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The addition of a new facility in Doncaster for airship production will contribute to the development of a collection of environmentally-friendly aircraft by Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), with plans for launch in the year 2028.
The Doncaster Council and HAV have announced their proposed construction of a main production facility for the Airlander 10 at Carcroft Common.
According to HAV, the Airlander 10 is touted as being highly eco-friendly and the most effective of any similarly sized aircraft. Its maximum speed is approximately 100 miles per hour.
MP for Doncaster North, Ed Miliband said: “This is absolutely fantastic news for Carcroft and for Doncaster. This new production site will create over 1,200 much needed highly skilled jobs to the area as well as bring green air travel a step closer.”
The goal of the company is to manufacture a maximum of 24 Airlander 10 aircraft per year at the Carcroft Common location.
The hybrid aircraft includes helium for buoyancy and has room for either 100 passengers or a payload of up to 10 tons.
Doncaster’s Mayor, Ros Jones, stated that the city is leading the way in adopting innovative technology to promote growth. This proposed location for Hybrid Air Vehicles aligns with the city’s goals for development and demonstrates their commitment to environmental sustainability through exploring new green manufacturing and industrial innovations.
The cabin of Airlander 10 offers a luxurious lounge experience for its passengers.
Tom Grundy, CEO of Hybrid Air Vehicles, believes the new production centre will create a “£1bn per annum export”.
Grundy expressed that our goal to reassess safe flying has received strong backing from the Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire region at each stage.
In four years, Air Nostrum, a regional airline in Spain, will be the first to utilize the service by deploying a fleet of 20 Airlander 10s to the Mediterranean region.
It has been eight years since the Airlander 10 encountered a crash during its second test flight in 2016 before the project development was initiated.
No members of the crew were harmed during the landing of the 98m long hybrid aircraft at its Cardington Airfield base. The aircraft, which was a combination of a plane and an airship, crashed nose first on its second attempt at flying.
According to a spokesperson from HAV, the prototype Airlander 10 successfully completed its second test flight, flying for a duration of 100 minutes and successfully accomplishing all scheduled tasks before safely landing back in Cardington.
“The Airlander had a rough landing and the frontal section of the cockpit has incurred damage, which is currently being evaluated.”
Source: independent.co.uk
