors into a new company called Hybrid Air Vehicles.

Work continues at Cardington unabated, and the new company is planning to take forward the same range of Lighter than Air products as those of its predecessor, focusing on Condor in the first instance, closely followed by the SkyCat series.

21 August 2007

Note:
"Hybrid Air Vehicles is the trading name of HAP Acquisitions Limited, company number 06270723, registered office One Fleet Place, London, EC4M 7WS".

So the work continues? We will see and we hope it will. The SkyCat is a great concept that deserves success. Interestingly to get even more cross references let's take a look at this Article from Findtheneedle. The Article talks about Tensys, yes the people behind the Skykitten and guess what the Title of the Article is? "Hybrid Air Vehicle (HAV)" exactly. Notice this slight connection? So we have Roger Munk, with ATG, the SkycatGroup and now Hybrid Air Vehicles, also we have Lockheed Martin/Skunkworks with their P-791 Craft and Tensys. How about we introduce yet another player into the SkyCat puzzle. Entrance the Hybrid Aircraft Corporation. The talk about their Product the SkyCat ?!? Wait a Minute, isn't that the one the Roger Munk is Building? But they also talk about nothing other than the Skunk Works P-791 that they must have been involved with too. And to top everything of for the night they have a page about patents connected to the SkyCat and when they where filed. Some date back all the way to 1928? So if everything related to the SkyCat is prior art, why would or could Lockheed sue Roger Munk? The deeper we get into this story the more confusing it get's and to date I have not found anyone who could tell me the whole story. Who knows it? Do you have a piece to the puzzle called SkyCat? Then tell us, we want to know. Do you know Roger Munk, tell him to contact us, we would really like to talk to him. Until we don't have first hand knowledge all we can do is research and speculate, but maybe some of you, our readers, know more. It would be great if you could share your knowledge with us, either in the comments section or via email. You feedback is welcome.