Hybrid Air Vehicles

For the PSA Peugeot Citroën petro-hydraulic "hybrid air" engine see PSA_Peugeot_Citroën#Hybrid_Air
Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd.
Private Limited Company (Ltd)
Industry Aviation
Predecessor SkyCat Group Ltd
Founded 2007
Founder Roger Munk
Headquarters RAF Cardington, United Kingdom
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Roger Munk (Founder)[1]
Philip Gwyn ( Chairman)
Stephen McGlennan (Chief Executive)
Products HAV 304
AIRLANDER 50
AIRLANDER 200
Website www.hybridairvehicles.com

Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd. is the designer and manufacturer of air vehicles known as hybrid airships. These vehicles, such as the prototype HAV-3, utilize both aerodynamics and lighter-than-air (LTA) technology to generate lift, potentially allowing the vehicle to stay aloft for several weeks.[2]

The company, based in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England, partnered with Northrop Grumman (NGC) in 2009 to win a US$500 million U.S.Army Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) contract which was delivered between 2009 and early 2013. The contract has since been cancelled as a result of US budget cuts. It used the HAV 304 platform, with NGC acting as the prime contractor and sensor system integrator and Hybrid Air Vehicles the lead for the design, development and manufacture of the aircraft platform.[3] After the US project was cancelled the LEMV project, the HAV envelope and associated materials was then bought back by the company.[4]

The company uses its different designs for multiple market opportunities, using its bi-hull configured design for long endurance surveillance & reconnaissance aircraft, its tri-hull configured design for heavy lift transportation[5] and its more traditional airship configured designs for high altitude solutions. The HAV designs are often referred to as LTA Airships.

In 2014, the LEMV under the name "Airlander" was unveiled in Cardington following partial reassembly and inflation. It was reported as the world's largest aircraft.[4][6]

The company has plans for a 50 tonne version of the design - Airlander 50 - which could with funding be built in 2016.[7]

Aircraft

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Jeffrey Roger Munk 1947–2010". Extract from a Royal Aeronautical Society post. Hybrid Air Vehicles. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  2. ↑ The new vehicle set to revolutionise the skies, BBC, 4 January 2011
  3. ↑ "Huge new airships for US Army: designed in Blighty"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Westcott, Richard (28 February 2014). "World's longest aircraft is unveiled in UK". BBC.
  5. ↑ "Heavy lift concept video".
  6. ↑ Carter, Claire (28 February 2014). "World's largest aircraft unveiled and hailed 'game changer'". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  7. ↑ Morrison, Murdo (4 Mar 2014), "IN FOCUS HAV's hybrid airship takes shape at Cardington", Flight International (flightglobal)

External links