A radical new kind of airship funded
by the US military is about to make its first test flight - and it looks
uncannily like the Thunderbird 2 craft from the classic TV show.
The
Aeroscraft airship will carry three times as much as the biggest
military cargo planes over thousands of miles, use a third of the fuel,
and it doesn't even need a landing strip.
It
could also have major implications for cargo haulage, and almost
everything now laboriously transported across the planet's surface by
boat, train and lorry could within years be carried through the skies,
its makers claim.
California-based aviation firm Aeros,
with heavy backing from the U.S. military, has been developing their
revolutionary Aeroscraft for several years, and they say the airship is
now in its final stages.
They
have built a prototype which they hope will finally prove the concept
works in practice and allow them to fine tune their systems.
At
77m (250ft) in length, it is just half the size of the final model, but
has been built with the same rigid structure, flight control systems
and landing gear.
Now all
that needs to be done is for it to demonstrate the vertical take-off and
landing that will make possible the point-to-point delivery features
that will make it perfect for the commercial market.
No comments:
Post a Comment