William Thomas about Airship on Coast to Coast AM

© William Thomas

William Thomas a Canadian investigative journalist was on Coast to Coast AM the beginning of this month and spoke about airships. Coast to Coast AM is a syndicated radio talk show in the United States. Read the Wikipedia article for more background information on Coast to Coast AM. The radio show can be listened to again via these two youtube playlists:

• Coast to Coast AM from June 16th 2008
• Coast to Coast AM from June 16th 2008 (alternative)

Informations given in the show are nothing really new, a few false claims for example that the Zeppelin NT can carry 21 People instead of 12 but that might have been just a number mixup. The most interesting part is when Robert Rist from Dynalifter gets a chance to talk about the project, stating the the project is alive and that they are working on the prototype. So it seems the project is not dead yet eventhough their first prototype got so serverely damaged.

William Thomas also wrote a number of articles that are available from his website, I have just skimmed them but they might be worth a read as he covers a broad spectrum of general Airship Information, overviews about the companies currently in business and looks at the future possibilities of airships for passenger travel and their impact on climate change. He covers the Zeppelin NT from Zeppelin Luftschiff Technik (ZLT), Airship Ventures, the Voyager Airship of 21st Century Airships, the Dynalifter of Ohio Airships and Worldwide Aeros with their Aeroscraft. Here are his articles:

• THE AIRSHIPS RETURN - A Modest Proposal
• UP SHIP! - AIRSHIP INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
• AIRLINES GIVING WAY TO AIRSHIPS?
• JETS, AIRSHIPS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Let us know what you think about them, share your thoughts in the Airshipworld Forum and on our Mailing List. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the Blog please do so by clicking on subscribe, it's free and allows us to have a better overview of how many people read the Blog.

Airship news round up

We are from Vacation and starting to clear the tubes a bit, so tonight we are bringing you a few stories that surfaced in the last few weeks, some might not be really current as of today but just for completeness we try to cover everything we can find. Check back regularly since we are going to publish quite a bit over the weekend.

1. Sanswire's airship comms platform looks like a bag of hot air
   This first item talks about Sanswire and their airship concept, summing up the history from 2004 till today. To me it's not clear if Sanswire is still in Business or not i have not checked their website since our post about the LA County Sheriffs to levy and seize Globetel's Stratellite Airship
   
2. The Aeros 40D S/N 40D-21 Sky Dragon airship gondola roll-out
   As you might guess from the Title of the second article this one talks about Aeros who created quite some press with their Aeroscraft in the last few weeks. But this article speaks about their more down to earth already existing Aeros 40D Sky Dragon and the Gondola that was built for the next model. All critizism aside, that Aeros might have faced, they have a certified airship and they are producing, which is something you can say of very few Airship companies nowadays.
   
3. That Blimp Rarer Than You Imagine
   This article talks about the Horizon Blimp that is flying around in New Jersey. What I found interesting about this article is what can only be read between the lines. There is currently no passenger service on any airship in US skies. You can not buy a ticket anywhere. But this is what Brian and Alexandra Hall from Airshipventures are going to do, the certification of the Zeppelin NT is on it's way, the Airship is built in Friedrichshaefn right now, so 2008 seems to become a very interesting year for Airships, maybe in a few year we are not talking 10 or 20 airships worldwide but more than 50. The demand is there they just need to get built.
   

Worldwide Aeros - The Aeroscraft round-up

When Worldwide Aeros announced their Aeroscraft ML866 they created quite the buzz on the web, a lot of people wrote about it, as if it would exist already or would be on display at the NBAA this September. But also a lot of people especially from the airship and lighter-than-air communities where sceptical, some even thought it might be a hoax. Fact is the Aeroscraft has been around ever since the DARPA Walrus program and got refined over and over again. Aeros just managed to hit a target audience with their announcement, which is very good marketing. As the world will be looking at what Aeros will present September 25-27 at the NBAA we want to revisit some of the posts, and see what there is to gather at the moment about Aeros and the Aeroscraft.
First let's take a look at the recent announcements by Aeros from their press section. Edward Pevzner provied me the links. First the announcement that kicked the buzz of:
The Aeroscraft ML866 is to be introduced at the NBAA Convention.
Following to this there has been quite a buzz online, we will come to many of the pages later, but Aeros also features two very interesting bits. The 1st is an article from Flight International with the Title "Worldwide Aeros to build partially buoyant civil airship" (alternate download). Also they present a feature from the Aero News Networks Internet Radio Station. An Interview with Aeros VP Fred Edworthy about the Aeroscraft ML866. You can download the feature here: Aero News Network Special Feature - Aeroscraft ML866 - Interview or listen to it via our embedded player, just click on play:

