Aeroscraft
| Aeroscraft | |
|---|---|
| http://www.jeccomposites.com/sites/default/files/styles/wide_teaser/public/2015/09/37/29880-46229986461148x515.jpg?itok=HMlwpyho | |
| Type: | Rigid airship for cargo transport and military tasks |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| Production time: |
in the trial phase |
Aeroscraft is the name of a transport airship project by the US company Aeros Corporation .
description
The project goes back to a now discontinued research grant from DARPA , which wanted to promote the development and production of hybrid airships with the Walrus- HULA project , which were supposed to transport up to 1,000 tons of cargo over a distance of up to 22,000 km.
The Eros Corporation continued its Aeroscraft project after funding expired. Initially planned is the construction of a model called the ML866, which will offer 20 tons of cargo capacity. In addition, future versions (ML868 and ML86X) should be able to transport loads of up to 60 or 500 tons.
In 2012 the company completed a scaled-down prototype. All Aerocraft airships are as rigid airships designed; they have a support frame made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic and aluminum . Eros chose a technically different path than the company Cargolifter AG , which pursued a similar business purpose, but had to file for bankruptcy in 2002 .
history
The Eros Corporation founder Igor Pasternak had the first plans to construct an airship to transport loads back in 1989.
The basis for the project was a study funded by DARPA, as was the case for the Lockheed Martin P-791 .
The ML866 project was presented to the public in 2007 at the 60th Annual Meeting of the National Business Aviation Association in Atlanta. In particular, a 1:48 scale model was presented there.
The company reached an important development milestone in April 2008, when the US American aviation authority FAA carried out type certification for the airship.
Aeroscraft prototype N866 HL
Eros has signed a contract with a rapid prototyping division of the US Department of Defense to build and test a scaled-down prototype of the Aeroscraft. The construction time of this prototype, which was co-financed by NASA and DARPA with 42.4 million dollars, was around four years.
In the course of this, an approximately 70 meters long and 16 ton heavy prototype called the Pelican was constructed. In the contract, the Pentagon defined four basic criteria that the airship had to meet:
- maneuvering of the airship on the ground independently of a ground crew ,
- Performing a vertical take-off process,
- Payload unloading without the simultaneous inclusion of counter ballast,
- various tests with the hull material of the airship.
In particular, the unloading of the payload without the simultaneous picking up of counterweight is a very demanding task, which has not been carried out in the history of airship travel. When unloading loads from an airship, the problem arises that the airship is much lighter with constant buoyancy without the previously carried load. Since an airship is supposed to float in a balanced manner at all times, the unloading of loads has so far only been possible with the simultaneous picking up of a counterweight at the same height. Otherwise the airship would gain altitude in an uncontrolled manner.
In conventional airships, this buoyancy compensation was implemented using a ballast water recovery system, although these systems have mostly not proven to be practical in practice. Cargolifter AG also faced this problem when developing the Cargolifter CL160 airship, but did not get beyond the first basic technical ideas for solving the problem.
Eros has developed a new method called Rigid-Aeroshell, Variable-Buoyancy (RAVB) (German rigid envelope, variable buoyancy ) to solve the problem of buoyancy compensation . A pump in the airship is used to pump the helium gas from the gas cells into pressurized containers made of composite material, or it is released from these into the gas cells, depending on how much lift the airship is to generate. As the helium is compressed, the airship loses its static lift and sinks. This initiates the landing process so that the payload can be picked up or unloaded on the ground. If, on the other hand, the compressed helium is released back into the gas cells, the airship gains lift, that is, it becomes lighter than the air it displaces and it rises.
The prototype of the Aeroscraft airship series was completed shortly before Christmas 2012 and has since completed its first taxiing tests within the company's own wooden airship hangar . Videos of these attempts have since been viewed on the Internet.
The first central task set by the Pentagon, autonomous maneuvers on the ground, has now been fulfilled and successfully tested by the company. An initial take-off and hovering of the airship within the hangar was also successfully tested several times in mid-January 2013.
The upcoming tests will continue to take place exclusively inside the airship hangar. It is envisaged that the airship should not lift more than 10 to 15 feet (about 3.0 to 4.5 meters) from the ground.
Possible tests outside the hangar are currently not planned for financial reasons. The company is looking for funding to do this.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eros showcased the Aeroscraft at the National Defense Transportation Association, 63rd Annual Forum and Exposition in Nashville, Tennessee ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Aeroscraft: The future of luxury travel? . CNET News . July 17, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
- ↑ Helene Laube: Air freight by zeppelin: Just let everything fly. Financial Times Deutschland, December 5, 2012, archived from the original on May 26, 2013 ; Retrieved January 8, 2013 .
- ↑ Company history on the company website
- ^ Mike Hanlon: The Walrus: the US Army contemplates building an aircraft the size of a football field. September 6, 2005, accessed January 4, 2013 .
- ↑ Aerocraft ML866: the ultimate corporate aircraft. gizmag, October 7, 2007, accessed January 4, 2013 .
- ↑ Anatol Johansen: Eros reinvents the zeppelin. Handelsblatt , November 15, 2007, accessed on February 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Noel McKeegan: Aeroscraft ML866 Milestone. April 7, 2008, accessed January 4, 2013 .
- ↑ DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS: Future Aerostat and Airship Investment Decisions Drive Oversight and Coordination Needs. United States Government Accountability Office, October 23, 2012, accessed February 7, 2013 .
- ↑ CBS Los Angeles: Unique Airship Designed For Massive Cargo Is Almost Ready For First Test Flight. January 5, 2013, accessed January 5, 2013 .
- ^ A b Graham Warwick: Eros Tests Pelican Variable-Buoyancy Airship. Aviation Week, January 8, 2013, accessed November 20, 2016 .
- ^ Philipp Hermanns: Organizational Hubris - Rise and Fall of a Celebrity Firm using the example of CargoLifter AG. Kölner Wissenschaftsverlag, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-942720-33-5 , p. 194 ff.
- ↑ Bill Sweetman: Pelican Demonstrator Aimed At Airlift. Aviation Week & Space Technology, October 15, 2012, accessed January 4, 2013 .
- ↑ Jesus Diaz: Not a Blimp, Not a Plane: The Gigantic Aeroscraft Is Ready, and It's Awesome. gizmodo.com, January 3, 2013, accessed January 4, 2013 .
- ↑ Aeroscraft moving on YouTube
- ^ New blimp-like aircraft could revolutionize disaster relief. (Video) Fox News, January 11, 2013, accessed January 13, 2013 .
