BBC is waiting patiently for Google co-founder Sergey Brin to create another world-changing revolution. They’re hanging out in an enormous hangar, the Goodyear Airdock in Akron, Ohio, and looking forward to a new generation of giants in the sky:
“Flying an airship is unlike flying any other aircraft because it’s lighter than air and floats, instead of sinks, when you put the power at idle,” says Andrea Deyling, a pilot and director of airship operations of Brin’s airship company, LTA Research. “There’s also a sense of wonder people have when they see a lighter-than-air vehicle flying overhead. LTA Research is building a unique airship and I can’t wait to get into the actual aircraft and fly it.”
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It is hard to avoid the parallels between Goodyear’s first CEO and Google’s co-founder, who has reportedly been fascinated by lighter-than-air flight for years. Google’s corporate jets flew out of the Nasa’s Moffett Field in California, part of Nasa’s Ames Research Center, and home to Hangar One, built to house the Macon. In 2012, Brin appeared to take a lot of interest in a modern semi-rigid Zeppelin NT (New Technology) airship flying tourist flights from the airfield. One year later, his interest had grown enough for him to decide to build his own airship, and that year LTA Research Ltd was founded, with Alan Weston, previously director of programs at Nasa’s Ames Research Center, appointed CEO.
The project quickly picked up momentum. In 2017, LTA leased space in the Macon’s old hangar from Alphabet (formerly Google), and around the same time research work began at the Akron Airdock. A 12-engine 50ft-long (15m) electric “baby airship” began flight testing at Akron.
Meanwhile, work started at Moffett Field on LTA’s first and smallest airship, Pathfinder 1, which is a rigid design close to twice the length of a jumbo jet. In 2021 LTA leased the Airdock. This enabled tests to start in the Airdock on section of a larger model, Pathfinder 3. LTA now wants to purchase the hangar.
While other airship manufacturers and promoters have distanced themselves from the history of the airship, it is clear from the blueprints of the Akron used on the LTA website homepage that the airship start-up embraces its past. One of Weston’s first stops as CEO was the last place airships were manufactured in the USA, and he spent a week in the archive of the University of Akron.
“Because of our predecessors’ early work, LTA is working to manufacture airships that are safer, faster, more environmentally friendly, and more capable than ever before,” he says.
Driven in part by the same desire to access deep knowledge about the airship industry, LTA has been working with University of Akron’s College of Engineering and Polymer Science since 2017. The researchers are working on the different components needed for the airships, using 3D printers to manufacture and test them. They built the baby airships as testbeds for the technology.
While helium will provide the lift, for the first-time hydrogen fuel cells will power an airship to help it achieve net zero emissions.
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Pathfinder 1 is expected to fly later this year. Pathfinder 3, next year.