Hot Air Balloon Hang Glider Easter Drop April 2011

Hot Air Balloon Hang Glider Drop Easter 2011 - Day 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB1IH2CgGB4&feature=fvst

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB1IH2CgGB4&feature=fvst

Hot Air Balloon Hang Glider Drop Easter 2011 - Day 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFzwzXFX0O4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFzwzXFX0O4

balloon festivals and shows I will be attending in 2011

starting off in 2011 will be:

8-9 Jan 2011 - Icicle Balloon Meet (already attended) - http://www.icicle.org.uk/

29th April 2011 Royal Wedding Fly-out (already attended)  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WRBBAC/message/5608

Monday 2nd May 2011 - North Somerset Show - (attended)  http://www.nsas.org.uk/

20-22 May 2011 - Tiverton balloon festival, devon, uk - http://www.tivertonballoonfestival.co.uk/ - (Attended)

1-4 June 2011 - Uk Royal Bath and West Show - http://www.bathandwest.com/ - (Attended)

3-5 June 2011 - Uk Evesham Balloon Fiesta - http://www.eveshamhotairfest.com/ - (Attended)
10/12 June 2011 - the exclusive cup 2011 - http://www.exclusivecup.com/ - (Attended)

18th June 2011 pucklechurch fly-out  - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158950354158058 - (Cancelled)

18-19 June 2011 - Uk Kemble Air Show - http://www.cotswoldairshow.com/ (was somewhere else)

16-17 July 2011 - Uk Royal International Air Tatoo, Fairford (RIAT) - http://www.airtattoo.com/  - (Still to attend)
22 - 25 July Silverstone Classic Balloon Meet, northampton

22-31 July 2011 - (not now going, ive pulled out of going due to costs and money, i will go next time around for sure...I hope!) France Metz - Lorraine 2011 - http://www.pilatre-de-rozier.com/

11-14 August 2011 - Bristol Balloon Fiesta - http://www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk/

18-21 August 2011 - Northampton Balloon Fiesta - http://www.northamptonballoonfestival.co.uk/

2-4 Sept 2011 - Uk Tavistock Balloon Fiesta - http://www.westcountryballoons.com/

9-11 Sept 2011 Uk Grassroots (Sackville) Balloon Meet - http://www.grassrootsballooning.org.uk/

1-9 Oct 2011 - (want to go) USA Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - http://www.balloonfiesta.com/

too see all these dates go to http://www.ballooncalendar.com/ or http://www.flyingadverts.co.uk/balloonevents.htm

NEW FOLLOW UP TO FIRE IN THE SKY HOT AIR BALLOONING, ALSO OLD FOOTAGE OF THE ORIGINAL FIRE IN THE SKY!!!

HOT AIR BALLOON - FIRE IN THE SKY

PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAc2M4HCr78

PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyrAG-9W1AA&feature=related

FOLLOW UP TO FIRE IN THE SKY!!!

RISING STARS - BALLOONING DOCUMENTARY

PART 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVKuGY2woaQ&feature=related

PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFl-kW08w8I&feature=related

Also added on is recent ballooning activities of March and April 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFl-kW08w8I&feature=related

this was inflation the panasonic battery and flown from the maize field, near bath, march 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3ncKdeCFXs&feature=related

Blue Square bet shape balloon inflated at Cheltenham races March 2011 for the day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moEcEaxOgaA&feature=related

Avenue Q hot air balloon inflated and flown during march 2011!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-CB5J5PgqE&feature=related

A speeded up video(time lapse) of Phil hooper's balloon being inflated and flown somewhere in Corston April 2011

cross channel hot air balloon crossing Thurs AM 7th April 2011 - CRACKED IT!!!!

