The world’s largest airship is unveiled: Huge plane, backed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, is 120 meters long – almost twice as long as a Boeing 747
The world’s largest airship has been unveiled, as the massive Pathfinder 1 begins its first round of testing.
At 121.9 meters long, this gigantic hot air balloon is almost twice as long as a Boeing 747-8 quadjet, the world’s longest aircraft.
The hot air balloon uses approximately one million cubic feet of helium and twelve electric motors to take off vertically and reach speeds of up to 75 mph.
The massive airship was created by LTA Research, a company backed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
Their makers say these types of craft could one day reduce the carbon footprint of aviation and shipping.
The Pathfinder 1 dwarfs other aircraft at almost twice the length of the Boeing 747-8, the current longest aircraft in the world
Using its 12 electric motors, the Pathfinder 1 can take off vertically and reach speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour
The Pathfinder 1 is the largest aircraft produced since the 800-foot-long Hindenburg went up in flames in 1937.
It is the size of three Boeing 737s and even dwarfs the Statolaunch aircraft used to launch rockets into orbit.
While the Hindenburg was filled with highly flammable hydrogen, the Pathfinder 1 uses safe, non-reactive helium stored in 13 airbags.
As the price of helium fluctuates due to shortages, filling Pathfinder 1 could cost between $250,000 (£197,877) and $1 million (£791,500).
Each of the 13 rip-stop nylon bags is held in place by a skeleton of 10,000 carbon fiber reinforced posts and 3,000 titanium hubs.
LTA Research says it uses advanced lidar technology to continuously monitor gas levels in the balloon.
The entire frame is then wrapped in a synthetic material called Tedlar, which LTA Research claims is resistant to UV light and fire.
Featuring technology adapted from drones, the Pathfinder 1 will also be surprisingly easy to fly, requiring only one pilot at any time using a ‘fly by wire’ joystick system.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has backed the creation of the mega-blimp, which it is hoped will make flight more carbon-friendly and play a role in delivering emergency aid
Unlike the better-known Hindenburg hot air balloon, the Pathfinder 1 uses safe, non-flammable helium instead of the dangerous hydrogen previously used
Although the Pathfinder 1 can carry tons of cargo hundreds of miles in a day, it can currently only hover a few feet above the ground.
On LinkedIn, the airship’s designers said: “In the coming weeks and months, the LTA Research team will subject the proof-of-concept airship Pathfinder 1 to rigorous testing to ensure safety and reliability.”
Since receiving a special airworthiness certificate in September, the Pathfinder 1 has conducted the first stages of test flights at Moffet Field, Palo Alto Airport and parts of San Francisco Bay.
On September 8, Pathfinder 1 made its first test flight, remaining tethered to a mobile tripod and staying just above the ground the entire time.
Future tests will allow the vessel to reach a height of 450 meters and travel across the waters of the bay.
The Pathfinder 1 has been in development since 2016 and LTA Research says it is currently working on developing an even larger aircraft, the Pathfinder 3.
The Pathfinder 1 completed its first test flight on September 8, hovering just a few feet above the ground and remaining tethered the entire time
The company’s goal is to have a fleet of different airships that can be used in transporting cargo or passengers, or in delivering emergency humanitarian aid.
On the LTA Research website, the company writes that the Pathfinder 1’s landing gear uses “a strong damper and wheels that have proven themselves for heavy loads such as water or emergency machinery.”
It adds: “This landing gear is ready for humanitarian missions.”
Google co-founder Sergey Brin is also involved in funding a nonprofit called Global Support and Development, which provides disaster relief.
The company was founded in 2015 after Brin deployed medics with his own superyacht in the aftermath of a cyclone in the South Pacific.
LTA Research says its blimps can provide emergency relief in places where disasters have destroyed roads and airports
The makers of Pathfinder 1 acknowledge that airships won’t solve air travel’s current problems, but say they have an important role to play.
“I don’t see airships replacing aircraft, but I do see a niche for airships to be part of the transportation architecture that reduces the carbon footprint of air travel,” said Alan Weston, CEO of LTA Research.
“What excites me about what we’ve done so far is that we’ve shown ourselves, and we hope to show the rest of the world, that we can scale in size and productivity.” Weston told TechCrunch.
LTA Engineering is also not the only company investing in zeppelins as the future of air travel.
In September, French company Euro Airship announced ambitious plans to create a 500-foot-long (150 m) solar-powered aircraft.
The ‘whale-shaped’ Solar Airship One could travel through more than 25 countries without stopping, using solar energy and hydrogen.
MailOnline has contacted LTA Research for more information on costs and timeline.