Alter
Zeppelin erhält in Friedrichshafen neue Technik und Hülle
12. September 2011
Friedrichshafen
(dapd-bwb). Nach dem zweimonatigen Wiederaufbau eines Zeppelins
werden in Friedrichshafen die Einzelteile langsam zu einem Gesamtgerüst
zusammengesetzt. Das Luftschiff, das in einer Halle auf dem Messegelände
entsteht, nimmt damit wieder konkrete Formen an, wie eine Sprecherin
der Deutschen Zeppelin Reederei am Montag in Friedrichshafen sagte.
Der Zeppelin NT (Neue Technologie) ist 75 Meter lang, also zwei
Meter länger als ein Airbus A 380.
Zurzeit
arbeiten 20 Techniker an dem Luftschiff. Im Frühjahr 2012 soll es
dann mit neuer Hülle und leistungsstärkerer Technik wieder über
dem Bodensee fliegen. Nach dem Wiederaufbau erhält der Zeppelin den
Angaben zufolge den Zusatz "R" in seiner Seriennummer - für
"Rebuild", also Wiederaufbau. Der ursprüngliche Taufname
"Bodensee" soll jedoch bestehen bleiben.
Im
März 2004 war der Zeppelin für sieben Millionen Euro nach Japan
verkauft worden. Dort startete dieser bis 2010 unter dem Namen
"Yokoso! Japan" zu Rundflügen über Tokio. Nachdem die
Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik das Gefährt zurückgekauft hatte, wurde
es im März 2010 zerlegt und in Containern nach Friedrichshafen
gebracht.
L'Iris
Challenger, le plus grand dirigeable électrique à forme
lenticulaire au monde,
sera présenté lors de la cérémonie d'ouverture de la 38ème
Coupe Icare, à St Hilaire du Touvet (38) du 22 au 25 septembre
2011.
A
l'occasion de la 38ème édition de la Coupe Icare, la plus
importante manifestation mondiale de vol libre, l'Iris Challenger
effectuera son premier vol officiel.
L'originalité de l'Iris Challenger est sa forme lenticulaire, lui
conférant un look de soucoupe volante encore jamais vu et unique au
monde.
Gonflé à l'hélium, cet aéronef d’un diamètre de 14 mètres
est le fruit du Groupe Aérial Concept reconnu pour ses réalisations
d’images aériennes depuis ses dirigeables électriques.
Le
deuxième aspect novateur de l'Iris Challenger réside dans sa
motricité exclusivement électrique à très faible émission de
CO2.
Quant à l'équipage, ses deux pilotes n’ont pas été choisis par
hasard : Pierre CHABERT est un spécialiste des vols en dirigeable,
et Gérald FELDZER est un aviateur chevronné avec à son actif
plusieurs records.
Pour
son deuxième vol officiel, l'Iris Challenger tentera une première
mondiale: la traversée de la Manche.
L'équipage prendra son envol au petit matin entre le 17 et 21
octobre 2011 à Douvres ; pour un atterrissage prévu à Calais 1h30
après...
- Contact Presse : Emilie DEMESY au 06 78 07 25 05
Groupe Aérial Concept : Jean Louis JOUANNIN au 06 03 81 25 22
Huge
heavy-lift airships on their way to Canada's North September 7, 2011
What
floats in the air, is shaped like a giant white cigar, stands up to
six storeys high and may soon be seen over Nunavut?
It's
an airship, and many hope these new flying machines, which have been
called "new wave blimps," will be able to provide mining
industries with cheaper and cleaner travel by 2014.
Discovery
Air Innovations, a specialty aviation company based in Yellowknife,
and Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd., a British company, recently signed an
agreement that makes Discovery Air the first customer for Hybrid Air
Vehicles's "commercial heavy lift" program.
The
company is already designing a "long-endurance
multi-intelligence vehicle" for the United States military to
use for surveillance in Afghanistan.
Its
huge hybrid air vehicles - due to begin construction in 2012 - will
be able to fly at speeds near 290 km/h and carry at least 50 tonnes
of cargo, nearly double the payload of a fullyloaded C-130 Hercules.
NASA
goes back to the future: airships September
5, 2011
NASA
may no longer be flying space shuttles, but it is set to put another
craft into the skies ... airships.
The
US agency is building airships it believes will revolutionise the
transport of cargo around the world, with its first prototype set to
take off next year, London's Daily
Telegraph reported.
"One
of NASA's jobs is to solve the nation's air transportation
challenges with research, and airships haven't seen much research in
the past few decades," said Dr Pete Worden, the director of
NASA research arm Ames
at an airship conference in Alaska last month.
Airships
to return to the skies under Nasa led project
Space-age
airships are set to replace lorries, trains and even cargo ships for
carrying goods around the world, under a project being led by NASA.
T
Using
materials and aerodynamics knowledge gained from the space-race,
engineers at NASA are helping to develop a new generation of
airships they believe will replace lorries, trains and even cargo
ships for carrying goods around the world.
London-based
Hybrid Air Vehicles
(HAV) expects to begin construction early next year of an airship
capable of lifting 50t, with first flight scheduled for the second
half of 2013.
But
although the aircraft - to be built for Quebec-based speciality
aviation company Discovery Air Innovations - will share a basic
hybrid airship concept with the Long-Endurance Multi-intelligence
Vehicle (LEMV) HAV is developing with Northrop
Grumman for service from 2012, the Discovery vehicle is of a
different design to meet vastly different mission objectives.
HAV
business development director Hardy Giesler said the Northrop
project's surveillance role dictates that the LEMV must operate at
20,000ft (6,100m) and stay aloft for 21 days, the Discovery craft
will have to lift up to 50t and travel at speeds of up to 100kt
(185km/h). By contrast, the LEMV is required to carry only 1t to 2t
of surveillance equipment payload, plus fuel to last for three weeks.