This years hot air balloon crossing over the English channel was completed this morning on Thursday 7th April 2011 they lifted off from lydden hill race circuit at around 7am Thurs 7th April 2011. here are some news/pics/vids

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6930000/newsid_6938900/6938928.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1
A paraglider has attempted to break the British altitude record by flying to a height of 10,000ft in a hot air balloon.
this web address is about a balloonist who jumped out of a balloon at 10,000ft and para-glided back down to earth in a world record attempt!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHiGXRe_WOc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHiGXRe_WOc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9_uAXkwJHI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9_uAXkwJHI

Another video from the cross channel crossing
this video is released by ExclusiveBallooning 
http://twitter.com/XBallooning
http://www.exclusiveballooning.co.uk/news
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUpqxE4infI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUpqxE4infI
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Exclusive-Ballooning/196620164777

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqupdSqF5WM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqupdSqF5WM

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/apr/07/hot-air-balloons-channel-record-bid#/?picture=373412441&index=5

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/apr/07/hot-air-balloons-channel-record-bid







http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12997822


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8434158/Up-and-away-hot-air-balloons-take-off-on-record-breaking-Channel-crossing.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1374332/Up-away-51-hot-air-balloons-cross-English-Channel-world-record-attempt.html

 This is the world record that 51 hot air balloonists set during Thurs 7th April 2011 in the morning launch from lydden hill race circuit in Kent at around 7am and to fly all way to France (Calais). they arrived yesterday evening after setting off from all over the place and descending on the lydden hill race circuit ready for a dawn morning launch.

Welcome to the 3RD Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta march 17th-20th 2011

This is the 3rd putrajaya hot air balloon fiesta - 17th - 20th March 2011

http://www.mmail.com.my/content/66800-putrajaya-balloon-fiesta-takes-3rd-year-running
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixography/5533664581/in/set-72157626284136710/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1HlujI1Qf8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeccvNgWjcU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1z8j4wza38

This video is in 3D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSHndtUj8vs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ_NiCU_-jQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4W5anFyVvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03_pqrBlwO0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EsGlWUQ3mI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ6x9x5FEfc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JI_5uT50FQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaScErcR8GY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CFfjobbNC4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McHO76zUYsU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0xCA9or3Ac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twDZavrpLX4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBeJ7iyzw_g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWllwEidWFE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iyKg4fT_eo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3F0jE9ORJU

music in this video is hot air balloon by owl city

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WhDGfqGjEU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-obAYKcKduE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk77NCezOQQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v0Y85Uko-s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iiw0cFe70Z4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBWMChkQNmQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeaPUVBpv-k

OMG Panic...Just for a moment!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Uj01nsgzU&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4W5anFyVvw&feature=player_embedded#at=21

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UhHFZGCf2A&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btBpND3ZsIk&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znkfz6gRoqg&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LIIImmsVl4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB4bngpsqg8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZCVKoGEHnM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A_6SQhexBQ


http://blog.malaysia-asia.my/2011/03/hot-air-balloon-putrajaya-2011-pictures.html

Coming soon - The Putrajaya hot air balloon fiesta 17-20th march 2011

Kuala Lumpur: Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon fiesta

THIRD PUTRAJAYA INTERNATIONAL HOT AIR BALLOON FIESTA 2011

Putrajaya readies for hot air balloon festival

The third Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta will take place in Putrajaya, Malaysia from March 17 – 20, 2011. The event will feature more than 20 balloonists from 13 countries, including the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, France, Thailand, and of course, Malaysia.

Chairman of the 3rd Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2011, Encik Khairudin Abd Rani said that, “Our objective is to create a multi racial–cultural event that promotes unity, with the theme: 1 WORLD, 1 MALAYSIA, 1 FIESTA.”

The highlight of the event will be the nightglow display of the hot air balloons. Since the event occurs after sunset, the balloons glow like huge light bulbs. A firework show will also take place. Other activities include hot air balloon rides, helicopter rides, water ball and sphere rides and children competitions.The four-day event will also showcase other flying events featuring para-motor, remote control planes and helicopters, aero models, and professional kite flying.

This year, the event is expected to see an increase in the number of attendees compared to years past. The inaugural and second fiestas, which were held in March 2009 and 2010, were estimated to have attracted 150-thousand and 250-thousand spectators respectively.

http://www.myballoonfiesta.com

RE-UPDATION ON NEW WORLD RECORD CROSS CHANNEL CROSSING 2011

This unique opportunity has now been extended throughout April as well so if march doesn't happen there is always April for the channel crossing to go ahead!!

