It looks like the world isn?t quite ready for the airship of the future just yet, as the Airlander 10, which combines fixed wing aerodynamics with a large envelope, has crashed on its second UK flight. Although the first went off without a hitch, the second ended with much too hard of a landing.
The Airlander 10 is an interesting design. It combines the traditionally opposing methods of air travel, fixed wing and gas-powered buoyancy, to make for a very efficient method of travelling and transport. It?s hoped that in the future it will provide a middle ground between ship cargo capacity and airplane speed.
It might be back to the drawing board for some parts of the design though, as although all tests were conducted successfully during the flight, the landing was far too hard and lead to damage of the crew compartment. Nobody was injured, but it?s not something the developers at Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) will be looking to repeat.
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