The world’s “largest aircraft” embarked on its maiden flight on Wednesday, four days after a previous attempt was abandoned due to technical issues.
The Airlander 10 — part plane, part airship — took to the skies amid cheers and applause from crowds gathered at an airfield in Cardington, central England.
The successful flight comes 85 years after another airship — the ill-fated R101 — took off from the same airfield in October 1930 before crashing in France, killing 48 people and effectively ending the development of airships in Britain.
Originally developed for the US army as a surveillance aircraft, the 92-metre- (302 feet-) long Airlander 10, also has potential uses in the commercial sector, such as carrying cargo, according to makers Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV).
The firm, which describes the Airlander as the “largest aircraft currently flying”, received a British government grant of 2.5 million pounds ($3.7 million, 2.9 million euros to develop the project.
Read more at MSN
Image courtesy of airshipsonline.com
COMMENTS
There are on this article.
You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.