The Mantainer ''Ardath'' is a

non-rigid airship A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hydr ...

designed and built in Australia during the 1970s.

Design and development

The airship was developed by Melbourne businessman Tony Norton in the mid-1970s. The project involved 10,000 person-hours; planning and design of the airship took two years, construction itself took just a year. Flight tests commenced at

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire local government area, near the Victorian border. The town is situated on the banks of the Murray River, north of the city of Melbourne. ...

NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

at the end of June 1977. It is named for the W.D. & H.O. Wills-manufactured ''Ardath'' cigarettes, whose logo is on each side of the envelope. The company Mantainer Pty Ltd was formed in connection to the airship project. In addition to its advertising role, Mantainer also intended to deploy the airship in

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

, and in

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

duties. It was given the Australian civil aircraft registration of VH-PSE. According to ''Flypast : a record of aviation in Australia'', by December 1978 the company had been placed in

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

, with the airship being sold to an American buyer. This was the firm U.S. Airships Inc, based in

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

. A hangar specifically intended for the airship was erected in Tyler, the airship rebuilt, however a lack of capital meant that the venture soon folded.

Norton Snoopy

The Snoopy was a small human-powered

, designed and built by Norton. It flew on 27 February 1976. The envelope was constructed using metallic 1 mil

Mylar BoPET (biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aro ...

film. It was a precursor of the ''Ardath''.

Ardath

The airship is conventional in appearance and configuration. It has a helium-filled envelope, with ballonets fore-and-aft. The ballonets can be inflated by airscoops situated in the slipstream from the propellers. The

gondola The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull ...

is suspended underneath the envelope via catenary curtains. The gondola is of light alloy construction, and has a single non-retractable landing wheel. There are four stabilising fins, arranged in a cruciform pattern. The rudder is located on the lower fin, with elevators being fitted to both horizontal stabilisers.

Specifications

References

Bibliography

* {{Cite journal , title=Australian Dirigible, journal=Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology , publication-date=November 1976 , volume=48 , issue=11 , pages=17-18

External links

Teaselville Blimp (Youtube)
Aircraft first flown in 1977 Twin-engined pusher aircraft Cruciform tail aircraft Airships of Australia