Update:
Boeing no longer working on hybrid airship, but damn it looked cool
August
29, 2011
Boeing
considered building a gigantic, buoyant ”Hybrid Thermal
Airship” that would have floated as high as 30,000 feet for up to
60 days at a time and deliver cargo anywhere in the world without
the need for a runway or any other infrastructure — running on a
combination of fuel-powered generators and an 8-megawatt solar array
across the top of the ship.
World
Surveillance Group Argus One UAV damaged during demonstration,
approved for tethered flights and free flight testing
Aug
30, 2011
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER,
Fla., 30 Aug. 2011.
The Argus
One airship passed the physical inspection and analysis
conducted by the flight safety board at the Yuma proving ground
facility in Yuma, Ariz., according to officials at World
Surveillance Group Inc. (OTCBB:WSGI), a developer of
lighter-than-air unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs)
and related technologies. The safety board has approved the Argus
One airship and accompanying onboard systems not only for tethered
flights, but also free flight tests.
Company
engineers were unable to conduct flight testing of the Argus One UAV
at the Yuma proving ground facilities due to an unforeseen incident
while maneuvering the UAV into its hangar. The UAV’s envelope
suffered minor damage due to unexpected strong wind gusts that hit
the Argus One UAV broadside while the airship was being moved into
its hangar. The resulting tear to the airship envelope was unrelated
to flight capabilities of the airship itself or the accompanying onboard
systems, affirms a company spokesperson.
Eastcor
Engineering personnel are helping to repair and enhance the
airship's envelope; such repairs should be completed by September 9.
W
SGI
officials are discussing new flight test dates with the flight
operators at the Yuma proving ground facility, anticipate
finalizing dates shortly, and expects to return to Yuma in September
or October. Flight testing of the Argus One will continue in Easton,
Md., in preparation of the upcoming Yuma flight exercise.
We remain
optimistic about the unique capabilities of our Argus One airship
design based on the results from our numerous Easton flight
tests,” says WSGI's President and Chief Executive Officer Glenn D.
Estrella. “We are actively in discussions with the directors at
Yuma to reschedule new testing dates to get back to Yuma as soon as
possible and will continue our testing in Easton in the interim."
Une
commande de dizaines de dirigeables cargos pour HAV 25
août 2011
Hybrid
Air Vehicles, déjà prestataire de l’armée américaine, reçoit
une commande allant jusqu’à 45 exemplaires de son aéronef, un
dirigeable capable de transporter 50 tonnes.
Reverra-t-on
des dirigeables sillonner le ciel comme aux jours de leur gloire
dans les années 1930? L’appareil semble retrouver de l’avenir,
à en juger par le contrat signé par Hybrid
Air Vehicles (HAV) et annoncée dans le Financial
Times et Les
Echos.
Cette
société anglaise a conclu une commande, pouvant aller jusqu’à
45 exemplaires et deux milliards de livres (2,27 milliards
d’euros), de son modèle HAV
366 par Discovery
Air Innovations. Discovery Air est un groupe canadien qui compte
déjà 130 aéronefs.
Le
contrat dépend de la certification de l’appareil. Gary Elliott,
PDG de HAV, indique que chaque appareil devrait coûter de 30 à 50
millions de dollars. Ce modèle sera exploitable à partir de 2014,
prévoit l’entreprise. Long de 109 mètres, il pourra transporter
jusqu’à 50 tonnes de cargaison.
Si
HAV communique sur un « véhicule aérien hybride » et
non un dirigeable, ce n’est pas uniquement à cause de l’image désuète
ou inquiétante de ce dernier (on pense toujours à la catastrophe
du Hindenburg
en 1937 qui mit fin brutalement à la carrière des dirigeables),
mais aussi parce que la version modifiée par HAV, avec des moteurs
latéraux, rend l’appareil plus manoeuvrable (voir vidéo). Sa
forme plus arrondie le distingue aussi des classiques « cigares ».
If
you're going to fight an Islamic insurgency, you'd think there would
be more practical tools than an airship.
But
that's just what Thailand has been using to track militants in its restive
southern provinces. Its manned Aeros
40D Sky Dragon, manufactured by California-based Aeros, has
again run into technical trouble, making an emergency landing in the
south's Pattani Province recently.
The
Sky Dragon developed propeller problems and began losing altitude.
It sustained some damage in an emergency landing, but no one was
hurt, the Bangkok Post reported.
The
350 million baht ($11.7 million) U.S.-built craft has been seen as a
boondoggle in Thailand due to problems with equipment and delays in
delivery. It was returned to Aeros last year following major leaks,
according to the paper.
Because
the warranty has expired, the Royal Thai Army will have to pay for
repairs.
The
airship has a rigid structure and is thus not a blimp,
and it measures 11.6 yards wide by 51 yards long. It's supposed to
fly up to an altitude of 10,000 feet with a top speed of 54.6 mph.
Its operational range is 348 miles.
The
military has been using the dirigible for surveillance in the
insurgency, which has claimed thousands of lives. It's been equipped
with high-def night cameras and communications systems.
Opposition
politicians, though, have ridiculed the "spy
blimp," saying it takes fuzzy pictures and is a sitting
duck for insurgents as problems have caused it to fly only up to
3,000 feet.
You
might be surprised to learn that airships, vulnerable to strong
winds and enemy fire, have been used in military operations since World
War I, when Germany used them to bomb London.
