Airlander 10, the world’s longest aircraft and an experimental long-endurance airship has taken its maiden flight around the skies of Bedfordshire.
Now while it might look odd, there’s one thing that simply can’t be avoided when talking about Airlander 10. It’s size.
This aircraft is utterly vast.
Developed by Hybrid Air Vehicles as a US military surveillance aircraft, the project was eventually scrapped. That didn’t stop HAV though who continued to build the £25 million Airlander 10 for commercial use.
Lets go back to that size though, this aircraft is 302 feet long. That’s longer (a lot longer) than the world’s largest passenger aircraft the Airbus A380.
This aircraft then is absolutely massive, it’s also extremely quiet compared to conventional jet aircraft which makes it perfect for high-altitude surveillance or long-distance passenger journeys.
HAV hopes that if Airlander 10 passes all its tests it can start producing around 10 aircraft every year by 2021.
Of course that’s a long way off, first HAV will need to prove that a) Airlander 10 can fly, and fly well and b) It can actually be useful.
If nothing else though it’s a truly impressive technical achievement.