He was talking about the Montebello, California-based airship manufacturer Worldwide Aeros’ concept for a new class of aircraft, called the ML866 Aeroscraft. The craft is based on the company’s proprietary Dynamic Buoyancy Management that generates lift through a combination of aerodynamics, thrust vectoring and gas buoyancy management.

The company applied for type certification in March 2008 and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has agreed to work with the company to develop a certification basis for this new type of aircraft. Helium is compressed and expanded as required automatically to control the airship’s buoyancy, and the turboprop-powered thrusters can also pivot to change the direction of engine power. Basically, the density of helium gas can be increased by compressing it, thus reducing lift, or, conversely, by releasing the compressed helium into the gas envelope to decrease the density of the gas, thereby increasing lift.

The first flight of a 210-ft. long prototype is expected in mid-2011.

For the longer term, the company envisions a larger vehicle that could replace or supplement airplanes and that could serve as a cargo hauler in either civilian or military guise.

Even though the Aeroscraft dwarfs the largest commercial airliners, it requires less net space on the ground than an airplane, because it does not require a runway. The airship takes off and lands like a helicopter, straight up and down.

For passengers accustomed to cramped seating in airliner (and the risk of deep vein thrombosis from being confined to a seat for hours), the Aeroscraft can be thought of as a flying ocean liner, transporting passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll about the spacious cabin. The company envisions a huge cabin area.

Unlike its dirigible ancestors, the Aeroscraft is not lighter than air. Rather, its 14 million cubic feet of helium lifts only about two-thirds of the craft’s weight. The rigid, aerodynamic body is driven by the propellers, which generates enough lift to keep the airship and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising. During takeoff and landing, the propellers rotate to push the airship up or to ease its descent.

The airship, approximately two football-fields long, is the brainchild of Aeros president and CEO Igor Pasternak, who said, “The Aeroscraft will be type certified as a new type of aircraft – one that utilizes adjustable buoyant and dynamic lift, creating unique capabilities beyond what is available from any other platform today.”

Cruise ship companies reportedly have expressed interest in the project. Indeed, the craft combines features of a cruise ship with those of an airplane. With an estimated top speed of 170 mph, the Aeroscraft could traverse the continental U.S. in about 18 hours. During the flight, passengers would be able to view national landmarks just 8,000 feet below.

As the company literature proclaims:

“The capabilities of the Aeroscraft ML866 create new prospects for all kinds of travel needs, either for leisure or for business, to reach destinations inaccessible to conventional airliners [because it can take off and land in roughly the space of its own ‘footprint’]. The interior cabin can be configured with amenities from private state rooms to fully functional business and conference center. The flexibility in the interior design will provide passengers with incomparable comfort and enhance business productivity.”

The Aeroscraft does not fly high enough to require cabin pressurization. Because it will operate in the altitude range of 8,000-12,000 feet, weather avoidance will be key to avoid thunderstorms (on land) and hurricanes (at sea).

The company envisions a cargo-carrying version, with ramps to provide a roll-on, roll-off capability. Writing in the February 2008 Defense Transportation Journal, retired Army General William Tuttle extolled the virtues of the Aeroscraft concept:

“The idea of an airlifter combining the buoyancy of a lighter-than-air dirigible with an airplane’s range has been around for several years. Visionaries had foreseen a large aircraft that could carry 500 tons of payload in a large cargo space intercontinental distances, taking off and landing in its own footprint and requiring neither a ground crew to handle lines to secure the aircraft nor ballast to replace the discharged cargo for its return trip.”

In a country like Afghanistan with few paved roads and an undeveloped economy Tuttle sees the Aeroscraft as a solution:

“Rapid repositioning of forces within the operational area – perhaps a whole country, e.g., Afghanistan – provides the necessary operational agility to respond to or preempt insurgent operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Horn of Africa, to respond to humanitarian crises such as the Pakistan earthquake or the southeast Asian tsunami, and to provide security for new nation building projects.”

It should be pointed out that the airship would require but a fraction of the fuel needed by conventional military transport aircraft, and survivability would be enhanced, as the airship would contain fire-suppressing helium gas. Years ago, the Defense Department was considering a million-pound lift airship concept for what was then known as the Rapid Deployment Force. The airship proved surprisingly resistant to enemy fire, in part because of the low pressure differential between the gas envelope and the outside air. Further, by equipping the airship with what were dubbed “sticky balls” inside the gas envelope, resistance to tears in the exterior material was greatly enhanced. The sticky balls were released when the gas envelope was punctured, and they were transported to the damaged area by the force of the escaping gas, thereby plugging the hole.

Even when the gas envelope was punctured many times, it was estimated that the airship would take days to gently settle to earth. A conventional airplane, subjected to the same amount of enemy fire, would explode in a fireball.

The Aeroscraft concept seems particularly appealing for coast-to-coast and overwater, intercontinental flights, where high fuel costs and increasingly dense seating have turned flying into a miserable, cramped experience. As the company’s literature explains, “This remarkable idea grew out of the belief that there is a more comfortable way to fly than simply applying a luxury upgrade to an existing airframe and renaming it.” (See the ML866 brochure at www.aerosml.com/ml866/)