The 'Flying Bum' crucial to low-carbon transport

Craft like the "Airlander" might be
 crucial to low-carbon transport.

Airships, dirigibles and blimps are an exciting green alternative to airplanes and helicopters. They can carry heavy loads long distances with very little fuel, with most of the heavy lifting being done with lighter than air gases. But they have also had some spectacular failures, including hydrogen-filled Hindenburg and the British R101, which launched from Cardington in the UK and crashed in France, killing 48 people in 1930.

Now, flying from the same airfield and hangar, the Airlander 10 took its first flight on August 17. It was a short flight, only 19 minutes, 500 foot altitude and only 35 knots speed, but it is perhaps the start of a new era of low-carbon transportation. It is also not going to catch fire, because it is filled with helium, not hydrogen. TreeHugger used to worry about using so much helium in blimps, but major new fields have been discovered that lessen the worry about peak helium.

Read the Treehugger story - “The "Flying Bum," AKA the Airlander 10, takes its first flight in the UK.”