Canadian research and development company 21st Century Airships launched its experimental airship on a high-altitude flight on 2 July.
The flight is part of a programme designed to gather data for the use of such airships for telecommunications, environmental monitoring and surveillance technology in the stratosphere, at 60,000-68,000ft (18,300-20,700m). The 18.3m-diameter helium-filled airship, which is powered by turbo diesel engines and a hybrid electric system driving large propellers, flew to 18,000ft - four times higher than the level at which a traditional airship flies. Two flights lasting more than 16h were conducted, says chief executive Hokan Colting.
The Ontario-based company plans to develop a larger airship almost 40m in diameter by year-end to conduct a series of flights at altitudes up to 45,000ft. The initial flight test was manned, but in subsequent tests the airship will be remotely controlled. The spherical airship has no external gondola for crew, but instead the pilots sit in a cabin inside the sphere.
Source: Flight International