http://www.airborneballoons.co.uk/cross_channel.php

Palletways World  Hot Air Balloon Record Palletways, Europe’s specialist provider of express distribution services for small consignments of palletised goods, is pleased to announce it is sponsoring a new hot air balloon world record attempt. From the 1st  to 31st March, seventy five hot air balloons from the UK and Europe will go on standby to fly across the channel from Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent. This unique event will take place once the Met office gives the all clear for take off. Briefing will take place at dawn on the day of the flight with a mid morning launch. Leading the flight will be the brand new, Palletways special shape, fire breathing dragon balloon. The balloon is over 100 ft high and can carry 3 passengers. Ian Sharpe, balloon pilot and organiser said: “This will be a fantastic and exciting event. This year is the 50th anniversary of the first modern hot air balloon flight and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate that than with an event like this.” Palletways said: “We are delighted to sponsor this event. It will be an amazing spectacle to see seventy five balloons flying across the channel. It also provides us with the perfect opportunity to raise money and awareness for our chosen charities, theRNLI, the RAF BF, the Halow Project and Marie Curie.   Steve Richards, Director of Airborne Balloon Flights Ltd and event organiser added: “Flying across the channel in a hot air balloon is a very special experience, both Ian and I did it in 2005 and it was such a brilliant flight we knew it was something we wanted to repeat. The fact that this will be a world record makes it extra special.”

Current Status:Balloon Flight Date: Probability: 6 March 2011 No prob before Wed 9 March. Poss slots Thurs/Fri. Will update Tues 8 Mar. http://www.airborneballoons.co.uk/cross_channel.php

NEW WORLD RECORD CROSS CHANNEL HOT AIR BALLOON CROSSING

we have a date set for this hot air balloon channel crossing from the UK to France it happens as its open to all anywhere between 1st march 2011 to 31st march 2011. details of this can be found here with news and a website link.

Palletways World Hot Air Balloon Record Palletways, Europe’s specialist provider of express distribution services for small consignments of palletised goods, is pleased to announce it is sponsoring a new hot air balloon world record attempt. From the 1st  to 31st March, seventy five hot air balloons from the UK and Europe will go on standby to fly across the channel from Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent. This unique event will take place once the Met office gives the all clear for take off. Briefing will take place at dawn on the day of the flight with a mid morning launch. Leading the flight will be the brand new, Palletways special shape, fire breathing dragon balloon. The balloon is over 100 ft high and can carry 3 passengers. Ian Sharpe, balloon pilot and organiser said: “This will be a fantastic and exciting event. This year is the 50th anniversary of the first modern hot air balloon flight and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate that than with an event like this.” Palletways said: “We are delighted to sponsor this event. It will be an amazing spectacle to see seventy five balloons flying across the channel. It also provides us with the perfect opportunity to raise money and awareness for our chosen charities, theRNLI, the RAF BF, the Halow Project and Marie Curie.   Steve Richards, Director of Airborne Balloon Flights Ltd and event organiser added: “Flying across the channel in a hot air balloon is a very special experience, both Ian and I did it in 2005 and it was such a brilliant flight we knew it was something we wanted to repeat. The fact that this will be a world record makes it extra special.”

Current Status:Balloon Flight Date: Probability: On standby from 1st March 2011 No slot likely before Wed 2 Mar

http://www.airborneballoons.co.uk/cross_channel.php

Im sure video and pics will be listed when its happened.
in mean time here are some pics when it last happened

petition against the close down of Basingstoke hot air balloon fiesta - hosted by MARK NEAL and CHRIS HAYDEN!!

http://marknealballooning.tumblr.com/post/3434204745/the-door-closes-on-balloons-over-basingstoke

Mark Neal Ballooning

RSS    ARCHIVE

The Blog Of Ballooning Matters By A Budding Hot Air Balloon Pilot.  