Aeros,
meanwhile, has imagined a new generation of war dirigibles that can
carry infantry units and even heavy armor into the battlefield. In
the wild promo vid below, its $40 million Aeroscraft
concept airship can deliver "ship-like payloads" via
"helicopter-like operations" without the need for a runway
Jegun
(32) : un célèbre pilote de dirigeable décède après un accident
de moto Jeudi
18 août 2011
Pierre
Ponomareff est mort des suites de ses blessures, après avoir été
victime d'une collision au guidon de sa moto
Le
motard grièvement blessé mardi après-midi dans la collision de
son deux-roues avec une automobiliste au lieu-dit La Bâtisse, n’a
pas survécu à ses blessures.
Pierre
Ponomareff s’est éteint au centre hospitalier de Rangueil à
Toulouse où il avait été héliporté après l’accident. Le célèbre
pilote de dirigeable installé à Fleurance depuis de nombreuses années,
avait 62 ans
Giant
blimp crashes into 94-year-old woman's August
15, 2011
A
blimp crash-landed in the backyard of a 94-year-old Ohio woman after
breaking free of its moorings at an airport during a storm, police
said.
When
it finally touched down Sunday, the deflated airship blanketed a
picnic table and some bird feeders in Lillian Bernhagen's backyard
in Worthington, Ohio.
Bernhagen
said she heard a loud bang outside her window early Sunday, but
didn't realize what had happened until cops showed up seven hours
later.
"I
looked out the window and I said, 'Wow!'" she said. "I
didn't expect to see one on the ground. I've only ever seen one in
the air."
Une
dame de 94 ans trouve un dirigeable dans son jardin
Quelle
ne fut pas la surprise de Lillian, 94 ans, lorsque la police est
venue frapper à sa porte par un beau dimanche matin pour lui
annoncer qu'un dirigeable gisait dans son jardin!
La
vieille dame, qui n'avait rien remarqué, a ouvert de grands yeux
lorsqu'elle a ouvert la porte de sa cour et qu'elle a découvert une
immense toile recouvrant sa table de jardin et sa volière.
C'est la météo qui a causé le crash du dirigeable, qui faisait la
publicité d'une marque de vodka dans le ciel de l'Ohio. De violents
orages ont fait tomber l'appareil qui, heureusement, n'a pas fait de
dégâts.
Lillian, loin d'être fâchée par l'incident, a déclaré que
c'était une chance d'avoir un dirigeable dans son jardin. "Je
ne m'attendais pas à en voir un sur le sol. Je n'en ai vu que dans
le ciel! C'est vraiment un événement d'avoir un dirigeable dans
votre jardin. J'ai regardé par la fenêtre et j'ai dit 'Wow'!",
a expliqué la vieille dame pleine d'enthousiasme, rapporte
HALE-D
unmanned airship's first flight cut short July
28, 2011
AKRON,
Ohio, 28 July 2011. U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin officials launched
their unmanned
airship -- the High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator --
for the first time. The aircraft reached an altitude of about 32,000
feet, however, a technical problem prevented the airship
from attaining its target altitude of 60,000 feet forcing the HALE-D
team to terminate the flight.
The
aircraft descended without incident to a predetermined landing zone
in southwestern Pennsylvania. Lockheed Martin officials are
coordinating with state and local authorities to recover the airship. Company
officials say that "no injuries or damage were experienced
during this landing in a heavily wooded area."
"While
we didn't reach the target altitude, first flights of new
technologies like HALE-D also afford us the ability to learn and
test with a mind toward future developments," says Dan Schultz,
vice president ship and aviation systems for Lockheed Martin's
Mission Systems & Sensors business.
The
unmanned airship was being used to demonstrate technologies on its
flight such as communications links, launch and control of the
airship, solar array electricity generation and remote piloting
communications and control capability.
The
solar-powered HALE-D is designed to hover 12 miles above the earth's
surface for extended periods of time. Lockheed Martin is in the
process of recovering the airship and will conduct a full evaluation.
The
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic
Command (SMDC/ARSTRAT) is the program office that contracted with
Lockheed Martin to develop the High Altitude Airship program.
The
airship will be a stationery long-term overhead platform for a
telecommunications relay system.
Giant
Spy Blimp Battle Could Decide Surveillance’s Future 6
July 2011
How
many giant experimental spy blimps does the military need over
Afghanistan, exactly?
That’s
one of many questions the Senate Armed Services Committee is asking
after an intramilitary battle has erupted over what many expect to
be the future of aerial surveillance. The Army and the Air Force
each have their own football field-sized airships in the works; the
Senate panel wants to know why it should pay for both — especially
as the Air Force seems fickle about its model and keeps changing the
spy sensors on board. Legislators are asking: What gives?
This
is more than some obscure bureaucratic hair-pull. The answer to
those questions — and the winners of those fights — could
determine the direction of U.S. intelligence-gathering for years to
come.
For
the first time in 25 years, a fleet of blimps darted across the
Manhattan skyline in the Great Blimp Race of 2011. Perhaps darted is
too strong – maybe floated or wobbled would be more appropriate.
DirectTV, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield and Hangar One Vodka’s
blimps participated in the race from the Statue of Liberty all the
way to Midtown Manhattan. As I write this, official results have not
been published, but from my Brooklyn vantage point it looked as
though DirecTV had a definite lead with Hangar One trailing just
behind the Horizon Blimp.
Bientôt
un dirigeable dans le ciel de Paris 23.06.2011
Le
prototype de dirigeable nouvelle génération a été dévoilé hier
au Salon du Bourget. Il pourrait voler à l’été 2012
au-dessus des voies sur berge.
