Airship Industries Skyship 600
The Skyship 600 is a modern airship, originally designed by British company Airship Industries, and now owned and operated by Airship Management Services and Skycruise Switzerland AG.
The first Skyship 600 made its maiden flight on 6 March 1984.
Similar in appearance to the Skyship 500, it is larger, being the world's largest currently operating non-rigid airship ("blimp"). The envelope is made of Kevlar and the gondola of composite materials. Earlier models were propelled by two Porsche 930 turbocharged piston engines, but some have been modified with Textron Lycoming IO-540 engines. One important feature of this series is thrust-vector control. The encased propellers can be swivelled altogether around, providing excellent maneuverability.
The control system developed by Marconi is "fly by light" — using optical fibres to carry the control signals between gondola and the control surfaces.
Each airship has been tailor-made to meet the needs of different customers and this results in slight variations in size, performance and cabin configuration.
Airship Industries collapsed in 1990, and its assets were taken over by Westinghouse. The type certificates for the Skyship 500 and 600 series are now held by United States company Global Skyship Industries which was acquired by Airship Management Services in 2002.
Read more about Airship Industries Skyship 600: Use, How It Works, Specifications (Skyship 600)
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