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

The Door Closes On Balloons Over Basingstoke
The popular event Balloons Over Basingstoke has been scrapped from the council’s event listing to be replaced by a cultural festival over a whole week long celebration. I who have been to the festival since i first found out about it back in 2001 am stunned that such a vibrant event with plenty of support has vanished. It proves no event is 100% safe. The years 2001-2006 saw great weather and most flights got away, but by 2007-2008 windy weather had put pest to the event and along with the foot n mouth outbreak nearby in surrey it had seen a shadow curse the event. 2009 saw new hope with some slots getting away Friday Am/Pm, Sunday Am/Pm with saturday being a damp affair. By 2010 A well advertised event had seen Heart Fm pull there finger out and support the event. http://www.heart.co.uk/berkshire/local/events/balloons-over-basingstoke/. Skypower who had run the event for some years taking on the realm from flying pictures had put alot of effort into the event, showcasing many of the Bpg Envelopes down the years ; Thomas(G-BXND), Financial Times (G-FTFT),Pete The Pylon (G-PYLN), many more. Churchill,Palletways,Nokia had seen there balloons attend the event and back in the late 90’s saw upto 60 balloons launch from the event, becoming one of the most popular events of its kind in the United Kingdom. The event which had seen some great arena entertainment over the years and expert commentary from the ballooning expert Trevor Graham. Heart Fm and 2 Ten Fm had put alot of effort into sustaining a event which would go onto make Basingstoke proud of. The famous friday nightglows would bring thousands of people into War Memorial Park to watch Balloons glow to music and fireworks. John Walls Funfair would attend the event every year and would attract thousnds to its rides..
2010 saw the final event and the massive advertising campaign had been welcomed by most and the event had 40 balloons booked in, but thats half the story the weather would have to help to make it a great weekend. The event which this year had been said to be going out to make all the stops to make sure it finished with a bang had seen a fresh lineup of funfair and also regular side stalls and bar area. Friday morning came and went with some balloons launching into the air with the press on the scene to witness Palletways new special shape balloon being operated by Christian Brown of Lindstrand balloons.. Video of that flight can be seen..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfS-JuFX4qE&feature=player_embedded. The weather couldnt hold out with drizzle and increasing winds putting hold to the evening flight with just 1 balloon being battled around for tethering and then the glow had 2 balloons being battered around these thankfully being go balloning’s shagged balloons. Saturday morning damp conditions and also upper winds being strong didnt help and flying was curtailed. During the morning the rain/showers was slow to move with heavy stuff mixed in. When i arrived at midday the clouds broke and there was some great sunshine and no-more rain by 5pm the fluffy clouds (cumulonimbus) had re-appeared and had seen the palletways round balloon g-ways getting caught in a gust and so the briefing came and then finished the announcement was met by anixious watchers who had there eyes on a shower cloud to the west. The next briefing was nerve wracking they put up one balloon to see what the wind was doing, 25 knots and the clouds around the region were decaying but some had some thermal stability and so therefore meant wasnt really great, another balloon decided to go and drop some parachutists.  The day had seen over 4 balloons tether including, pattern balloon,agfa white,maxwell house, palletways. Adventure balloons who had seen the briefing really wanted to go and so were really pushing phil hossack- flight director to give the go ahead, but safety got the better of them. Video and special section on adventure balloons at the event can be found here.. http://www.adventureballoons.co.uk/basingstoke-balloon-festival.html. Sunday saw ideal conditions clear skies and warm sunshine saw 20 balloons launch from the park on sunday morning and the palletways balloon tethered. During the day appearances from the beer bottle and thomas, before a 15 strong team of balloons ending the event on a strong end to the weekend and the event itself..

Its a sad end to amazing event which had run for over 15 years and seen millions of people attend it over the period and also the event had gone from a balloon meet to 2nd biggest in uk, with more people wanting to attend. The cancellation shows the instability of councils and funding for events like this, it goes down the same street as Oxford,Southampton,Northampton(Old One @Racecourse)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfS-JuFX4qE&feature=player_embedded

Save Balloons Over Basingstoke

As you may have heard Balloons over Basingstoke has been ended by Basingstoke Council.. to be replaced by a cultural event.. So we know its a almost impossible job to try and get it back but.. we want to show how popular this event was.. and will try our hardest http://marknealballooning.tumblr.com/post/3434204745/the-door-closes-on-balloons-over-basingstoke

Mark Neal Ballooning

marknealballooning.tumblr.com

The Door Closes On Balloons Over Basingstoke The popular event Balloons Over Basingstoke has been scrapped from the council’s event listing to be replaced by a cultural festival over a whole week long...

20 minutes ago ·  ·  · Share

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Balloons-Over-Basingstoke/147640755295204

the Zepplins make a return!!! dawn of a new age!!!