Petit
à petit, le rêve devient réalité. Lancé il y a plus de quatre
ans, le projet de réinventer le dirigeable en Ile-de-France s’est
incarné hier au Salon du Bourget. Pour la première fois, le
prototype mis au point par les équipes de l’ENS Cachan et le
collectif de chercheurs Dirisoft (financé par la mairie de Paris et
le conseil régional d’Ile-de-France) a été dévoilé.
Le
premier vol officiel pourrait avoir lieu l’année prochaine
au-dessus des voies sur berge parisiennes quand elles seront rendues
aux piétons.
Exemplaire
de test scientifique, le MC 500 n’est pas spectaculaire :
son enveloppe a une capacité de 500 m3 et il mesure 22 m
de long, un « petit format ». « Mais il nous sert
à mettre au point notre projet de dirigeable nouvelle génération,
de 2 000 m3, qu’on espère mettre en service rapidement »,
explique Hervé Kuhlmann, patron du projet à l’ENS Cachan. Sans
pilote, propre grâce à sa pile à combustible, facile à
construire, ce dirigeable multi-usages pourra effectuer une grande
variété de missions : surveillance de la circulation, mesures
de pollution de l’air, campagnes de photographie…
« Ce
projet, c’est un peu l’éloge de la lenteur, s’enthousiasme
Jean-Louis Missika, adjoint (PS) au maire de Paris en charge de
l’innovation. Au Bourget, on voit des bolides hypersoniques,
mais Paris a besoin d’être survolé pour des tas d’usages, avec
des engins propres, fiables et silencieux. Récemment, un dirigeable
ancienne génération a survolé Paris et je vous garantis que le
bruit est très gênant. »
Les
chercheurs ont réussi un véritable tour de force. Depuis les années 1930
et la fin des Zeppelin, le savoir-faire des dirigeables s’était
perdu. « On a voulu intégrer les leçons du passé mais aussi
repartir de zéro et tout réinventer, explique Hervé Kuhlmann. Les
dirigeables du futur seront des concentrés d’innovation. »
Principal changement : le nouveau dirigeable aura une capacité
de transport 5 fois supérieure aux anciens. « Avec des
dirigeables de 500000 m3 et 250 m de long, on pourra
transporter des morceaux de fusée Ariane ou d’Airbus, des pylônes
d’éoliennes. Seul le dirigeable peut faire ça à des coûts très
faibles. »
Pour
l’instant, les exemplaires de transport sont loin d’être achevés.
Mais la mairie de Paris, qui finance le projet à hauteur de 200000 €,
espère organiser le premier vol public à l’été 2012.
L'ENS
Cachan au Salon du Bourget du
20 juin 2011 au 26 juin 2011
L'École
Normale Supérieure de Cachan participera au 49e Salon International
de l’Aéronautique du Bourget qui se tiendra du 20 au 26 juin
prochain. Venez découvrir un tout nouveau moyen de transport: le
dirigeable MC500.
L'ENS
Cachan, en partenariat avec Dirisoft Recherche, présentera un moyen
de transport basé sur un système aérostatique vectorisé : il
s'agit d'un dirigeable de nouvelle génération, le modèle réduit
MC500 (500 m3).
Dirisoft
Recherche a pour mission de fédérer des unités de recherche française,
définir une politique scientifique et participer à la promotion du
vecteur "dirigeable". Le projet implique, entre autres,
deux laboratoires de l'École :
le
SATIE
(Systèmes et applications des technologies de l'information)
qui met en place une thèse de doctorat basée sur l'hybridation de
la motorisation des dirigeables (pile à combustible, batterie,
moteur électrique et groupe électrogène, afin d'optimiser au
mieux les systèmes de propulsion) ;
Northrop:
LEMV On Track For 1st Flight This Year June 22nd, 2011 | Paris
Air Show 2011
By
BRADLEY PENISTON • PARIS — On June 11, Northrop Grumman
partially inflated the three-fabric bag that will help lift its LEMV
airship on a first flight later this year, said Alan Metzger, the
company’s vice president and integrated program team leader of
LEMV and airship programs.
It
was an unofficial milestone on a program that has hit all of its
official ones, Metzger said. One year ago, the U.S. Army signed
Northrop to a $517 million deal to build three lighter-than-air
(LTA) surveillance vehicles and provide up to five years of support.
The
largest airship built in a half-century, the 300-foot LEMV is
designed to loft a 2,500-pound payload up to 30,000 feet for three
weeks at a time, he said. In April, the carbon-fiber composite frame
was largely complete; in May, the airship’s German Centurion
engines arrived for testing.
Metzger
said Northrop will deliver the first LEMV by year’s end, and the
Army to declare it initially operationally capable soon thereafter.
If
that happens, the airship will have gone from concept to flying in
18 months.
Goodyear
Blimp Bursts Into Flames and Crashes, Killing Pilot
June 14th
A
Goodyear blimp burst into flames Sunday evening in the western
region of Germany, killing the pilot, while three passengers were
able to survive the accident, local media reported.
Spiegel
Online reported that fires broke out in both engines of the blimp as
it was attempting to land in the town of Reichelsheim, in the
district of Wetteraukreis, which is located in Hesse. The airship
was being operated by tire company Goodyear.
According
to reports, the Australian pilot warned the three passengers, who
are all journalists, that the aircraft was about to crash and told
them to jump out of the cabin when the blimp was some two meters
(6.6 feet) above the ground.
After
the three journalists jumped from the airship, the blimp again rose
to a height of about 50 meters (165 feet) above the ground, possibly
because it had lost the weight of the passengers which jumped out.
However,
as the flames continued to intensify, the pilot was unable to regain
control over the airship. It crashed seconds later and a fire
completely engulfed the airship.
The
survivors include a press photographer and members of a TV crew,
which were taking aerial footage of a local festival, reports said,
adding that there had been a scent of fuel in the cabin prior to the
accident. The journalists managed to take pictures as the airship
came down.
