World's largest aircraft that looks like a butt completes first test flight
The butt flies!
The Airlander 10, the world's largest aircraft, completed its first test flight on Wednesday. The "Flying Bum," as it's been nicknamed, took off from Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire and remained airborne for about 20 minutes.
Developed by Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), the helium-filled, 302-foot-long by 142-foot-wide Airlander 10 can reach altitudes of up to 16,000 feet and stay in the air for up to five days.
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The huge aircraft's first test flight was originally scheduled for last Sunday, but was scrapped due to technical issues that couldn't be resolved in time for safe flying before sunset.
HAV turned the airship into a commercial aircraft after funding cutbacks forced the U.S. government to drop plans to use it for surveillance.
While it's easy to make 🍑 jokes (haha), the Airlander 10 is quite an impressive feat of engineering.
It's capable of taking off from and landing on many different surfaces including water, sand and ice. With four 325 horsepower V8 diesel engines all operating independently, the HAV 304 can fly up to 91 miles per hour.
It can also support a payload capacity of up to 11 tons.
The successful maiden flight was HAV's first milestone towards producing the Airlander 10 by 2021.
Raymond Wong is Mashable's Senior Tech Correspondent. He reviews gadgets and tech toys and analyzes the tech industry. Raymond's also a bit of a camera geek, gamer, and fine chocolate lover. Before arriving at Mashable, he was the Deputy Editor of NBC Universal's tech publication DVICE. His writing has appeared on G4TV, BGR, Yahoo and Ubergizmo, to name a few. You can follow Raymond on Twitter @raywongy or Instagram @sourlemons.
