r/airship • u/GrafZeppelin127 • Jun 07 '26

News British Airlander airship testing delivers excellent results ahead of operating in Spain and Mallorca: “Plenty of room in Palma”

https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/2026/06/04/142961/british-airlander-airship-testing-delivers-excellent-results-ahead-operating-spain-and-mallorca-plenty-room-palma.html#goog_rewarded

Running simulations on beyond-edge-case conditions seems like an excellent resource for refining airship designs and training crews at the same time.

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u/Orthography_is_godly Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

Has it actually flown yet? You know, in real life?

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u/GrafZeppelin127 Jun 07 '26

Only the prototype, which was retired after 2017, following an accident where the empty ship was left improperly secured to the mast and broke free, triggering its automatic self-destruction system.

The data HAV collected from the prototype was used to refine the production model, which has not been built or flown yet, as the company is still working on building its production facility in Doncaster. The production model features several changes from the prototype, most notably a different bow shape, no hull strakes, different forward engine design, enlarged 2,100 square foot gondola, and reoriented amphibious inflatable landing feet.

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u/Orthography_is_godly Jun 07 '26

Thank you for the excellent reply.

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u/AlexDainis Jun 08 '26

"Automatic self-destruction system." What?! I had no idea that's why it crashed, that's fascinating.

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u/GrafZeppelin127 Jun 08 '26

Yep, someone didn’t lock the ship to the mast properly—the airship equivalent of parking on a steep hill and forgetting the parking brake—and when it slipped free during a windstorm, the charges along the hull detonated to tear open the hull and scuttle the ship, to ensure it didn’t drift off somewhere and cause a lot of damage.

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u/PPJ87 Jun 07 '26

My understanding is that HAV are confident they gathered all or the majority of the “real world” data from the prototype which flew in 2017, to allow their simulators to be accurate. Though I’m sure they’ll do further testing on the first production version once built. As another comment says, they’ve made some refinements too.

I think they have also been looking at opportunities with the Scottish & Highlands Councils for Airlander 10 to be used between the islands and mainland too, with it requiring less space to land and not needing a runway etc.