NOT YOUR AVERAGE BLIMP HYBRID AIRSHIPS ON THEIR WAY

Posted on 06/16/2016

Imagine tooling along at (close to) the speed limit on an un-crowded section the Trans Canada Highway, when suddenly something blocks out the sun. You look up and there, steadily overtaking you at an altitude of about 3,000 feet is this giant, football field sized white airship.

This is not the stuff of fiction but something that could theoretically happen in just a couple of years’ time. At least the hybrid airships will happen, whether you’ll ever see one cruising the TCH is the questionable part.
Since the dramatic, fiery demise of the Hindenburg in Lakehurst New Jersey in 1937, commercial airships have been very much the stuff of aviation’s past but that is about to change and they will shortly become a highly disruptive part of its present.
Right up front it has to be said that any resemblance the new craft might bear to the airships of old is not even skin deep - one major differentiator being that they are filled with nonflammable helium as opposed to hydrogen. The fact that they are not lighter than air, with 20 percent of their lift coming from the aerodynamic shaped hull and vectored thrust from its four engines is another key difference, especially when it comes to ground handling capabilities.
Two manufacturers, Lockheed Martin in the US and Hybrid Air Vehicles in the UK have spent many years and hundreds of millions of dollars developing these new hybrid aircraft which are expected to begin commercial operations in late 2018. Approximately 300 feet long and 85 feet high, with two pilots, the Lockheed ship will fly at around 110 kilometers an hour with up to 22 tons of freight and 20 passengers: Future iterations could carry 100 tons and up.
Lockheed’s ship also features a unique ‘Air Cushion Landing System’ (ALCS) which is essentially three hovercraft pads on its underbelly that are used for taxiing and then, when ready to load or offload passengers and/or freight, the thrust is reversed to grip the aircraft to the ground.
What makes Hybrids such an exciting addition to aviation is their ability to reach and land in places where, well, there essentially aren’t places! They can put down near-vertically on any flat, unprepared surface including dirt, grass, sand, snow, ice or even water. Their payload and range far exceed that of heavy lift helicopters and their fuel burn/cost per ton and carbon footprint is a fraction of all other forms of air transport.
Hybrids therefore, present an alternative form of lift to industries such as mining, oil and gas and others that can save them hundred of millions of dollars in the cost of building and maintaining infrastructure such as roads, bridges, tunnels and airports to service remote sites.
Ice road trucking in Canada’s north may make for great reality TV shows but for mine operators their preparation and maintenance is not only dangerous, but also a hugely expensive operating cost. In a fraction of the time it takes trucks to negotiate circuitous and perilous ice roads, carrying machinery, general freight, fuel and personnel, Hybrids can simply fly straight in and land right on the ice: And they can do it year-round as opposed to the few months per year that ice roads can be maintained.
The dramatic downturn in Canada’s oil sector has meant that many extraction projects have been closed down or shelved in an effort to control costs. The Hybrid solution is not only timely but is also environmentally friendly as it leaves no asphalt scars on the face of the planet that will remain long after the mine or the wellhead has been shut down.
The range of applications for these aircraft is almost limitless. In the travel arena an obvious one is passenger transportation between points that don’t have airport facilities. Another could be luxury tourism with aircraft configured as flying cruise ships – “Want to see the Great Wall of China in its entirety from 1,000 feet? Step right up!”
But these are the tip of a very large iceberg.
Other uses include humanitarian aid and disaster relief where Hybrids can deliver emergency personnel and medical supplies plus evacuating survivors. They can act as flying hospitals, telecoms platforms and search and rescue vehicles - Hybrids can hover, land on the ocean and dispatch boats if necessary. Their near-silent running and low speed capabilities are ideal for surveillance and reconnaissance - much cheaper than building that wall Mister T! Hybrids can boost isolated local communities by shipping fresh produce from remote farms to densely populated areas … the list goes on.
And of course, à la Goodyear blimp, Hybrids also make wonderful advertising platforms. Just don’t expect the one flying over the TCH to be carrying a Tim Hortons’ ad any time soon. It would take a lot of Timbit sales to cover the liability cost involved with shocked drivers ending up in ditches