The Pathfinder 1 aircraft has been certified airworthy and will be used for humanitarian missions, delivering supplies and personnel to inaccessible areas. Completion of the test program is expected within 180 days
Lighter Than Air (LTA) Research, founded in 2015 by Sergey Brin to develop humanitarian and cargo airships, successfully received a certificate of serviceability for the Pathfinder 1 helium airship in early September. The certificate issued by the authorities allows the company to begin a series of flight tests at Moffett Field Civil-Military Airport in Silicon Valley.
The approval allows LTA to operate the Pathfinder 1 aircraft within Moffett Field and over neighboring Palo Alto Airport at altitudes up to 460 meters. This mode will allow the southern San Francisco Bay Area to be reached while safely not interfering with aircraft flying into San Jose and San Francisco International Airports.
Following ground testing on the mobile unit, Pathfinder 1 will begin a series of approximately 25 low-altitude flights totaling 50 hours.
Although the design of Pathfinder 1 reflects the legacy of the giant airships of the early 20th century, this airship is completely different from all previous models. It features 96 welded titanium assemblies and 288 carbon composite tubes that are light enough to use helium instead of explosive hydrogen.
the Pathfinder 1 airship for humanitarian missions is ready for flight tests
Twelve electric motors located laterally in the tail of the aircraft and four steering fins allow vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and speeds of up to about 120 kilometers per hour. To provide vertical takeoff and landing and speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour, the Pathfinder 1 aircraft is equipped with twelve electric motors located on the sides and the tail. A durable layer of laminated fluoropolymer film called Tedlar contains 13 gel bags made of durable nylon with integrated lidar systems for monitoring gas levels.
The Pathfinder 1’s hybrid drive system includes two 150 kW diesel generators, powered by 24 batteries to power the electric motors. LTA plans to use hydrogen as fuel and lift gas in future versions of the aircraft.
Although Pathfinder 1 was originally designed for a single pilot, it is equipped with dual controls and LTA said two pilots will be on board during the first flight tests to test the workload. The airship for LTA was developed by the German company Zeppelin and can accommodate up to 14 people, although additional passengers are not envisaged at this stage of testing.
Following extensive flight testing in California, Pathfinder 1 will be shipped to a former Goodyear airship hangar in Ohio acquired by LTA for future production. In parallel, work is already underway to create an even larger airship, Pathfinder 3, 180 meters long.
LTA plans to use its aircraft for humanitarian missions, delivering supplies and personnel to hard-to-reach areas. The non-profit organization Global Support and Development, headed by Sergey Brin, is already actively carrying out similar missions in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the South Pacific. Initially, these missions were carried out on Brin’s yacht, and recently the MV Dawn was a specially designed vessel capable of transporting dozens of medical personnel and cargo containers, as well as equipped with its boats and vehicles to create and unload large supplies of fresh water. This project could become an example of future humanitarian airships.
The Pathfinder 1 airship’s certificate of airworthiness will be valid for a year, but LTA’s letter to the Federal Aviation Administration said it plans to complete the test program within 180 days.
