DGLR Workshop XI this Friday and Saturday in Friedrichshafen

We mentioned it already in a pre-announcement in early February, but now we have the final invitation and the program for the DGLR Workshop XI this weekend in Friedrichshafen Germany.
I have attached the Invitation and the program below, if you are in the area why not stop by. Prices range from 20 Euros for students to 45 Euros for people who aren't members of the DGLR, so it's quite affordable for a two day event. If you cant read the German invitation don't be shy to email me your questions I will try to answer them.
The Workshop starts Friday morning 9:40 and ends on Saturday with the RC Airship Regatta around 15:00. I will be there and take pictures and videos of the sessions and the event. I will probably also write one or the other Blog post. If you are reading the blog and are also in Friedrichshafen this weekend, let me know so that we can meet.
Einladung DGLR Workshop XI 2009

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Promotional Brochures & Catalogs workshop invitation

Programm DGLR Workshop XI 2009

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Brochures & Catalogs workshop programme

Aerocrat brings news from MAKS 2007

Aerocrat a Russian Airship and LTA Blog that we have mentioned before (here and here) has a long article about the Russian Airshow MAKS 2007 the article called КУДА ДУЛИ ВЕТРЫ НА МАКС-2007 can be read in an autotranslated english version from Worldlingo here WHERE YELLOW PEARS ARE WINDS ON MAX -2007 and in a Google auto translated version WHERE TO DULI VETRY MAKS-2007 both are far from perfect translations of the original russian post. But you can kind of get an understanding of what has been going on and the pictures of the Airship and Aerostats are also interesting and worth a look. Near the End of the Post the article mentions the RosAeroSystems Au-30 Patrol Airship that was supposed to be used during the Total Pole Airship Project. We will soon be looking into what the status of this project is. Also the RosAeroSystems PUMA Tethered Aerostat was mentioned. Since RosAeroSystems is a well known company them presenting their products was nothing new. More interesting was the mentioning of a Company called DKBA who has supposedly developed three airships according to anther source (translated Version) these are :

• a semi-rigid dirigible DP-20, intended for the transport of loads with a mass of up to 20 tons, the accomplishment of mission of observation and reconnaissance in the assigned regions.
• a rigid dirigible DP-55, intended for the transport of loads with a mass of up to 55 tons with the ability for year-round operation in all climatic zones
• a lenticular dirigible DP-70[t], intended for the transport of loads with the ability of year-round operation in all climatic zones (on the design basis of this dirigible they are studied the versions of dirigible with the load capacity 200-400t).

It's interesting to see what comes out of Russia, and we will further investigate this. If you know anything about this Company DBKA or the mentioned airships please contact us, since we do not know much about them or of any website of theirs yet.

Links:

• Russian Airshow MAKS 2007
• Russian Airship Blog
• Follow up to Lockheed and Livejournal airship websites
• Original post about the MAKS 2007 Airship by Aerocrat
• RosAeroSystems Au-30 Patrol Airship

FAA Remedies Amphibious LSA, Lighter-Than-Air Issues With Direct Final Rule

This news reaches us from the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) click here to view the original posting or just continue reading the fully quoted text.

FAA REMEDIES AMPHIBIOUS LSA, LIGHTER-THAN-AIR ISSUES WITH DIRECT FINAL RULE
Agency Delivers on Pledge Made at 2007 Oshkosh Summit

April 19, 2007 - An FAA direct final rule issued April 9 solves two lingering light-sport aircraft (LSA) certification issues that EAA has been working to fix since the original Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) Rule issued in September 2004. The action allows special-LSA certification of amphibious aircraft with a retractable landing gear, plus increases the maximum takeoff weight for lighter-than-air LSA from 660 lbs. to 1,320 lbs. Both fixes remedy what the FAA called “unintended consequences” of the original rule that created exceptions to the otherwise rapid growth of the LSA category of aircraft.

“We’re very pleased this has been done,” said Earl Lawrence, EAA vice president of industry and regulatory affairs. “EAA’s has been vigilant in assuring that these problems were resolved so that our members and other aviation enthusiasts who wish to fly these types of aircraft will get the full enjoyment from them.”

The preamble of original sport pilot rule was being interpreted by FAA’s legal department as prohibiting LSA certification for aircraft with a repositionable landing gear, which allows a pilot to change the position of the landing gear for land or water operations while the aircraft is airborne. In January 2005, FAA agreed to allow repositionable gears to be reconfigured for land or water operations while the aircraft is on the ground or in the water, but still did not authorize S-LSA certification of amphibious aircraft.

Czech Aircraft Works’ Mermaid received an exemption from the FAA in 2006 allowing that aircraft to be operated as special light-sport aircraft (S-LSA). And during the 2007 summit in Oshkosh, LSA-Aero received its FAA exemption for the amphibious S100 Freedom. But the inconsistency in the rule remained.

