Peter Lobner, updated 6 November 2024 (Rev. 4)

1. Introduction

“Modern Airships” is a three-part document that contains an overview of modern airship technology in Part 1 and links in Parts 1, 2 and 3 to more than 285 individual articles on historic and advanced airship designs.  This is Part 3.  Here are the links to the other two parts:

• Modern Airships – Part 1:  https://lynceans.org/all-posts/modern-airships-part-1/
• Modern Airships – Part 2:  https://lynceans.org/all-posts/modern-airships-part-2/

To help you navigate the large volume of material in these three documents, please refer to following indexes. The first index simply lists the article titles in alphabetic order within each Part.

• Modern Airships – Part 1, 2 & 3 – Article title alphabetic index

Parts 1 & 2 address similar types of airships and unpowered aerostats. The following airship type index enables you to see all of the airships and aerostats addressed in Parts 1 & 2, grouped by type, with direct links to the relevant articles.

• Modern Airships – Parts 1 & 2 – Airship type index 

The airships described in Part 3 are relatively exotic concepts in comparison to the more utilitarian and heavy-lift airships that dominate Parts 1 and 2. As shown in the following index, the airships in Part 3 are organized by function rather than airship type, which sometimes is difficult to determine with the information available.

• Modern Airships – Part 3 – Airship functional index 

Modern Airships – Part 3 begins with a graphic table identifying the airship concepts addressed in this part, and concludes by providing links to more than 50 individual articles on these airship concepts. A downloadable pdf copy of Part 3 is available here:

• Part 3, main body & graphic tables (Rev. 4)

If you have any comments or wish to identify errors in these documents, please send me an e-mail to:  [email protected].

I hope you’ll find the Modern Airships series to be informative, useful, and different from any other single document on this subject.

Best regards,

Peter Lobner

6 November 2024

Record of revisions to Part 3

• Original Modern Airships post, 26 August 2016: addressed 14 airships in a single post.

• Expanded the Modern Airships post and split it into three parts, 18 August 2019: Part 3 included 32 linked articles.

• Part 3, Revision 1, 21 December 2020: Added 1 new article on Walden Aerospace. Part 3 now had 33 articles

• Part 3, Revision 2, 8 February 2022: Added 14 new articles, moved over and updated the Halo article from Part 1 and updated 12 of the original articles. A detailed summary of changes incorporated in Part 3, Rev. 2 is listed here. Part 3 now had 48 articles.

• Part 3, Revision 3, 18 March 2022: Added 1 new article, reorganized the graphic table and updated 22 of the original articles. With this revision, all Part 3 linked articles have been updated in February or March 2022. A detailed summary of changes incorporated in Part 3, Rev. 3 is listed here. Part 3 now has 49 articles.
• Part 3, Revision 4, 18 March 2024: Added 3 new articles and updated 1 of the original articles. Updated graphics tables. Added indexes for Parts 1, 2 & 3. A detailed summary of changes incorporated in Part 3, Rev. 4 is listed here. Part 3 now has 52 articles.

2. Graphic tables

The airship design concepts reviewed in Modern Airships – Part 3 are summarized in the following set of graphic tables.  I’ve grouped these airship concepts based on their applications rather than on their design / type (as in Parts 1 and 2) because those details sometimes are difficult to determine when few graphics and limited descriptions are available.  

• Cargo & multi-purpose airships
• Mass transportation airships
• Flying hotel airships
• Touring airships
• Flying yacht airships
• Autonomous special purpose airships
• Personal airships
• Thermal (hot air) airships
• Biomimetic airships
• Rocket / airship (Rockoon) hybrids
• Combat airships

Within each category, each page of the table is titled with the name of the category and is numbered (P3.x), where P3 = Modern Airships – Part 3 and x = the sequential number of the page in that category.  For example, “Flying hotel airships (P3.2)” is the page title for the second page in the “Flying hotel airships” category in Part 3.  Within each category, the airships are listed in an approximate chronological order.

Except for a few sub-scale models, none of the airship concepts in Part 3 have flown.  A few of these airships look good as concepts, but may be impossible to build.  Nonetheless, all of these relatively exotic concepts point toward an airship future that will benefit from the great creativity expressed by these designers.

Links to the individual Part 3 articles on these airships are provided in Section 3. 

3. Links to the individual articles

The following links will take you to the individual articles.  

Note that a few of these articles address more than one airship design concept from the same designer and these airship concepts may be in different categories (i.e., Avalon Airships, Bauhaus Luftfahrt, Walden Aerospace). Each design concept is listed separately in the above graphic tables and in the following index. The links listed below will take you to the correct article.