It
was not immediately clear what caused the accident, but German
authorities have launched an investigation to determine the cause.
Goodyear
Blimp Program Commits to Future with New Zeppelin Airships
3
may 2011
AKRON,
Ohio, May 3, 2011 – Goodyear and blimps. Two things that go
together like America and apple pie.
And
that long-standing tradition continues thanks to a new agreement
with German zeppelin manufacturer ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik –
to supply The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company with airships well
into the next decade.
"The
Goodyear blimp is one of the most recognizable brand icons in the
world. An event isn't considered truly special unless the
Goodyear blimp is there to provide aerial coverage," said
Richard J. Kramer, Goodyear chairman, chief executive officer and
president. "I am pleased this investment will ensure that
future generations will have the opportunity to experience the joy
of seeing the Goodyear blimp grace the skies."
During
its long operational history, Goodyear has built and operated more
than 300 airships – including two large rigid airships the U.S.S.
Macon and U.S.S. Akron.
"Our
current airships are approaching the end of their lifecycle, and we
saw this as an opportunity to take the next evolutionary step in our
airship program," said Nancy Jandrokovic, Goodyear’s director
of Global Airship Operations. "Throughout the history of blimps,
Goodyear has been an innovative leader. With Goodyear and Zeppelin
working together again, we believe a new standard is about to
set."
The
Zeppelin LZ N07 – 101 model airships will be built with Zeppelin
and Goodyear airship teams at Goodyear’s Wingfoot Lake Airship
Hangar near Akron, Ohio. Construction on the first airship is
scheduled to start in 2013 and begin operating in 2014.
Le
Blimp de GoodYear arrive en France pour le lancement de la «
Mission Sécurité » début avril et sillonnera la région
parisienne pendant une quinzaine de jours. Des vols seront organisés
pendant toute cette période depuis l’aérodrome de la Ferté-Alais
(Cerny) en région parisienne. Il accompagnera les automobilistes
sur la route de leurs vacances pendant l’été. Selon le
calendrier prévisionnel, il débutera son parcours à Biarritz le
11 juillet 2011 pour le terminer le 07 août à Saint-Tropez, après
avoir effectué un tour de France.
Etape 1 :Biarritz Animations 12
&13 juillet 2011
Etape 2 : Tarbes Animations 14/07/2011
Etape 3 : Bordeaux Animations les 16 et 20 juillet du 16 au
20/07/2011
Etape 4 : La Baule Animations les 23 et 24 juillet du 23 au
24/07/2011
Etape 5 : Tours Animations 28/07/2011
Vol Tours – Paris Survol des châteaux de la Loire 29/07/2011
Etape 6 : Paris Animations 30/07/2011
Vol Paris – Avignon via Lyon Survol des aires d’autoroute du 1er
au 4 août 2011
Etape 7 : Avignon Animations 05/08/2011
Etape 8 : Saint-Tropez Animations 07/08/2011
he
only lighter-than-air (LTA) platform currently in the Defense
Department aviation inventory landed at NAS Jacksonville April 1 to
join the Centennial of Naval Aviation celebration during the
Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force (MPRF) Symposium.
Assigned to Navy Test and Evaluation Squadron (VXS) One, in
conjunction with Naval Research Laboratory and Naval Air Systems
Command (NAVAIR), the MZ-3A airship represents a return of an
airship to naval aviation.
Homeported at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, the
MZ-3A is used as an airborne laboratory for military and other
government agencies’ science and technology experiments.
“The airship’s slow airspeed and low vibration are qualities
that make the MZ-3A a useful platform for experiments,” said
NAVAIR Naval Air Warfare Division Public Affairs Officer Billy Ray
Brown.
“Its reconnaissance capabilities were used during the 2010
Deepwater Horizon crisis response, when it was dispatched to the
Gulf of Mexico to assist with oil tracking and recovery
coordination,” added Brown.
Sanswire
unveils new unmanned airship 'Argus One' March
29, 2011
Sanswire
Corp., a developer of lighter-than-air unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
and related technologies, announced today that it has unveiled the
Company's new UAV -- "Argus One." The introduction of
Argus One follows the Company's recent filing of a provisional
patent application in the United States for the new airship design
and illustrates the uniqueness of the Company's UAV design. Argus
One, named after the Greek god Argus, the all-seeing god with one
hundred eyes, was designed to meet certain requirements for
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) applications for
the US military and other governmental agencies. Argus One provides
governmental and commercial solutions to a UAV market expected to
exceed $62 billion by 2015.
Skunk
Works P-791 airship revived as civil cargo-lifter 23/03/11
Less
than a year after losing a major US Army order, Lockheed
Martin will revive and scale-up the P-791 hybrid airship to
carry at least 20t of cargo under a new contract signed by a
Canada-based commercial start-up.
Aviation
Capital Enterprises of Calgary has ordered the first airship, which
is rebranded the SkyTug, for delivery from Lockheed's Skunk Works
division in 2012, says founder Kirk Purdy.
"We're
actually well along into the design of a 20t lifter," Purdy
says. "The system requirements are close to frozen for that."
While
the first SkyTug will be demonstrated next year under an
experimental license to potential buyers, Lockheed will deliver a
second hybrid airship to Aviation Capital in late-2012 for launching
certification tests with the US Federal Aviation Administration,
Purdy says.
