Posts by Gasblimper

Airship 'Sky Tugs' ordered from Lockheed for Canadian oilfields

Hybrid limitations.

Hi there,

A hybrid air vehicle like the HAV 304 or 266 will not suffer the same operating limitations as airships because it has a very different mode of operation and very different aerodynamics. It also has far better groundhandling and the limits will be similar to a big helicopter.

The interest of the military, mining sector and oil and gas folks, is that they all need a long range point to point transport solution. The helicopter or tilit rotor aircraft can do short range tasks, although they use far more fuel, BUT there is no aircraft other than an HAV that can do longer range fuel efficient point to point cargo. That fact has been known for some time, but the Gulf wars and Afghanistan in particular has convinced the US military it needs a new off airport cargo aircraft that does not need to refuel every few hundred miles and does not cost 12,000 dollars per hour to operate like the Osprey. On the civil side the requirement is also the same and the 9 fold increase in one year of the value of rare earth metal ores that are to be found in the remote areas of both Northern Canada and Afghanistan, has some very big players waiting for the first flight of the HAV 304 late this summer, as it will mark the start of a new fuel efficient era for air transport.

Regards JB

Air Cushions.

Hi there,

An air cushion works better than a normal undercart at stopping serious impacts, just ask anyone who has been saved by an air bag in their car. There is also a skid to back up the hoverskirt in an ulitmate case.

Regards JB

Mil 26 Fuel consumption.

Hi there,

When loaded the Mil 26 only has a fairly short range and the fuel burn of the two 10 to 12,000 shp turbines is horrendous. The biggest problem in both Northern Canada and Afghanistan in particular is lack of fuel or the serious cost of setting up big fuel dumps to allow the use of heavy lift helicopters.

Regards JB

LEMV program

Hi there,

There are exceptions to every rule and the LEMV program is one of them, as Northrop Grumman and Hybrid Air Vehicles are building three HAV 304's with all the latest remote control, top of the range surveillance equipment and associated ground stations. With the 517 million LEMV contract behind them, Northrop and HAV are now very definitely leaders in the hybrid air vehicle sector and first flight will be late this summer, on budget and on time.

Regards JB