SkyCat (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsCatamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

") is a class of proposed heavy-lift

hybrid airship A hybrid airship or plimp is a powered aircraft that obtains some of its lift as a lighter-than-air (LTA) airship and some from aerodynamic lift as a heavier-than-air aerodyne. A ''dynastat'' is a hybrid airship with fixed wings and/or a lifting ...

s which derive more than half of their lift by

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

buoyancy and the balance via aerodynamic

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

produced by aerodynamic shaping. The SkyCat design incorporates hover cushion technology in place of wheels, allowing craft to take off and land anywhere, including remote regions without need for airports or sophisticated forward based infrastructure. The SkyKitten, a 1/6 linear scale model of a SkyCat design was built and flown by Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) (now-defunct successor to

Airship Industries Airship Industries was a British manufacturers of modern non-rigid airships (blimps) active under that name from 1980 to 1990 and controlled for part of that time by Alan Bond. The first company, Aerospace Developments, was founded in 1970, and ...

) in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

at Cardington. "SkyFreighter" is the name given by the

Hybrid Air Vehicles Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) Limited is a British limited company and a British manufacturer of hybrid airships, though none have been built since the crash of its last demonstrator. These aircraft use both aerodynamics and lighter-than-air (LTA) ...

to one of its implementations of the SkyCat design. These are proposed to carry heavy-lift and ultra-heavy-lift cargo payloads from 50 tons net payload to as heavy as 1000 tons which may be a mix of outsized and/or containerized objects. The Skycat is almost impervious to light ordnance, such as automatic rifle or mortar fire, which will merely pass through the metallized PET film envelope without causing critical helium loss. SkyCat air vehicle developments are being pursued by at least one major aerospace company.

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

concluded their "

WALRUS The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped, flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in ...

" contract with industry to explore technology options that might be employed in such vehicles as SkyCat in CY-2006. ATG went into administration in 2005 having produced only one airship, the SkyCat. SkyCat Group was formed and bought ATG's operations. In turn Hybrid Air Vehicles of the UK was formed acquiring the assets of SkyCat Group in 2007 to continue development of the concept. Financial Times May 8, 2015 - Airship developers dare to return to the skies

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External links

* (archived link)
Webpage
describing visit to site with original photos {{Hybrid Air Vehicles Airship configurations Cargo aircraft

See also

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