Maiden flight of giant helium-filled airship postponed [View all]
Source: Associated Press
Maiden flight of giant helium-filled airship postponed
Jill Lawless, Associated Press
Updated 3:16 pm, Sunday, August 14, 2016
SHORTSTOWN, England (AP) — The makers of a blimp-shaped, helium-filled airship billed as the world's biggest aircraft postponed its maiden flight at the last minute on Sunday.
The 302-foot- (92-meter-) long Airlander 10 was due to take off from an airfield 45 miles (73 kilometers) north of London on the first in a series of test flights.
Stephen McGlennan, chief executive of Hybrid Air Vehicles, said the airship had "a slight technical issue" and there's not time to fix it before darkness fell.
. . .
The aircraft was initially developed for the U.S. military, which planned to use it for surveillance in Afghanistan. The U.S. blimp program was scrapped in 2013, and since then the airship's developer has sought funding from government agencies and individual donors.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Giant-helium-filled-airship-due-to-make-maiden-9141747.php
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