Free Republic

The world's longest aircraft has collapsed to the ground less than 24 hours after a successful test flight. The Airlander 10 - a combination of a plane and an airship - was seen to "break in two" at an airfield in Bedfordshire, an eyewitness said. "it appeared the Airlander broke free from its mooring mast, triggering a safety system which deflates the aircraft." Two people on the ground suffered minor injuries.

....“The technological problems with airships that have stopped them ruling the skies have been gradually ticked off,” says Mr. Durham, technical director of Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), which makes the Airlander.” Advances in materials, avionics and aerodynamic design mean that we have overcome the lion’s share of these obstacles. This craft is part airship, part aircraft and part hovercraft. We have taken the best aspects of each machine and combined them in one hyper-efficient vehicle. Let me tell you, this isn’t the Hindenburg.”... A future design called Airlander 50 will lift 50 tons of cargo, five times more than a...