A
l’heure où le Japon tente désespérément d’éviter une
catastrophe nucléaire majeure et que le débat sur l’avenir du
nucléaire en France déchaîne toutes les passions, Paris mesure sa
radioactivité résiduelle. Mais rien à voir avec l’accident de
Fukushima
L’opération
était prévue de longue date. Et ce n’est qu’un simple hasard,
si elle tombe en même temps que le drame qui secoue le Japon. Quoi
qu’il en soit, depuis le début de la semaine dernière, un
dirigeable, un Zeppelin, quadrille la capitale à la recherche du
moindre taux de radioactivité. Cette cartographie de Paris est
effectuée régulièrement pour le compte du Secrétariat Général
de la Défense et de la Sécurité Nationale. Mais c’est la première
fois au monde, qu’elle est réalisée avec un dirigeable.
S’il
est peu bruyant, ce Zeppelin ne passe pas inaperçu. Avec ses 75 mètres
de long et son volume de 8400 mètres cubes, il survole les toits
parisiens à une hauteur comprise entre 100 et 150 mètres. Cet
appareil vient de Friedrichshafen sur les bords du lac de Constance
en Allemagne et fief historique des Zeppelin.
Pourtant
dans l’esprit du grand public, le Zeppelin reste associé à
l’accident du Hindeburg, s’enflammant lors de son amarrage sur
l’aérodrome de Lakehurst près de New York en 1936. Car à l’époque,
les dirigeables étaient gonflés non pas à l’hélium mais à
l’hydrogène, très inflammable.
Après
Paris, le Zeppelin NT doit effectuer la même opération à
Strasbourg, la semaine prochaine. D’un coût cinq fois inférieur
à celui d’un hélicoptère, Nersi Razavi pense pour ce Zeppelin,
à d’autres missions, surveillance des villes, de pollutions
diverses, vols touristiques ou campagnes publicitaires, peut-être
le renouveau du dirigeable.
Nersi
Razavi président de la société Airshipvision qui a affrété ce
dirigeable.
Le
dirigeable a commencé ses mesures à La Défense France
3.fr le 13/03/2011 | 17:33
Le
dirigeable chargé de faire des mesures de radioactivité et de
pollution survolait Paris dimanche
Un
ballon dirigeable survoler Paris à basse altitude. Il naviguera pendant
une semaine afin de mesurer la radioactivité de la capitale.
Ce ballon transporte des capteurs capables de mesurer la
radioactivité ambiante, qu'elle soit d'origine naturelle ou
artificielle.
PARIS
— Un ballon dirigeable va survoler Paris à basse altitude à
partir de samedi et pendant une semaine afin de mesurer la
radioactivité de la capitale, a annoncé vendredi la préfecture de
police de Paris (PP).
"Ce
ballon transportera des capteurs capables de mesurer la radioactivité
ambiante, qu'elle soit d'origine naturelle ou artificielle", a
expliqué la PP.
Ce
survol de la capitale, qui doit démarrer samedi "sous réserve
des conditions météorologiques", intervient dans le cadre
d'un programme de recherche scientifique "suivi par le Secrétariat
Général de la Défense et de la Sécurité Nationale (SGDSN)",
a précisé la PP.
Une
source proche du dossier a indiqué que les conditions météorologiques,
peu favorables pour le moment, pourraient entraîner un report du
lancement du ballon.
Cette
mission "permettra en outre de disposer d?une cartographie de référence
de la ville facilitant la détection ultérieure d?éventuelles
anomalies", a ajouté la PP.
L'altitude
du ballon dirigeable sera située entre 150 et 200 mètres.
Insolite: Un dirigeable
au-dessus de Paris (Paris.fr)
(PresseBox)
Berlin, 11.03.2011, Am heutigen Freitag stieg der Zeppelin NT
zur ersten Mission in dieser Saison in den Himmel auf. Noch vor
Beginn der Saison für Passagierflüge wird das Luftschiff als
Messplattform über Paris eingesetzt. Für die in 2012 geplanten
Forschungsmissionen soll im April 2012 ein zweites Luftschiff in
Betrieb genommen werden. Weitere Sondermissionen bis ins Jahr 2014
sind bereits im Gespräch und in der technischen Prüfung.
Vor dem Saisonbeginn für die Passagierflüge ist der Zeppelin NT
wieder auf einer Sondermission unterwegs. Um 9:00 Uhr startete der
Zeppelin NT heute zu einer Reise nach Paris. Dort ist er als
fliegende Messplattform über einen Zeitraum von fünf Tagen für
eine staatliche Behörde im Einsatz. Für diese Mission träg die
Luftschiffhülle auch eine neue Werbeaufschrift. Am 21. März wird
der Zeppelin NT in Friedrichshafen zurück erwartet. "Nach
Abschluss der Mission können wir über weitere Details berichten",
verspricht Dietmar Blasius, Leiter Sonderprojekte bei der ZLT
Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co. KG. Ab Freitag, den 25. März
2011, startet das Luftschiff dann wieder täglich zu Rundflügen über
dem Bodensee.
Goodyear
airships, more commonly known as ‘blimps’, have graced the skies
for more than 85 years and used to be a familiar sight across
the region, when they were based at Halfpenny
Green Airport, just west of Wolverhampton. They remain icons
for the brand — but have not been flown in the UK or in the rest
of Europe since 1999.Now the
tyre firm, which employs around 400 workers at its Wolverhampton
plant, has commissioned a new pair of blimps, Spirit of Safety I and
Spirit of Safety II.One will begin a UK tour later this month —
and will again be based at Halfpenny Green for the Midland leg,
in the first two weeks of April.Goodyear
Dunlop’s European president Arthur de Bok confirmed at the Geneva
Motor Show that the blimps were being brought back to promote a road
safety message.He said the firm’s market research suggested that
too many motorists lacked vital knowledge about road safety.