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Fred Edworthy mentions the COSH (Control of Static Heaviness) System in the Interview, which is going to be one of the central parts of the Aeroscraft. Aeros also did a pressrelease about there first successful tests "Aeros successfully completes test of the Control of Static Heaviness Block Two Technology." details on this technology are still sparse. The doubt exists that it is possible to compress helium fast enough with a light enough machine on an airship, but as the Flight International article points out, Aeros will demonstrate the working COSH system with their Aeros 40D Sky Dragon in mid-2008.
So now let's take a look at what has been going on all over the web:

Aeroscraft Flying Luxury Hotel 11.09.2007

The story at webspunideas, clearly referes to the first Aeroscraft concepts that where of the scale for the DARPA Walrus program and are now clearly outdated, but it shows that the Aeroscraft has been around for a while now.

Pimp My Blimp 23.08.2007

The Yuppie Journal got it right, the Aeroscraft won't fly before 2010, but we will follow it's development. And if the small ML866 is successful bigger versions are possible.

Aeroscraft ML866, le retour du Zeppelin ? 21.08.2007

The French Website TrendsNow.net reports on the Aeroscraft and asks if it will be the return of the Zeppelin. Since the article in in French you can read the autotranslated version. The article also mentions the memorable dates in the history of the Zeppelins

Aeroscraft ML866 Flying Yacht 16.08.2007

Just another WordPress weblog also talks about the Aeroscraft and the author would like to have a pool in the Airship, but I don't think he understands how much water weighs. The author also talks about the 120 knots to speed, which is 220km/h. But this would actually be the fastest airship speed ever achieved. Modern Airships has a nice Article about Steve Fossett speed record flight with the Zeppelin NT in 2004, where he reached 111km/h. We still hope that Steve Fossett will be found, after he disappeard in the Nevada Deserts on the Labour Day Weekend of 2007

It’s an “Aeroscraft” 15.08.2007

Daily Aviator links to an article from Mathaba.net and states correctly that the Aeroscraft isn't really an Airship because only 70% of it's lift is generated by Helium.

Pimp My Blimp: New Luxury Airship Planned 14.08.2007

The Semper Fi Livejournal talks about the Aeroscrafts 5000ft² space, that's 464m². I'm not sure but that seems like a lot of space. Considering a normal European apartment is maybe around 100m² wouldn't it be more practical to downscale the Aeroscraft to this size to be competitive on a lower level?

Pimp my blimp 14.08.2007

In the Terror Suspect .com article about the Aeroscraft the author draws parallels to the Hindenburgs size and performance characteristics. The aeroscraft will outperform the Hindenburg in many ways, but the question remains to me wouldn't a smaller version be more feasible?

A New Concept In Flying, The Aeroscraft 10.08.2007

David Pitlyuk talks in his Blog about the new possibilities the aeroscraft has to offer and links to a YouTube Video that talks about the Aeroscraft

A 'BizBlimp'... such a far out concept? 09.08.2007

Dan Pimentel talks on his Blog Av8rdan's World of Flying about the concept of the Aeroscraft and thinks about alternative uses. But he also mentions an important point. With the space the Aeroscraft occupies how is it going to be in the crowded Airspace around major centers, will this be a problem?

Other Sites that also picked up on the Aeroscraft:

• PFSK: Airborn Business Center 13.08.2007
• Gadget Venue: Aeroscraft ML866 - Huge Blimp 12.08.2007
• I Wish I had This: Aeroscraft ML866 Flying Yacht 10.08.2007
• Big Business Jet: Need a Lot of Space? Try a Corporate Airship 09.08.2007
• Newlaunches: Aeroscraft ML866 aircraft is truly distinctive mode of transport 09.08.2007
• Family Entertainment: Aeroscraft ML866 Flying Yacht 08.08.2007
• Crave: Don't call it a blimp--it's an 'air yacht' 08.08.2007
• NexTechNews: Say hello to the UBER sexy Flying Yacht! 08.08.2007
• DailyPicture.net : Whale Ship: Aeroscraft ML866 Flying Yacht 07.08.2007

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Aeroscraft ML866 just a hoax ?

From well informed circles we heard that Worldwide Aeros might not have much more than a few renderings and power point presentations of the yesterday announced Aeroscraft ML866 and that the real thing is right now only existing on paper and in the heads of it's designers. Reading the press release one could think that Aeros will use the conference just to announce the Program and take prospective customer input, and not really will have anything production ready.

During the event Aeros will make an official announcement for the launch of the Aeroscraft ML866 program.