The pioneering Brits who are heralding the dawn of the new Zeppelin age

By PHIL ROBINSON

Last updated at 3:37 PM on 20th February 2011

• Comments (2)
• Add to My Stories

When the Hindenburg blew up in 1937, so did the airship industry. So why is Britain building a fleet of the world's biggest, for the Americans, in our old Zeppelin sheds?

A Hybrid Air Vehicles prototype; the first ships are due to be completed in 2012

2015: Regent’s Park International Airport

A line of limousines and taxis snakes its way into the Royal Park to deliver 300 well-heeled passengers and their smart luggage to the discreet air terminal. They are in no rush because the flight they are about to board to New York will take two days. 

Moored on the grass outside the terminal is a 600ft long behemoth, a vast Hybrid Air Vehicle. A cross between a balloon and an aircraft wing, this new-wave blimp is filled with non-flammable helium and air. Slung beneath is a vast passenger cabin akin to a miniature first-class cruise ship with dining rooms, a ballroom, bars and a casino.

For the same price as a club-class plane ticket, these 300 discerning travellers will eat, sip cocktails and dance as they float serenely across the Atlantic. 

There is no runway; there is no need. Once clearance is given for take-off, the captain disengages the hover cushions that suck the craft to the ground, directs the thrust of four 8,000hp engines down, and powers the ship up to 9,000ft. 

In 48 hours they will touch down in New York harbour, having burned just a fifth of the fuel used by an aeroplane. It’s a stress-free hop from central London to the centre of Manhattan, with no lengthy airport connections at either end, and no icebergs either.

The doomed R101 in one of the hangers

Airship travel has been a distant dream ever since a catastrophic fire in 1937 ripped through the  LZ-129 Hindenburg as it neared its mooring mast in New Jersey, killing thirty-five people on board and one man on the ground. 

Reporter Herbert Morrison’s vivid eye-witness testimony would become the industry’s epitaph: ‘It’s a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. It’s smoke, and it’s in flames now; and the frame is crashing to the ground… Oh the humanity!’ 

Could an industry dogged by tragedy and belonging to a bygone era finally have found the technology to cruise back into the mainstream? 

The American Department of Defense thinks so. They have just handed a £315 million contract to design and build the world’s largest flying object to a small British company based in Bedfordshire. Having beaten aviation giants Lockheed Martin, Hybrid Air Vehicles have just four months to build the belly and bones of the craft – the payload module, the fuel tanks, the four engines, the propulsion ducts and bow thrusters (the prototype is pictured on the previous pages).

If all goes to plan these parts will leave its secure manufacturing facility in May, be loaded on a vast Antonov cargo plane, and flown to Arizona where they will join up with the ‘envelope’ (ie, the balloon). 

Once assembly is complete, military technology giant Northrop Grumman will add the top-secret surveillance equipment and the vehicle will travel on its own power to a U.S. army base on the east coast of the United States. Once there the U.S. military will put the fully assembled 300ft long craft through its places, flying it with pilots and without. 

When it finally completes testing and trials in January 2012, it will leave the US and fly back across the Atlantic to the UK, the first time this has happened since the heyday of Zeppelins in the Thirties. 

Guided by a three-man crew, the giant ship will stay at a U.S. Army base here, ready to be deployed. It will be available for use in Afghanistan where it can be flown remotely, climbing to 20,000ft and circling for 21 days, an omniscient god perpetually surveying the battlefield and giving advance warnings of IED attacks and ambushes.

The Cardington airship hangars in Bedfordshire

A zeppelin in a war zone?

Testing has shown that bullets, even missiles pass directly through the envelope because of the incredibly low pressure. Reassuringly, the company insists it has come a long way from the technology of the Thirties. 

The 60 per cent helium and 40 per cent air mix replaces flammable hydrogen. And where the classic cigar-shaped Zeppelins struggled against the wind, hybrids use it in combination with their aerodynamic shape  to get more lift. They are helped by vectored thrust, like a Harrier jet, which directs the engine output downwards to provide vertical lift and allows them to take off carrying heavy payloads, even in high winds. They also burn less fuel than a plane while hauling more cargo and, with hovercraft-style landing gear, they don’t require an airport. They can even touch down on water.

The vast 800ft-long Cardington Airship Hangars in Bedfordshire are an eerie sight, dominating the skyline for miles around. Here history looms large.