The new UK airship has been
constructed at Bedford and, at around 150ft in length, will be
smaller than the monster 200ft blimps that the firm continues to use
in the US.Power to manouevre the giant airship comes from a pair of
VW Beetle engines, while the familiar blue and yellow Goodyear
livery has to be laboriously attached to the outer layer of the
blimp using A4-sized pieces of material. Once complete it takes the
best part of a week to fill with helium.
The UK blimp will be have a crew
of two and be able to accommodate up to three passengers.
Hugues Despres, Goodyear European
brand director, said: “The Goodyear Blimp will take the lead on a
number of road safety initiatives as it becomes the focal point for
the firm’s consumer-based activities and events.”
Goodyear
has unveiled the first details of its eagerly awaited Safety Tour,
which marks the return of the famous Goodyear Blimps to Europe for
the first time since 1999.
From
the end of this month until October 2011, two of the famous airships
will visit 20 European countries. The campaign will be named ‘The
Goodyear Safety Tour’ highlighting the work of the tyre giant in
improving road safety
“In
each country visited by the Goodyear Blimps, we will take the lead
in promoting road safety messages using innovative campaigns, high
profile events and social media to engage with drivers and their
families. The Blimps will be the heroes of a tour that embraces road
safety initiatives across Europe” said Hugues Despres, Goodyear
Brand Director.
Over
the coming weeks, Goodyear will reveal full details of the road
safety initiatives and major events that will be promoted by their
aerial ambassadors, named ‘Spirit of Safety I’ and ‘Spirit of
Safety II’, in each country and today reveal the type of events
where the European public can get their first sighting of a Goodyear
Blimp for over a decade.
For
example, in Austria and Switzerland, The Goodyear Safety Tour will
take place during the summer school holiday season with a series of
road safety events, targeting families and young road users.
Across
Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, the blimp will be the
figurehead of a research study into the road safety attitudes of the
drivers in the three countries and Goodyear has agreed local
partnerships with verbeterjebuurt.nl (improve your neighborhood) and
speelstraten.be (safe play streets). Goodyear will be using their
Safety Tour website as a way for residents to highlight road safety
issues to these organisations.
In
Germany, a series of major, high profile events will play host to
the Goodyear Safety Tour with the Tour conducted in close
cooperation with renowned partners such as the AvD (automobile
club), Deutsche Verkehrswacht (safety initiative), the Federal
Ministry of Transport and the charity organisation “Ein Herz für
Kinder” (A Heart for Children)
In
the United Kingdom the Goodyear Safety Tour aims to bring road
safety to life. Surveys on the tour will raise awareness of the
Highway Code, in particular linking it to the importance of checking
tread depths and pressures. In October, Goodyear will run a set of
Road Safety Days teaching participants about safer driving –
overlooked by the guiding presence of ‘Spirit of Safety I’.
Over
the last decade, Goodyear Blimps have been ‘on tour’ in the USA
and China, but this tour marks the first European tour since 1999.
Between March and October, the Goodyear Blimp will visit 20
countries, with the tour starting in the UK later this month.
www.goodyearblimp.co.uk
Unmanned
Airship To Launch This Year February
2, 2011
Northrop
Grumman said this week it will launch a remotely piloted airship
designed for military use sometime this summer. The airship will be
more than 300 feet long and 70 feet tall, and capable of staying
aloft for more than three weeks at a time. The Long Endurance
Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) is designed for use by the Army as
a surveillance and reconnaissance platform. Alan Metzger, the leader
of Northrop Grumman's airship team, said the ship will be ready for
hull inflation in the spring and first flight by mid-to-late summer.
Test flights should be complete by the end of the year, and in 2012
the LEMV will participate in an Army Joint Military Utility
Assessment in an operational environment. "As you can imagine,
it's a very aggressive schedule to deliver from concept-to-combat in
[an 18-month] period," Metzger said.
The
LEMV system will provide "plug-and-play" payload
capability for military missions, Metzger said. "The system
rapidly accommodates next-generation sensors as emerging field
requirements dictate, and will provide increased operational utility
to battlefield commanders," he said. "The LEMV system
provides a high level of fuel efficiency ... it utilizes
approximately 3,500 gallons of fuel for the air vehicle to remain
aloft for a 21-day period of service, that's approximately $11,000
at commercial prices." Northrop Grumman's industry team
includes Hybrid Air Vehicles, Ltd., of the United Kingdom, Warwick
Mills, ILC Dover, AAI Corporation, and SAIC. Northrop Grumman will
lead the flight and ground control operations for the unmanned
vehicle to safely take off and land in worldwide operations. The
Army has reportedly invested $517 million in the project, which will
produce three airships.
Northrop
Grumman completes CDR for LEMV hybrid airship
WAPA)
- Northrop Grumman's program for the development of a new hybrid
airship -LEMV, Long Endurance Intelligence Multi Vehicle- which can
be operating in the skies up to 21 days, for US Army, is going on.
Last week, and exactly on February 1, 2011, the American company
announced that it has completed the fourth step in the development
of the aircraft, consisting of the CDR, Critical Design Review,
which according to vice-president of the corporation and integrated
program team leader of LEMV and airship program Alan Metzger "Provided
an in-depth review of the complete system design of the program
giving us the opportunity to assess where we are in our development
and air vehicle production".
Metzger also explained what will be the next stages in the program
for the next ten months: "We'll have hull inflation in the
spring and first flight of the airship test article by phase, we
expect to transition to a government facility and conduct our final
acceptance long endurance flight just before year's end. In early
2012, LEMV will participate in an Army Joint Military Utility
Assessment in an operational environment".
A
Maryland company has relocated to Kennedy Space Center with the
intention of refining and selling its 111-foot unmanned airship,
adding another player to an economic niche that could help the move
the county beyond the loss of the space shuttle program.
