New Lift for Airships

Giant airships vanished from the skies after the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg exploded and burned in 1937. But airship enthusiasts, buoyed by little more than hope, have remained at their drawing boards, designing huge lighter-than-air dirigibles that they believe could still compete effectively against other forms of transportation.

Most remarkable is the plan for a new three-way hybrid that combines some aspects of an airship, a winged airplane and a lifting body (a shape giving aerodynamic lift). The proposed craft, which looks remarkably like a porpoise, was designed by a group of engineers organized as the Megalifter Co. of Goleta, Calif., after NASA'S Ames Research Center invited proposals for lighter-than-air ships to transport heavy, bulky cargoes. At the roots of its undersized wings, which resemble Flipper's flippers, are four jet engines with a combined thrust of 164,000 Ibs. There are also two small engines near the wing tips to control yawing and rolling. The 650-ft. hull would have 7 million cu. ft. of buoyant helium in its gas cells.

The cargo hold, 300 ft. long and 40 ft. wide, could carry up to 200 tons, and fully loaded, the craft would weigh some 320 tons. But its designers estimate that Megalifter would require a takeoff speed of no more than 70 m.p.h. and a runway distance of only about 2,400 ft. to become airborne, and could cruise at 205 m.p.h. Many of its components, such as the cockpit, engine controls and landing gear, are identical to the C-5A's, which would reduce design and manufacturing costs for the giant craft.

For Channel Hops. In Britain, another group of engineers has formed Air-float Transport Ltd. to promote the "Airfloat HL" (for heavy-lift), designed by Surrey University Mechanical Engineer Edwin Mowforth. A VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) model, it could carry a load of up to 400 tons and move it more than 1,000 miles at about 90 m.p.h. Airfloat's hull shape is conventional, and its propulsion depends upon old-fashioned propellers turned by ten turbines. Eight of them are amidships for forward drive and are also capable of exerting a vertical thrust of 40 tons. There is also one engine at each end for maneuvering, and to keep the ship from yawing while hovering.

Because the Airfloat ship has been designed to take advantage of available techniques, materials and components, Mowforth estimates that six of them, with ground facilities, could be built for a total of $144 million. He believes that with each vessel carrying 250 cars and 1,000 passengers at a time, airship travel across the English Channel would be more economical than by the channel tunnel that will cost more than $20 billion.

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