Going back a mere 12 years for the origins of this next post we switch from the road to the air and a mode of transport oft-championed by this blogger; one that is slowly (as is its wont!) continuing its renaissance in a new 21st-century reimagining but still with positive links to its past - the airship.
Even more of an enthusiast of this form of lighter-than-air travel than yours truly (and in a far better position to do something to promote it!), Texas native Don Hartsell has spent over 40 years dreaming and nearly 20 years planning the inaugural World Sky Race for airships. As reported back in 2012, Hartsell had been attempting to raise commercial and financial interest for his fantastic scheme since at least 2006, with the nascent plan to have the race ready to begin from London in 2014. Alas, as is often the way with these sorts of huge undertakings, that vision was forced to go by the wayside (as had an earlier start date of 2011) due sadly to a lack of necessary funds.
Now, however, Mr Hartsell seems confident enough to speak again publicly about his marvellous idea - with what would seem to be some credible expressions of interest from a variety of parties representing all different sorts of markets and the advantage of a far more advanced airship industry that looks poised to take on this epic challenge to their (and the world's) benefit. Things seem to have progressed to such a degree that Mr Hartsell has even bought six(!) airships for use by any entity who might wish to join the race and I genuinely wish him the very best of luck in his search for entrants into his World Sky Race. The chances of that seem all the more heightened thanks to the remarkable number of airship manufacturers that have sprung up over the last fifteen years or so and the progress they have all made in that time.
French concern Euro Airship is just one of several companies at an advanced stage of airship development and to promote their latest vessel Solar Airship One have, in a similar vein to Mr Hartsell, announced their intention to undertake a 20-day long nonstop flight around the world without using any fossil fuels whatsoever (as the name suggests, the airship is 100% solar-powered). Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if the two were to team up, or at least for Euro Airship to enter the World Sky Race?! What a boost it would be for the industries involved - not only airship design and application but all the associated machinery that goes with it; a true melding of old and new technologies, a showcase for 21st-century know-how in a long-neglected pre-war ideal! I look forward to continuing to follow the progress of Euro Airships as they gear up for the planned 2026 launch - they certainly seem to be well set to succeed, with some experienced aviators signed up to the project (not least famed French adventurer Bertrand Piccard). This is definitely one to watch!
Likewise, fellow Gallic airship engineering business Flying Whales (great name!) seem well on their way to becoming airborne, their new Large Capacity Airship scheduled to gain its type certification within the year with the aim to be fully operational by 2027. They already have an eye on the international cargo market with plans to set up production plants in Canada and Australia to complement their Bordeaux HQ; I wouldn't bet against them either!
British-based Hybrid Air Vehicles, working out of the old airship hangers at Cardington in Bedfordshire (where the R.101 was built and departed from on its ill-fated maiden flight to India in 1930), is another airship manufacturer that has spent the last fifteen years refining its own designs into the Airlander 10. Now they have finally reached the exciting stage of applying for type certification with the UK's Civil Aviation Authority which, if given, should allow HAV to begin full-scale production with commercial flights envisaged to start in around four years' time. Airships gracing the skies of Britain (and the world) again before the end of the decade? What's not to like?!
Never ones to be left behind in any race - technological or otherwise - American expertise is also working on its own airship design with the US company Aeros' Dragon Dream concept having been in development since 2013 and although the prototype suffered a setback in 2015 when it was damaged in a hanger accident it would seem the company is still pushing ahead with the search for a production site; I see no reason why we should not see their eVBAs criss-crossing the globe again within a similar timescale.
EDIT 09/03/24: I knew I'd forgotten one - and how embarrassing that it should be the largest of the lot!😳 (I say, emojis - are they new? Sorry, I'm digressing!) Apologies to LTA (Lighter Than Air) Research, the brainchild of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, whose Pathfinder 1 prototype has recently taken its initial steps towards regular test flights over its California base after 10 years in development. Once again utilising the very latest in aeronautical technology the Pathfinder nevertheless retains much of the traditional airship design and will doubtless make a mightily impressive sight sailing over the San Francisco Bay area. That an even larger Pathfinder 3 is planned - and to be headquartered at Akron, Ohio (to the USA what Cardington is to Britain) - is almost too much to imagine but I'll wager that, with this level of backing, if anyone can do it these chaps can! A fleet of Pathfinders, joining with the other airships mentioned above to deliver urgently-needed cargo to inhospitable areas, carry passengers to anywhere in the world - or even just take part in an around-the-globe World Sky Race! 😉 - feels more and more like an attainable goal if these projects achieve their potential, as I'm sure they must.
As well as the many commercial enterprises that are pursuing the 21st-century airship concept, so smaller businesses and private designers have also recently been reimagining them for modern personal use in the wonderfully futuristic form of "air yachts" - the term dating from the golden age of pre-war flying boats, especially the smaller private variety, but now meaning an airship/boat hybrid! While admittedly the idea of superyachts in this day and age is understandably looked upon in some circles as vulgar and unnecessary one has to admit the engineering, not to mention the execution, can still stir the soul and remind one of the technical skills and spirit of adventure that mankind possesses.
Swiss-based company AirYacht (a relative newcomer formed in 2017), is one of the few airship designers to be exclusively targeting the passenger market with its AirYacht concept. Attractively billed as "the sky's cruise ship" and again harking back to the glory days of international luxury travel, the AirYacht seems to be intended for private owners or select travellers wishing to take small group holidays and sightseeing tours to otherwise remote places - as with all of these ventures much being made of the sustainability, advancements and slower pace afforded by the application of modern technology to these incredible craft. Although I fear that, at least initially, a flight in the AirYacht will be beyond the reach of most of us mere mortals it is to be hoped that again success will lead to similar, more accessible craft taking to the skies and so to greater economies of scale in the future. I certainly wouldn't say no, given the opportunity!
Another airship enthusiast (witness his reference to the 1924 airship Norge, which I also previously blogged about) and imaginer of airship-yacht crossovers, Perpaolo Lazzarini's Colossea is his second design following his 2022 concept but, whereas that was intended to land directly on the water, so the Colossea has a separate airship attached to a boat's superstructure, able to detach at will to fly independently! Again aimed at the ultra-luxury mega-yacht market the Colessea nevertheless boasts some fantastic modern engineering again married to traditional airship design and - if one must have these things - I can't help but again feel enthusiastic that such a project even exists.
With all these at various advanced stages of development I can't see why Mr Hartsell's World Sky Race shouldn't have a whole slew of entrants from across the private and commercial sectors lining up to take part. What amazing publicity it would be for all these airship manufacturers to be involved in such a great adventure, circumnavigating the globe and showing whole new generations the wonderful potential of airships and so finally throwing off the terrible images of the Hindenburg and R.101 - tragic though they were - that have unfairly dogged this mode of transport for too long. The airship cannot - must not - go on being judged in such outdated fashions (to be fair, I feel that these have been somewhat overrated in recent times - I fancy that the younger generation will be far more open to this revised mode of transport, particularly given its new ecological credentials) and a World Sky Race featuring the best current lighter-than-air design has to offer has to go some way towards continuing the revival of this splendid form of travel. Could the 2020s be the decade that airships finally enjoy their long-overdue resurgence? With all this positive development I think we can do more than hope!
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