At the January Summit, EAA continued to express the concerns of many in the LSA industry/community about the delay in clarifying the issue. FAA committed at the meeting to try and resolve the issue by Sun ’n Fun. The FAA’s action log from the summit included “fast track” clarification of the amphibious issue by May 2007, and it delivered.

EAA’s consistent position was that amphibious airplanes meeting the other LSA performance and specification parameters, regardless of gear-repositioning features, should be included among LSA-eligible aircraft, thus allowing more participation in this category segment.

The original 660-lb LTA weight was found to be impracticable, which has been borne out in the marketplace with no certificated LTA LSA.

“We’re similarly pleased that the FAA has adjusted the weight criteria for lighter than air LSA, brining it in line with the other LSA classes.” Lawrence added.

The final rule’s effective date is June 4, 2007. FAA will accept comments for inclusion in the Rules Docket through May 21, 2007.

This is really good news according to comments made on the airship-list

Airship Stuff on Ebay [Updated]

Today I would like to point anyone interested into airship, and LTA collectibles to look into some items for sale on eBay. The Seller, Ford U. Ross is a retired Navy Chief; ATC/AC USN, he spent his first 10 years flying in and maintaining Navy Blimps. He spent 7 years at NAS Lakehurst and 3 years in ZP-4 at NAF Weeksville. This is how he got interested in collecting Lighter-than-Air ephemera, primarily a few artifacts, books, photographs and flown Airship Covers, to include Navy Blimp covers.
He is a member of the Naval Airship Association; the LTA Soc; NLHS; MFHS(Life Member); ABAC plus the Zeppelin Collectors Club and the American Air Mail Society. Also active with the Military Museum and Memorial at NAS Richmond, FL.
And now he is in the process of liquidating his collections. There is a lot of really interesting stuff, in his eBay auctions and definitely worth a look. Also have a look at Ford's personal homepage, which has a collection of really nice classic blimp photos. Please look at his auctions and buy some stuff that interests you, we don't get anything from what he earns, we just like to support him, since those valuable artifacts should not be lost.
[Update] So just so you can find the eBay Items better, check out http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZzccaams

Airship and Dirigibles history pages - Part 2

We are continuing our roundup for airship, blimp and dirigible history websites with pictures and historical informations from the great ages of the airships. The first Website I would like to Point out is Æ Aeragon Website, the website is dedicated to military technology transfer, and has different section one of them is Air Transportation, in there you will find a special section about airships how their development went from military to public commercial use. It's a great and insightfull read.
The next Site is the Airship Heritage Trust an active site with lot's of pictures, videos and information about airships. It's a great resource and the Website is actively promoting Airships and the fascination surrounding them.
The last historical Site is The Zeppelin Library Archive a resource listing the history and specs of the great Zeppelins also mentioning the new Zeppelin NT, which was really brand new the lst time the Website was updated. It seems pretty dead, but history doesn't go away and in this way it's a great resource.

Balloons need helium to fly high

Since I didn't post on friday night the news items are piling up in my inbox, I'm trying to publish some of them.
So first I would like to point you to SOUTHERN BALLOON WORKS, INC. they offer a wide variety of advertsing inflatables and LTA stuff. In their line up are tethered blimps, rc controlled blimps, giant balloons and tradeshow balloons. All their products are custom made and offer a wide variety of options in colors and sizes. They also have a few pictures and videos on their site. Their biggest remote controlled blimps are around 4 meters in size. It's not big but for marketing it's definetly worth a look. So go check them out, if you are interested in advertising airships.
The next item is a new blog that just launched this week by two guys Alex & Brian Hall it is called Up Ship! and documents their plan to bring a zeppelin to the US. It accompanies thier website Airship Ventures, which is just a redicrect to the blog right now. I don't know if they want to build their own airship or blimp or if they actually want to buy one. I'm trying to contact them to find out more information.
Last up is a little tidbit about helium. This is more for people who do not know much about how Lighter Than Air (LTA) Technology works in all this airships and blimps. So the first article called "How Much Can a Helium Balloon Lift?" is a pretty complete Science Experiment calculating and measuring the exact lift of a standard helium balloon. The second article called "Helium makes the balloon fly!" is from a swedish website also explains why helium baloons fly, and what the differences between hydrogen, helium and hot air lift are. The artice even presents some formulars to calculate the lift. The article conludes with a short explanation about where helium comes from. It's worth a read for the interested. This is it, fr today, if you would lik eto leave a comment, please do so, any feedback is greatly appreciated. If you have a business having to do with LTA Aircrafts or technology and would like to get some information out please send us an email. We would also like to present books that are currently in the writing and other media formats, so please contact us via email airshipworld@gmail.com. In the next couple of days I'm gonna be rereleasing quite a lot of information that was previously published in the airshipworld yahoogroup. Hope to get some more exposure on the web through it.