DARPA may have cancelled its programme to develop a 500t-payload cargo transport, but airship maker Wordwide Aeros says it is going to build its partially bouyant Aeroscraft anyway - albeit on a smaller scale.
And what is an Aeroscraft? It's an air vehicle that dynamically controls a combination of helium bouyancy, aerodynamic lift and thrust vectoring to take off and land vertically, manouevre on the ground and cruise at speeds up to 120kt and altitudes up to 12,000ft.
And what am I smoking?
Son of Walrus, the Aeroscraft ML866
If you don't believe me, visit the NBAA show in Atlanta in September, where Aeros will unveil its Aeroscraft ML866 programme. The ML866 is to be a prototype of the larger cargo vehicle Aeros still wants to build, but the company plans to certificate it and offer it as a flying office, private air yacht, sightseeing platform or a commuter transport in remote regions.
Keys to the Aeroscraft are COSH - control of structural heaviness - and FADOLC - full-authority direct organic lift control. Basically COSH takes the helium inside the rigid envelope, compresses it and stores it, making the vehicle heavier. This allows the Aeroscraft to stay on the ground during loading and unloading without needing ballast or tiedowns, while an air cushion allows it to move around like a conventional aircraft.
FADOLC, I think, integrates and automates control of the bouyancy management system, air cushion, thrust vectoring and aerodynamic lift from take-off, through cruise to landing. And with so many sources of lift to manage I am not surprised it is needed.
Will it ever fly? Well, the relatively modest ML866 looks a lot more doable than DARPA's monstrous Walrus, so the answer is probably yes. But the real question is whether a market exists for such an air vehicle. A 5,000ft2 flying office sounds appealing, but it flies at only 120kt and 6,000ft and the corporate market is used to Mach 0.8 and 51,000ft.
Aeros also has to find external financing to complete and certificate the prototype, and in this industry raising money is never easy. NBAA will probably give the company a good indication whether its concept really does have enough bouyancy to fly.