AS700 class | |
---|---|
Role | Passenger/commercial non-rigid airship |
National origin | China |
Manufacturer | AVIC |
Designer | AVIC |
First flight | October 2022 |
Status | Test flight |
Primary user | AVIC |
Number built | 3 prototypes 18-20 ordered |
The AVIC AS700-class of airships (otherwise known as the Xiangyun-class which translates to auspicious clouds [1] ) is a class of non-rigid airships built for commercial and tourism use. It is developed and built by AVIC as its first attempt in the civilian airship market.
The AS700 is a medium-sized blimp that is around 48 meters (158 ft) long, a height of 12 meters (39 ft) and a total volume of around 3,500 m3 (123,600 ft3). [2] It is powered by helium like all modern airships. [2]
The AS700 has an ellipsoid hull, with a rigid tail configuration done in an "X" positioning rather than the traditional "+" positioning. [2] The design is considered as a light and cost-effective capsule-shaped airship. [3] The tail has flight control surfaces to allow in ease in steering. The gondola of the airship possess a non-retractable single-point landing gear under the rear which creates a center of gravity that gives the AS700 stability when being ferried on the ground. [2]
As a non-rigid airship, the AS700's envelope is a single lift gas cell manufactured from a multi-layer fabric-film laminate composite material that provides the needed strength, low helium leak rate, tear and weather resistance. Within the outer envelope, the airship possess ballonets for pitch control. [1] [2] The ballonets are made from lightweight polymer cells which is equipped with helium safety valves to prevent over-pressurization and to allow for a safe landing in the event of maneuvering system failure. [2]
The AS700 feature modern fly-by-wire flight control systems with advanced avionics, with the gondola being big enough to house a single pilot alongside 9 passengers and can be configured with a food service facility and a washroom. [1] [2] [4] The large windows are designed to open in flight. Pilot controls are done with a side stick controller, which makes the blimp easy to operate. [2] It can also be configured for unmanned operations.
An interesting aspect of the AS700 is its thrust-vectoring features. The blimp possess modern thrust vectoring propulsion systems that allows the AS700 to do both STOL and VTOL operations. [2] The maximum takeoff weight is 4,150 kg with the maximum range being 700 km. [1] [2] Likewise, its maximum flight time is recorded to be 10 hours and is capable of achieving a maximum speed of a 100 km/hr. [2] Since it is a civilian blimp, AVIC recommends that the airship to not fly under treacherous weather conditions such as thunderstorms, snowstorms, heavy fog or lightning. [2]
The AS700 is designed largely for civilian usage, specifically, in the tourism sector. The project first began in August 2018. [5] According to the project manager of the AS700, Du Wei, he stated that the airship's market is built in line with China's consumption transformation and upgrading needs. [1] Specifically for low-altitude sightseeing and tourism as well as potentially expanding the ship's services to emergency rescue, urban public services and other fields. [1]
Currently, three prototypes were built. The first was an unmanned platform that flew in October 2022 as a technological demonstrator. [2] The second and third prototypes were manned vehicles tasked in completing various tests to ensure safety checks. The second prototype made its maiden flight in Hubei on the 29 December 2022. [2] The flight lasted 39 minutes. On the 13 December 2023, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a type certificate for the AS700, making it the first manned airship in China to be domestically developed and certified. [2] The third prototype successfully made its maiden voyage on April 2, 2024, in Hubei province again. [2] [6] The flight took one hour and 46 minutes. [7]
AVIC estimates that there is a market demand for 100 airships of this type over the next 10 years, [1] but currently, it has only received orders of around 18-20 copies which should delivered by the end of 2024. [7] [1]
General characteristics
Performance
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, in a few cases, direct downward thrust from its engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, helicopters, airships, gliders, paramotors, and hot air balloons.
A blimp (/blɪmp/), or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships, blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas inside the envelope and the strength of the envelope itself to maintain their shape. Blimps are known for their use in advertising, surveillance, and as observation platforms due to their maneuverability and steady flight capabilities.
An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air to achieve the lift needed to stay airborne.
The Zeppelin NT is a class of helium-filled airships being manufactured since the 1990s by the German company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH (ZLT) in Friedrichshafen. The initial model is the N07. The company considers itself the successor of the companies founded by Ferdinand von Zeppelin which constructed and operated the very successful Zeppelin airships in the first third of the 20th century. There are, however, a number of notable differences between the Zeppelin NT and original Zeppelins as well as between the Zeppelin NT and usual non-rigid airships known as blimps. The Zeppelin NT is classified as a semi-rigid airship.
An aerostat is a lighter-than-air aircraft that gains its lift through the use of a buoyant gas. Aerostats include unpowered balloons and powered airships. A balloon may be free-flying or tethered. The average density of the craft is lower than the density of atmospheric air, because its main component is one or more gasbags, a lightweight skin containing a lifting gas to provide buoyancy, to which other components such as a gondola containing equipment or people are attached. Especially with airships, the gasbags are often protected by an outer envelope.
The Goodyear Blimp is any one of a fleet of airships operated by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, used mainly for advertising purposes and capturing aerial views of live sporting events for television. The term blimp itself is defined as a non-rigid airship—without any internal structure, the pressure of lifting gas within the airship envelope maintains the vessel's shape.
The J-class blimps were non-rigid airships designed by the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in the early 1920s for the US Navy.
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The Goodyear Type AD was a small airship built in the United States in the mid-1920s. The first example, christened Pilgrim, was Goodyear's first civil airship, and their first airship to use helium as its lift gas. Originally intended for pleasure cruising, it soon found its true calling as a promotional vehicle as the first "Goodyear Blimp" in a line that has continued for over ninety years. The Type AD was a conventional blimp design with a gondola that could carry two passengers in addition to the flight crew. While usually described as a non-rigid type, the design in fact incorporated a triangular-section magnesium girder as a keel, fastened inside the envelope. The craft carried its own collapsible mooring mast which allowed it to "land" anywhere that 250 ft × 250 ft of clear ground was available.
The Goodyear GZ-20/20A was a class of non-rigid airship or blimp introduced in 1969 by The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in the United States as its signature promotional aircraft, the Goodyear Blimp. The design is based on the previous Goodyear GZ-19 class. The GZ-20 featured a larger envelope to carry the "Super-Skytacular" advertising night sign and more powerful engines. The GZ-20s were the mainstay of Goodyear's airship operations until 2017, when they were replaced with the new Zeppelin NT semi-rigid airship.
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The Lebaudy Patrie was a semi-rigid airship built for the French army in Moisson, France, by sugar producers Lebaudy Frères. Designed by Henri Julliot, Lebaudy's chief engineer, the Patrie was completed in November 1906 and handed over to the French army the following month. The Patrie bears the distinction of being the first airship built specifically for military service.
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