Sanswire
Corp. opened an office Dec. 15 near Space Florida's offices at the
KSC Visitor Complex. It will have just a handful of people on staff
initially but could employ dozens of engineers and technicians if
and when buyers come forward or government funding is secured.
"The
faster the orders come in, the quicker we'll ramp up the staff. I
think there's a plethora of talented people in this area," CEO
Glenn Estrella said, noting that the skilled work force was a factor
in the relocation.
"Just
in the hallways you see retired astronauts and folks who have been
at NASA for generations," he said.
The
STS-111 is an 111-foot long, lighter-than-air unmanned aerial
vehicle, or UAV, that could provide days' of inexpensive
surveillance or operational support at a fraction of the cost of a
satellite.
Space
Florida President Frank DiBello said he believes the fledgling
company could help lure other unmanned aerial vehicle development
companies to KSC, which could generate much-needed high-tech jobs.
"By
having them operate and fly out of the Cape we become a center of
operations and applications development," DiBello said. "It
will attract other UAV companies and mission providers. It's part of
a larger initiative on our part to increase the number and kind of
vehicles flying from the Cape."
Lockheed
Martin's is working on the P791 Hybrid Air Vehicle.
It can be designed as an unmanned or manned intelligence gatherer or
transport vehicle. As an eye in the sky, this remarkable airship can
stay aloft for up to three weeks at an altitude of 20,000 feet.
Loaded with cameras, infrared sensors, communications relays, and
other payloads, the Hybrid Air Vehicle can provide American and
allied forces a clear picture of the battlefield. As a transport
vehicle, the Hybrid Air Vehicle can be sized to move equipment and
troops cost effectively to unimproved forward areas.
Airship
is training Navy pilots, not covering sports
AVON
PARK - Highlands County residents may have wondered if there was big
sporting event going on with the recent batch of blimp sightings.
Turns
out it's a U.S. Navy blimp, though, and a Maryland-based company is
using it to train U.S. Navy pilots to fly the airship.
The
178-foot long, 55-foot high and 45-foot wide airship, temporarily
housed at the Avon Park Executive Airport, is hard to miss.
The
Navy has found a lot of uses for the airships and they are trying to
bring them back into service, said Jonathan Perry, assistant crew
manager with Integrated Systems Solutions Inc.
"Most
of us have come from the commercial world where we did sporting
events in the air with the same type of airships," he said.
"We are refamiliarizing them [Navy] with the knowledge to
operate them and use them, and training their pilots because our
pilots are trained and have many, many years of flight hours."
The
U.S. Army and U.S. Navy used blimps for coastal patrol and to escort
coastal convoys during World War II. Military use of blimps ceased
in 1962, but new designs and new surveillance technology has renewed
interest in the airships.
The
Navy airship flew three days to Avon Park, making three stops, from
the Naval Air Engineering Station at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
With
its two turbo-propeller 280 horsepower engines, the airship has a
cruising speed of 30 knots and typically flies at 1,500 feet,
according to Perry.
The
airship is non-rigid with no framework like the old zeppelins. Its
envelope, which is a type of Kevlar, is filled with helium not
hydrogen, he noted.
A
crew of 17 followed the airship and its two pilots by road in a
caravan of vehicles including: a fuel truck, lift mast truck, an SUV,
a van and three trailers.
When
they left New Jersey on Dec. 19, it was 17 degrees with 12 inches of
snow on the ground, Perry noted.
A
fixed-wing pilot usually needs nine to 12 months of flight training
in an airship, which is operated with cables and pulleys and no
hydraulics, Perry said. "It's a workout; it's a job flying that
thing; you go up there for three or four hours and you are ready to
stop."
Landing
is the most challenging part of flight, Perry said.
The
ground crew lines up in a V with four men grabbing each of two ropes
that hang from the front of the aircraft. A man on each side of the
gondola (pilots' cockpit) holds onto a rail.
With
the engines still running, they walk it toward a mast on which a man
has climb who secures a nipple on the front of the ship with locks
on the mast.
Lead
bags are used to ballast the ship depending on the temperature and
how many people are on board.
About
every two months the airship may need some helium, which is released
in measured amounts when the envelope expands due to changes in the
weather, Perry said. A tanker truck is called in to resupply the
lighter-than-air gas.
The
airship is scheduled to take off today at 1:30 p.m. for a two-hour
flight, Perry said. The blimp will be in Avon Park for another month.
"The
government is starting to see there are a lot of useful things for
airships," Perry said. "I think we will see airships back
in the flow of things."
Goodyear
airships, more commonly known as ‘blimps’, have graced the skies
for more than 85 years and used to be a familiar sight across
the region, when they were based at Halfpenny
Green Airport, just west of Wolverhampton. They remain icons
for the brand — but have not been flown in the UK or in the rest
of Europe since 1999.Now the
tyre firm, which employs around 400 workers at its Wolverhampton
plant, has commissioned a new pair of blimps, Spirit of Safety I and
Spirit of Safety II.One will begin a UK tour later this month —
and will again be based at Halfpenny Green for the Midland leg,
in the first two weeks of April.Goodyear
Dunlop’s European president Arthur de Bok confirmed at the Geneva
Motor Show that the blimps were being brought back to promote a road
safety message.He said the firm’s market research suggested that
too many motorists lacked vital knowledge about road safety.
WAPA)
- Northrop Grumman's program for the development of a new hybrid
airship -LEMV, Long Endurance Intelligence Multi Vehicle- which can
be operating in the skies up to 21 days, for US Army, is going on.
AVON
PARK - Highlands County residents may have wondered if there was big
sporting event going on with the recent batch of blimp sightings.