British company Hybrid Air Vehicles unveils the world's largest airship

The British company showed its airship, which will be 91 meters long, 34 meters wide and will be able to carry about 100 people, reports LiveScience.

Passengers of the Airlander 10 will not be stuffed like herring into a barrel, unlike those who fly with conventional planes. Everyone will have ample legroom, and the views below can be admired through huge panoramic windows. Its Hybrid Air Vehicles airship is planned to be operational by 2025. It is hoped that on popular short-haul routes it will be able to compete with airplanes due to its increased comfort and environmental friendliness.

The carbon footprint of an airship will be 10 times less than that of an airplane. The difference is due to the fact that an airplane must develop powerful forward thrust with its engines before the wings can provide lift and lift the ship into the air. The airship, on the other hand, will take off thanks to a giant balloon with helium, and at the height of its movement will be provided by four propellers. In the first airships, two propellers would be driven by kerosene engines, and the other two would be driven by electric motors. The company hopes to have an all-electric version of the Airlander by 2030. Electric motors will be powered by liquid hydrogen cells: from cooled tanks in the housing, hydrogen will be pumped into fuel cells, and there it will react with oxygen to generate electricity. Thanks to this, for each passenger of the airship there will be only 4.6 kilograms of carbon dioxide - at 53 kilograms on the plane.

Due to the design features of the airship, it will also have some weak points. Its maximum speed will be about 130 km / h, and the average will be close to 100 km / h. Cars and trains run at these speeds, not airplanes that reach 720 km / h. However, the airship will benefit from the fact that for landing it requires much less space than the plane, it can even land on water.

Another important advantage of the airship is its comfort. This vessel is more spacious than any aircraft. Floor-to-ceiling windows plus a cruising altitude of 3,000 meters ensure that passengers will have something to see. And because a giant helium-filled body separates the interior from the engines, there will be no noise or vibration inside. The impact of turbulence will also be negligible.