Airlander 10 – world’s longest aircraft can land anywhere

The Airlander 10 is the world's longest aircraft which can carry five tons of cargo, can fly for five straight days and measures 92 meters in length. It can land anywhere with a level surface and is suitable for disaster relief.

Said CEO Steve McGlennan: "So it can land vertically when it's very heavy, full of payload. It takes a very short landing, perhaps less than its own hull length, so there's no need for a runway whatsoever. 

"It needs just a broadly flat space... It can land on water, ice, swamp, it can land on any reasonably flat surface."

About 40 per cent of its lift comes from being wing shaped, and about 60 per cent comes from being filled with helium, which is lighter than air, and it is also a very low carbon aircraft.

It uses up to 70 per cent less fuel than a typical aircraft since its runs on one engine. In a pod found under the craft's hull, a two-man crew and up to 22 passengers can be accommodated. 

British designer Mike Duram explains the craft's mobile similarities to a helicopter, boasting the ability to thrust upwards and downwards. 

He further elaborated "You've got helium inside the hull, so all of the structure is being lifted that way. You can then put your payload on and you lift that either aerodynamically, courtesy of the shaping of the hull, or by vectored thrust. The whole hull of this ship is pressure stabilised, so there's no internal structure at all. So it's an external membrane skin. This is a sample piece of the fabric from it. As you can see: very thin. Incredibly high tenacity, though."

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