New podcast episode: bringing back the airship, Tom Grundy (HAV)

Tom Grundy is the CEO of Hybrid Air Vehicles, a British firm that is aiming to bring back the airship…or, well, an aircraft that looks a lot like the airships of yesteryear, but with plenty of new technology.

So, the Airlander, such is the name of this new hybrid air vehicle concept, will be, by some measures, the largest aircraft in the world and open up a whole new range of use cases for air travel.

Strong points in its favour (in addition to aesthetics of course!) are its low fuel consumption and environmental footprint, its reach and endurance. In fact, the Airlander is so versatile that it can fitted with both passenger and cargo configurations or a mix of the two! Even if its speed is much lower than that of conventional airliners, there are plenty of use cases from short regional routes to luxury air travel and, of course, cargo in which this is perfectly fine.

While I am sure many of us can’t wait to see giant blimps ploughing the skies once more, in the meantime, here’s my conversation with Tom Grundy, with details of the past, present and future of the Airlander project!

The Allplane Podcast #78 - the comeback of the airship era, with Tom Grundy, CEO of HAV