We also do not know of any prototypes of the Aeroscraft ML866 so far. Other sources in the community even go as far as calling the Aeroscraft a hoax. It's speculated that the flight performance of the Aeros 40D Sky Dragon, their FAA certified Blimp, is sub par, meaning that those who own such a ship fly it only very few hours, and are more or less ashamed to have bought it. Since we can neither confirm nor deny these claims, we are further investigating it by contacting Worldwide Aeros directly and we hope to get more informations on the Aeroscraft ML866 soon. To make sure that you get the latest updates on the Aeroscraft, subscribe to our feed with your feed reader or if you like subscribe via Email and have updates delivered directly to your home.

Aeroscraft ML866 to be introduced at the NBAA Convention

Worldwide Aeros issued a press release today about the official announcement of their new Aeroscraft ML866, which is a downsized version of the original Aeroscraft design. The official introduction of the new development program will take place at the NBAA Convention in September 2007
This is the Specification as found on the website:

Maximum Speed	155 mph	250 kmh
Cruise Speed	0-120 mph	0-193 kph
Operating Altitude	0-12,000 ft	0-3,657 m
Maximum Range	3,100 mi	5,000 km
Overall Length	210 ft	64 m
Overall Width	95.1 ft	29 m
Overall Height	44.9 ft	13.7 m
Floor Area	5,382 ft²	500 m²

According to older press releases the aeroscraft was supposed to be 850-foot-long which is about 4 times bigger than the now presented version. Also read our previous post about the Aeroscraft giving more details on the size of the airship. The smaller version could of course be because the original Aeroscraft design was for the DARPA walrus program. The now proposed design is about the size of a Zeppelin NT which is 75m long but only 19m wide. This size of airship is quite well established, since the Skyship and others are also around the same size, allowing the use of normal hangars at normal airports, instead of having to build huge Hangars like Cargolifter did. Check out our Photo Gallery which contains additional pictures of the Aeroscraft, both the Walrus design and the current one, notice the differences in propulsion systems.
This is the full text of the press release:

Today Worldwide Aeros Corp. officially confirmed participation at the NBAA 60th Annual Meeting & Convention, September 25-27, 2007 in Atlanta, GA. The National Business Aviation Association, Inc. (NBAA) is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. During the event Aeros will make an official announcement for the launch of the Aeroscraft ML866 program.

The Aeroscraft is a new paradigm in air transport, an aircraft that utilizes a combination of buoyant and dynamic lift creating unique operational capabilities beyond what is available from any other air platform today.

The Aeroscraft is designed and built on the basis of a new concept in flight. The remarkable idea grew out of the belief that there is a more comfortable way to fly than simply applying luxury to an existing airframe and re-naming it.

The versatility of the Aeroscraft allows it to be transformed from elegant to a workhorse or anywhere in between. It can be utilized as a private air yacht, corporate air vehicle or commercial commuter, providing its passengers with far more space than any existing business jet.

Aeros VP Fred Edworthy said “We are coming to the NBAA show because we have reached a level where we can solicit an input from the customer community to ensure the Aeroscraft will change the way executives travel and do business outside of the office.” He added, “One of the offered Aeroscraft ML866 configurations is the Business Office in the Sky. Equipped with the state-of-the-art technology package, the Aeroscraft ML866 becomes a high-tech airborne business center. Business amenities include a computerized office, videoconferencing capability, communications package, and a conference room that while on the ground will accommodate up to one hundred people, transformable interior and personal state room. Independence from large or medium airports will keep travelers away from clogged airports and congested highways, and getting the passengers underway quicker. Additionally, the helicopter like vertical takeoff and landing capability and ability to operate from unprepared fields enhances usefulness of the Aeroscraft by providing the access to remote areas anywhere in the world.”

The Aeroscraft ML866 offers 120 knots top speed and over 5,000 square feet of interior compartment. The company officials said that the Aeroscraft would offer a new level of service and provide an ultimate comfort to satisfy business travel needs of the top notch executives.

At the NBAA Convention Worldwide Aeros Corp. will be located at the booth number 7359.

For more information please visit Aeros website

Aeroscraft

The Worldwide Aeros Corp. is a company that has been around for 20 years now. And is actively developing airships they just recently got a FAA Type Certification for their 40D Sky Dragon Airship, which is also being used in China for a broadcasting and advertising mission. The 40D Sky Dragon is a small Airship compared to the Zeppelin NT, the Sky Dragon has a length of 46.6 m whereas the Zeppelin has a length of 75m. Also the number of seats in the Sky Dragon is much smaller, with just 5 compared to 12 in the Zeppelin. But let's not talk about the small stuff. Aeros is also working on something big, something really big. It is called the Aeroscraft a concept Airship which would surpass everything ever built the super Airliner would be around 200 meters long and could carry over 500 tons of cargo. Compared to the round about 11 Tons of usable lift that the Hindenburg had quite the big ship. But aeros seems to understand that such a huge airship can not be built easily in one step, thus their plan is to start with the ML16 having "just" 5.4 tons of useful payload and move in numerous steps all the way up to 500 tons . The website is worth a look, since they provide information about what the airship is gonna be used for and has some renderings of how it could look like.


