Aircraft
Hybrid Air Vehicles Aim For A Buoyant Future
Hybrid air vehicles could finally fulfill the promise once offered by airships.
After being packed and shipped to the UK, the Airlander 10, formerly known as the LEMV was air-inflated at Cardington in February of this year. One of the engine ducts can just been seen at left. The engines and tailfins were not yet attached.
After being packed and shipped to the UK, the Airlander 10, formerly known as the LEMV was air-inflated at Cardington in February of this year. One of the engine ducts can just been seen at left. The engines and tailfins were not yet attached.

The two huge hangars at Cardington airfield, 50 miles north of London, stand as witness to the golden age of the airships in the 1930s. Inside one of them, a successor to those giants of the sky is being prepared for flight. British company Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) is pursuing the goal held by so many proponents of lighter-than-air (LTA) and related technology for so many years. The goal of revolutionizing the air cargo market–and maybe also the persistent surveillance market–with buoyant lift.