Engineering news
Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) has said that Airlander 10 will have its engines, fins and mission module attached in January, as the world’s largest aircraft prepares for a return to flight before the summer of 2016.
The news follows the 92 metre-long aircraft having its first helium fill at its hangar in Cardington, Bedfordshire on 31 October. The aircraft was able to float a few metres above the ground as well as 'walk' the entire length of the 248 metre hangar, pulled along by fork-lift trucks.
It has also recently had its aft carbon composite battens added, tailcones and the first engine pylon attached to the hull. The group is also about to add the ‘mission module’, or cockpit, where up to ten tonnes of payload will go.
According to HAV, Airlanders are low noise, low pollution, and environmentally-friendly. Once operational, the aircraft will be able to carry up to 10 tonnes of cargo and fly half way round the world on a single tank of fuel. Furthermore, Airlander can take off and land from a range of remote environments including water, desert, ice and fields.
HAV’s director Chris Daniels, told PE: “As we will be undertaking first flight this year, we will be attaching all the remaining components. Currently the fins are in the final stages of completion and we will begin affixing them to the hull this month. We will also be affixing the second pylon and the engines so the beginning of 2016 is proving to be a very exciting time here.”
Engine testing started in February 2015 and has been running on and off ever since then – each ‘batch’ of testing covers off different elements of the engines performance.
Daniels added: "Each element of the engine passed inspection and the testing throughout October and November went well. This lead to the completed engine being successfully tested on the rig a number of times before Christmas.
"The next stage of engine testing will be once they are affixed to the aircraft. We will run a number of pre-flight tests both in and out of the Hangar before first flight, and then an extensive 200 hour flight test programme before we embark on a series of trials and demonstrations with specific customers.
"We are progressing well and we will be airborne before Summer this year, but aiming to be around the turn of Q1."
HAV believes the global market for green aircraft technology will be worth £30 billion and will create 1,800 jobs in the UK in the next five years. The company has already secured more than £60 million of customer funding, more than £6 million of grants and in excess of £12 million of equity funding. Further funding is being raised now ahead of a planned Initial Public Offering on the smaller company’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
Earlier this year, HAV hit the £1 million in a crowdfunding exercise for the Airlander range. The money helped to develop the Airlander 10, designed to stay airborne for up to five days at a time to fulfil a wide range of communication and survey roles, as well as cargo carrying and tourist passenger flights.