There has been an Email circulating about exactly this airship, this is the complete text:

Even though the Aeroscraft dwarfs the largest commercial airliners, it requires less net space on the ground than any plane because it doesn't need a runway. The airship takes off and lands like a helicopter: straight up and down.

This is not a Blimp. It's a sort of flying Queen Mary 2 that could change the way you think about air travel. It's the Aeroscraft, and when it's completed, it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin or relax in their well-appointed staterooms.

Unlike its dirigible ancestor s, the Aeroscraft is not lighter than air. Its 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two-thirds of the craft's weight. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body - driven by huge rearward propellers - generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising.

During takeoff and landing, six turbofan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent. This two football-fields-long concept airship is the brainchild of Igor Pasternak, whose privately funded California firm, Worldwide Aeros Corporation, is in the early stages of developing a prototype and expects to have one completed by 2010. Pasternak says several cruise ship companies have expressed interest in the project, and for good reason: The craft would have a range of several thousand miles and, with an estimated top speed of 174 mph, could traverse the continental U.S. in about 18 hours. During the flight, passengers would peer at national landmarks just 8,000 feet below or,if they weren't captivated by the view, the cavernous interior would easily accommodate such amenities as luxury staterooms, restaurants, even a casino. To minimize noise, the aft-mounted propellers will be electric, powered by a renewable source such as hydrogen fuel cells. A sophisticated buoyancy-management system will serve the same purpose as trim on an airplane, allowing for precise adjustments in flight dynamics to compensate for outside conditions and passenger movement.

The automated system will draw outside air into compartments throughout the ship and compress it to manage onboard weight. On a pressurized plane, windows like these would explode outward. The Aeroscraft does not fly high enough to need pressurization.

The company envisions a cargo-carrying version that could deliver a store's worth of merchandise from a centralized distribution center straight to a Wal-Mart parking lot or, because the helium-filled craft will float, a year's worth of supplies to an offshore oil rig.
"You can land on the snow, you can land on the water," Pasternak says. "It's a new vision of what can be done in the air."

Well seeing the first prototype in 2010 doesn't look like we are gonna see lot's of those things in the sky soon but it is an ambitious project which we would like to see succeed.

The Zeppelin NT is flying again

So good news for european airship enthusiasts, the Deutsche Zeppelin Rederei has resumed flights over Lake Constance, Germany as of March 27th 2007. So you can now go to their Website and Book you flight in the new Zeppelin-NT the only real Zeppelin, everything else is just an airship. I have seen the Zeppelin-NT a few times now and it is breathtaking just seeing it, I can not imagine how great it would be to actually fly in one. So if you are interested, check out the Deutsche Zeppelin Rederei website, there you will also find pricing information. To give you a quick overview flights start from € 145,- for 20 minutes all the way up to € 715,- for a full 2 hour tour.
If you have already done something like that, if you have pictures that you would like to share or stories, please email them to our brand new email address which is airshipworld@gmail.com, yes we have an email address now, so please don't hesitate to contact us, with any question you have we will be more than happy to help you find an answer to your question or just recieve feedback from you. If you don't want to write an email just pot a comment on the site.
So Yesterday I announced the Airshipworld Yahoo Group, today I would like to point to another Yahoo Group wich is frequented by a lot of the same people that are on the Airshipworld group. The Yahoo Group is Called Airshiplist, quoting from their description:

A list for the discussion of topics related to airships, blimps, semi-rigids, Zeppelins and any other dirigibles together with LTA (lighter than air) issues in general.

So this is a more general and technical group which, if you are interested in airships, you should join. Efforts are on the way to join together those two groups into one even stronger group, everything with the goal of creating one big community for the Airship Industry. So I will keep you posted on that.
At last I would like to point you to the Website http://www.aeroscraft.com/ it's a Site dedicated to the Aeroscraft being developed by the Worldwide Aeros Corporation, they already have a few smaller blimps in production but haven't been able to deliver the huge Aeroscraft, which is also participating in the DARPA Walrus Program, I will have more about the Walrus Programm in a later post. For now this completes todays news. Please spread the word about this blog, and contribute with news, press releases and stories, also any comments would be greatly appreciated.