Final Assembly Is Underway

Aeros company executives say the final assembly of its Aeros' 40D Sky Dragon Airship is underway in preparation for a planned first flight before the end of the month.

"The Aeros 40D program is moving ahead at a good pace," said Shenny Yao, the program's project manager, "and by the end of December, the airship will be delivered to the customer."

The Aeros 40D is a mid-sized airship. It was originally designed as a proof of concept for the company's transport category Aeroscraft -- a much larger airship. Company executives saw the potential for other uses and the 40D became a stand-alone product.

It uses a polyurethane impregnated nylon fabric envelope that provides for helium preservation and long life. The fabric is also semi-transparent which provides for interesting possibilities for night-time advertising.

The craft uses a pair of venerable Lycoming IO-240-BB engines. Aeros says the engines also keep the gondola air conditioned.

The flight control system is unique in two ways: the empennage utilizes four smaller flight control surfaces as opposed to the more traditional three, and they are controlled via a fly-by-wire system. Using x-shaped "ruddevators" means the ship needs a much smaller hangar.

"Our new airship was custom-designed for optimum performance for advertising, broadcasting, surveillance and tourism applications, and it will satisfy a broad range of values for operators, and airport communities," said Fred Edworthy, Aeros VP for Business Development.

The company claims Aeros 40D operators will like the airship’s low acquisition cost, low operating and maintenance costs, and excellent reliability.

Edworthy said, "In addition, it will serve as a great advertising and broadcasting platform, and airport communities will appreciate the clean, quiet operation."

FMI: www.aerosml.com