In 1916 about 800 people worked at Cardington for Shorts Brothers, producing their first airship in 1918. In hard times after the war, the station was closed and construction abandoned, reopening again in 1924 as part of the Imperial Airship Service. 

It was in Cardington that the 777ft-long R101, the then biggest airship in the world, was built, and from here that it began its ill-fated final voyage at 6.24pm on Saturday October 4, 1930 bound for India; first planned stop Egypt.

R101 reached London by 8pm, crossed the Channel in two hours, and at midnight a final message went out: ‘15 miles SW of Abbeville speed 33 knots. Wind 243 degrees (West South West) 35 miles an hour. Altimeter height 1,500ft. Air temperature 51 Fahrenheit. Weather – intermittent rain. Cloud nimbus at 500 feet. After an excellent supper our distinguished passengers smoked a final cigar and having sighted the French coast have now gone to bed to rest after the excitement of their leave-taking. All essential services are functioning satisfactorily.’

Two hours later, R101 went into a steep dive, the nose hitting the ground at just 13.8mph. Then fire broke out, from which only eight of the 56 passengers and crew survived. Plans for more advanced and bigger airships were scrapped. After a brief resurgence during World War II when they made barrage balloons for the war effort, the Cardington sheds and the industry slid into decline.

Now, Cardington shed No 2 acts as a temporary home to Warner Brothers’ technicians. The cavernous space was just the job for a full-sized mock-up of Gotham  City for Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman series. The other largely derelict shed is out of bounds, a reminder of the industry’s capricious history.

How the new breed of Hybrid Air Vehicles would look over London's Olympic complex

But just as cruise ships survived the Titanic disaster, so some enthusiasts never gave up hope for the airship. Among them was Roger Munk, the epitome of a charismatic British engineering visionary. The idea for the Hybrid Air Vehicle was his; he spent much of his  40-year career designing and building airships, completing a number of ‘lighter than air’ projects for the American military. 

Yet his own work was haunted by the inherent danger of airships going up in flames. In 1995, a fire apparently caused accidentally during welding work set alight the Weeksville hangar in North Carolina. At half-a-mile long, it was the largest wood-construction building in the world. Supports for the 180-ton doors were being rebuilt when the fire took hold, burning the hangar to the ground and destroying his Sentinel 1000 blimp. 

Munk refused to give up. He decided to begin a new project creating a vehicle that would solve some of the problems inherent in airships, especially ground handling and ballast issues. He based his 15-man team in portable huts in the shadow of the Cardington sheds, and went back to the drawing board.

With a small beer tent as a hangar, Munk created the concept of a hybrid. The first prototype was flown in 2000. Though Munk was able to oversee the final perfection of his vision, he died of a heart attack in February 2010 – before the team heard news that they had won the U.S. military contract. 

The team now has 100 engineers and designers and the firm has ditched its draughty sheds for two brand new office buildings nearby. But if Hybrid Air Vehicles’ potential is taken up then the team hopes to begin manufacturing and storing the vehicles again in Cardington. 

The 50ft long prototype itself seems otherworldly. Almost as wide as it is long, it is surprisingly balloon-like to the touch. Even the most cynical observer cannot disguise the thrill of childlike wonder on feeling just how light this huge craft is. The pressure inside it is just 0.1 psi – a car tyre is between 20 and 40 psi.

CEO Gary Elliott, the man largely responsible for putting together the Northrop Grumman deal, says: ‘We took existing technologies and the concept of an airship, took a step back and thought – why don’t we do this and this differently, so that it projects itself through the air?’

The Hybrid Air Vehicles' flight simulator

In a nearby office a team of flight-control specialists occupies a meeting room. In the corner of another office sits a full-size mock-up of the cockpit, constructed entirely from cardboard. The cabinetry is the work of the team’s 70-year-old handyman. 

Pilots sit here and try out all possible instrumentation combinations to find the most practical configuration. Who needs  virtual reality when you have a few old computer boxes and some photocopied instruments?

A few footsteps away, though, there is a concession to technology – a large simulator which operates using four screens linked to four networked, high-end gaming PCs. Veteran airship pilots, recruited from across the industry, with experience flying blimps and seaplanes, are teaching the computers how to react to various flying situations, so that when a remote operator issues the ship with a command, the automated system will be able to move the controls in the same way as a human pilot; in other words, they are teaching it to fly itself. 

