The Airlander 10, billed as the world's largest aircraft - a cross between a plane, an airship and a helicopter is the length of a football pitch and the height of six double-decker buses
But as the airship Martha Gwyn inched its way out of an enormous green hangar for the first time, the soubriquet seemed anything but blimpish.
Named after the wife of businessman Philip Gwyn, yesterday’s (Saturday) public unveiling represented a milestone in a £350million project that had once appeared doomed to remain grounded .
Once airborne, the huge aircraft, which is filled with 1.3 million cubic feet of helium, can stay airborne for around five days during manned flights, cruising at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour 20,000ft above the earth.
The aircraft is 50ft (15m) longer than the largest Airbus A380 passenger jets. It was developed by British firm Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), after it launched a campaign to return the Airlander 10 to the skies in May 2015.
0 comments:
Post a Comment