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There’s a new airship in town. The world’s largest aircraft debuted in the Silicon Valley skies.
As the sun rose in California yesterday morning, so, too, did a new airship backed by Google co-founder and dirigible fanatic Sergey Brin.
Pathfinder 1 flew its first test flight on Wednesday after 10 years spent developing the next-gen airship full of “blood, sweat, and tears,” according to LTA Research CEO Alan Weston. With funding from the billionaire Brin, LTA (“Lighter Than Air”) has claimed huge breakthroughs in modernizing the old-fashioned technology.
Longer than three Boeing 737s, the electric aircraft could usher in a new, greener era in flight:
- LTA’s airships could eventually carry 200 tons of cargo each—roughly 10 times as much as a Boeing 737, according to Weston, making them a viable alternative to freight planes, ships, and trains.
- Weston and Brin want to use the airships for humanitarian relief missions since the aircraft doesn’t require much infrastructure to take off or land.
Looking ahead…Pathfinder 1 has a long journey of tests before it can fly irl. The plan is to move the operation from Cali to Akron, Ohio, where LTA is already planning to make a larger version of the craft. The airships will be among friends—Akron serves as the headquarters of Goodyear and its dwindling fleet of advertising blimps.—CC
