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World's longest aircraft retires to make way for production models
The world's longest aircraft has been sidelined... although that's not necessarily a bad thing. Hybrid Air Vehicles has decided against rebuilding its record-setting Airlander 10 prototype. The company will instead use its resources to create the "first batch" of production-grade Airlander 10s, CEO Stephen McGlennan said. The experimental vehicle provided the data necessary for future development, the executive added, leaving no reason to put it back in the skies.
Longest-ever aircraft takes damage in second flight
The future of air travel may have to wait a while. Airlander 10, Hybrid Air Vehicles' cross between an airplane and airship, suffered damage at the end of its second test flight. The longest-ever aircraft wrecked its cockpit when it nosedived on landing. HAV reports that the crew is "safe and well," thankfully, but it's not clear how long this will delay the Airlander program. The company tells the BBC that it's waiting on the results of a debriefing before it provides more details.
World's longest aircraft takes its first flight
That aircraft you see above may look more than a little odd, but it just made history... and it might be the future of flight. Hybrid Air Vehicles has successfully flown the Airlander 10, a long-endurance airplane/airship hybrid billed as the longest aircraft ever at 302ft end to end. It was just a short, minutes-long trip around the countryside in UK's Bedfordshire, but it showed that the massive (if more than a little posterior-like) design is airworthy.
