World’s largest ‘airship’ makes maiden flight

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Superman? No, it’s an airship filled with helium. It is the world’s largest flying object and made its first test flight over the British countryside on Wednesday.

The company behind the huge airship, Hybrid Air Vehicles, made the successful takeoff known via Twitter. The airship, in which some people with a dirty mind might see a derriere, is 92 meters long and 43.5 meters wide. This makes it not only bigger than the fattest human ass, but it is also longer than the largest airplane. The Airbus A380-800, for example, is ‘only’ 79 meters long.

The Airlander 10 is an airship of which the largest part is filled with helium. This distinguishes it from the zeppelins of the past, which had the combustible hydrogen on board. Without people on board, the helium is enough to keep the airship in the air for three consecutive weeks. Three layers of dust should prevent an erh… hole from forming in the helium reservoir.

The striking shape of the airship stems from aerodynamics. Speed ​​can make it with two four-litre 4x325hp diesel engines. The director of the company, which stems from a project of the US military, expects that 100 of these airships will be able to fly worldwide within five years.