The system has been designed by another UK company, Blue Bear Systems Research. It designed the flight-control system of the Harrier jump jet and also designs UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that can be launched and fly themselves autonomously along a pre-programmed route.

Although every Hybrid Air Vehicle (HAV) will be capable of being flown remotely as a military surveillance platform, it will also be able to operate with a three-man crew – a pilot, co-pilot and load master. It takes about 100 hours of flight training to convert a pilot, though they don’t all make the switch easily, often because they aren’t used to stopping in mid-air.

Dave Burns is a pilot with thousands of hours experience flying passenger airliners for BA and Monarch. He is the company’s test pilot and chief flight training officer, and also the man who will fly the HAV 304 back across the Atlantic. 

‘It doesn’t respond like a plane at all,’ says Burns. ‘You move the stick, telling the ship to move, and nothing happens for three or four seconds – and then it responds, which can be a little disconcerting. Plus, the mass underneath it acts like a pendulum, always trying to make it come level again. 

'The difficult thing is landing and take-off. In the past airships had ropes and ground crew waiting; we don’t need those so now what you have to do is present the vehicle so it comes down very slowly.’

A German Graf Zeppelin visiting Britain in 1931

Although the first 300ft version of the craft has been commissioned by the U.S. military, the real commercial potential of the vehicles could be for heavy lifting, says director of sales Gordon Taylor who has been living and breathing the things through multiple prototypes since joining his friend Roger Munk in 1997. 

‘Our hybrids are based on a blend of technologies, in the same way that a Toyota Prius is a hybrid because it runs on electricity and petrol,’ he says. 

‘Firstly it uses aerodynamics. The shape is like a big wing – air moves over it, lower air pressure is created across the top of the wing and it creates lift. Only if it’s fully loaded does it need a runway, and even then, with a 20 knot headwind they can land in three hull lengths.

‘Secondly we use “lighter-than-air” technology. With a normal airship you moor it on the ground to a mast. In order to fly anywhere it has to take off ballast, then it floats up. In a hybrid we push ourselves forward and that immediately generates lift. 

‘Thirdly we have vectored thrust: our propulsion ducts rotate like a jump jet. Finally, we have hovercraft-style landing gear – a cushion of air that means that you can land on any reasonably flat surface, including water. This also works in reverse to secure the vehicle to the ground by suction.’

The company has calculated that it would take only 20 minutes to move a shipping container from Milton Keynes to London by HAV – a journey that presently takes hours thanks to traffic. Add a road network that grinds to a halt after a seasonal dusting of snow and you suddenly find an application for a cheaper, faster form of transport.

The Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937 which marked the end of the era of passenger-carrying airships

‘You can forget ice road truckers too in places with more extreme cold,’ he adds.

‘They can carry the same load that goes on the back of those trucks and they love the cold because you get more lift in the denser air. We have a version with a 20-ton payload, which is what a Lockheed C-130 Hercules carries. We have plans for craft to eventually carry up to 1,000 tons.’

The team is already in formal discussions with oil companies that routinely spend hundreds of millions of dollars on roads and airports every time they find a new supply of oil or gas. By using HAVs the oil companies would simply be able to touch down without need of an airport. 

‘Some of these companies are paying a million dollars a day in the development of infrastructure. 

'You could run these hybrids in convoy too, of course. The price difference between air freight and shipping is huge – so what if you could move freight by air but for a similar price as a ship? It could mean a whole new market in transport.’

Later this year the full-scale version of the current prototype will become the largest flying object in the world. After its initial use in military surveillance and heavy lifting, it could be just a few years before passengers are floating around beneath them. Need to be in New York fast? Take a plane. Don’t mind being in New York a day later? Then take an HAV.

And precisely how long will it take after that  for us to see a fleet of orange easyBalloons hauling budget passengers to and from Malaga?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1357747/Airships-Pioneering-Brits-heralding-dawn-new-Zeppelin-age.html#ixzz1EY9touKC

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1357747/Airships-Pioneering-Brits-heralding-dawn-new-Zeppelin-age.html?ITO=1490