Airlander 10: World's Largest Aircraft starts Flying
- World's largest aircraft the Airlander 10 which is dubbed as World's largest aircraft began its maiden journey Yesterday from the airfield in Cardington, England. While a part of it is helicopter, The rest is an airship.
- At 92m long and 43.5m wide, this is the world’s largest aircraft, dwarfing heavyweights such as the Airbus A380 “superjumbo”. It is a bit cheaper, too, with a catalogue price of £25m, compared with $375m (£287m) for an A380.
Airlander 10: is this the dawning of a new age of the airship?
In October 1930, An Airship R101 crashed in France killing all the 48 people on board. This unfortunate incident forced Britain to stop developing Airships. After 85 years, The Airlander 10 has been introduced.
Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) designed The Airlander with a budget of 2.5 million pounds. This 92 metre-long (302 feet) aircraft could even be used for transport of cargo. The aircraft is filled with helium. While it can remain airborne for over 2 weeks unmanned, It could stay airborne for 5 days if manned. Maximum speed of the aircraft is 148 kmph (92 miles per hour) and it can fly up to 4,880 metros (6,000 feet).
Actually, The Airlander was originally developed for using it as a surveillance aircraft by US Army. However, the project has been shelved due to high cost involved. Now, Its up to Britain on how to use it!
Watch Airlander 10 First Flight below:
Airlander 10 - World's Largest Aircraft First Flight
