World’s largest airplane prepares for maiden flight

BEDFORDSHIRE, U.K. — The world’s largest and longest aircraft is about to take its first official flight.

The Airlander 10, developed by U.K. startup Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), has about 20 hours of flight testing left and could be flying “within weeks.” The company has recently received clearance to fly the airship from the airfield at Cardington, Bedfordshire, where it is currently housed in the U.K.’s largest hangar.

Originally developed in partnership with Northrop Grumman for a defunct U.S. Army program, Airlander 10 is now being built as an aircraft capable of both commercial and military uses.

Filled with 1,340,000 cubic feet of helium, Airlander 10 measures 302 feet long, 143 feet wide, 83 feet high, and weighs 44,100 pounds.

The airship is equipped with four propellers — two at the back, one on the front left, one on the front right — that provide vectored thrusts from four V8 turbo-diesel engines.

The shape of the helium envelope was designed to increase lift efficiency by 40 percent.

Airlander 10 can stay airborne for up to five days at a time if manned, and over two weeks unmanned. It has a 10-ton capacity, allowing it to carry roughly 48 passengers.

Much like a helicopter, the Airlander can take off and land vertically without the need for a tarmac runway.

Hybrid Air Vehicles hopes to be building 12 of the airships a year by 2018.