MA-1 Ardath

MA-1 Ardath was a two-seat impact airship developed in Australia in the late 1970s .

The airship was 26.82 m (88 ft) long, had a diameter of 6.71 m (22 ft) and sailed in Australia in 1977 and 1978. It was developed by MANtainer Pty Ltd near Essendon Airport near Melbourne . Two snowmobile motors with 33 kW (45 PS) each were used as drive . They drove two wooden propellers which, translated by a toothed belt , ran at half the engine speed.

The case was manufactured by Aerochute Industries Pty Ltd in Victoria / Australia.

In Australia the airship was registered under the manufacturer: Airship Developments Australia Type: ADA 340 A, year of construction: 1976, designation: Maintainer MA-1 "Ardath".

The prototype of the airship MA-1 was bought by a Texan consortium in late 1978, where it was further developed and added additional flight hours.

It was registered there in 1979 by the FAA under the designation N1025K.

Web links

• www.ahausa.com/gallery.html Ardath at Advanced HYBRID Aircraft (domain no longer used on November 30, 2014)