Cargo & multi-purpose airships

• Airship Archangel – large, multi-purpose airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Archangel-converted.pdf
• Airship One – medium, hybrid airship / semi-buoyant aircraft:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Airship-One-converted.pdf
• Aquarian airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Aquarian-Airship-converted.pdf
• Bauhaus Luftfahrt – VTOL semi-buoyant hybrid aircraft: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Bauhaus-Luftfahrt-airships-converted.pdf
• Cloudea airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Cloudea-airship-converted.pdf
• Green Solar Airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Green-Solar-Airship-converted.pdf
• Juliana Juleva – dirigible & toroidal airships: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Juliana-Juleva-airships.pdf
• KNAAR – heavy-lift cargo airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/KNARR-cargo-airship_R1-converted.pdf
• Maform S.H.A.R.K.: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Maform-SHARK-converted.pdf
• Rediscovery – Presidential airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Rediscovery-converted.pdf
• World Advanced Research Agency (WARPA) – TeraDrone: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/WARPA-TerraDrone.pdf

Mass transportation airships:

• Airbia – suburban passenger ferry airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Airbia-converted.pdf
• Alpha Crucis airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Alpha-Crucis-airship-converted.pdf
• Eco Airliner: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Eco-Airliner-converted.pdf
• Flight 2.0 – basic air transportation:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Flight-2-point-0-converted.pdf
• Imaginactive Aerostratos & Terzi – regional passenger transport system:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Imaginactive-Aerostratos-and-Terzi-converted.pdf
• KLM – WB-1010 Spruce Whale – large buoyant passenger aircraft:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/KLM-WB1010-Spruce-Whale-converted.pdf
• KLM – Cloudliner – large buoyant passenger aircraft: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/KLM-WB1010-Spruce-Whale-converted.pdf

Flying hotel airships:

• Aircruise – luxury airship hotel with land dock:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Aircruise-converted.pdf
• Airship Traveling – luxury airship hotel:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Airship-Traveling-luxury-airship-converted.pdf
• Avalon Airships – Aether luxury airship hotel:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Avalon-Airships-converted-compressed.pdf
• Dassault Systems – flying cruise liner:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Dassault-Systems-airships-converted.pdf
• Hydrogenase – bio-hydrogen airship / building with land dock:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Hydrogenase-converted.pdf
• Manned Cloud – luxury airship hotel:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Manned-Cloud-luxury-airship-converted.pdf
• Walden Aerospace – Earth Station One: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Walden-LTAS_Exotic-hybrid-airships.pdf

Touring airships:

• Airmotion – scenic touring airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Airmotion-converted.pdf
• Avalon Airships – Hemera luxury tourist ferry:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Avalon-Airships-converted-compressed.pdf
• Juliana Juleva – dirigible excursion airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Juliana-Juleva-airships.pdf
• Mario Merino – touring airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Mario-Merino-touring-airship-converted.pdf
• Solera & Lucci – cruise airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Solera-Lucci-cruise-airship-converted.pdf
• Stalker – exploration airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Stalker-converted.pdf
• Walden Aerospace – LTA-1701-D entertainment airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Walden-LTAS_Exotic-hybrid-airships.pdf

Flying yacht airships:

• Aeromodeller II – personal hydrogen airship yacht:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Aeromodeller-2-converted1.pdf
• Aeros – Neona sky yacht: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Aeros-Neona-converted.pdf
• AirYacht SA – AirYacht: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AirYacht-converted-compressed.pdf
• Bauhaus Luftfahrt – luxury cruiser: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Bauhaus-Luftfahrt-airships-converted.pdf
• Eunoia – luxury airship yacht:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Eunoia_R1-converted.pdf
• Flying Diamond airship & Dare to Dream yacht: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Dare-to-Dream-yacht-and-airship-converted.pdf
• Halo – personal airship yacht: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Halo-luxury-airship_update-converted.pdf
• Lazzarini Design Studio – Air Yacht: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Lazzarini-Design-Studio_Air-Yacht-converted.pdf
• Lazzarini Design Studio – Colossea: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Lazzarini-Design-Studio_Colossea.pdf
• Leoni Design Workshop – Air Cube: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Leoni-Design-Workshop_Air-Cube.pdf
• LZ-73 – small luxury airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/LZ_73-small-luxury-airship-converted.pdf
• Renault Zep’lin – solar-powered racing airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Renault-Zeplin_R1-converted.pdf
• Strato Cruiser – luxury airship yacht:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Strato-Cruiser-converted.pdf
• Wolke7 – personal airship yacht / flying home:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Wolke7-airship-yacht-converted.pdf

Remotely-piloted special purpose airships:

• Air Hydroelectric Station (Air-HES) – water collection system: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Air-HES-converted.pdf
• Avalon Airships – EOS autonomous, multi-purpose hybrid airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Avalon-Airships-converted-compressed.pdf
• Imaginactive – Templar autonomous agricultural airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Imaginactive-Templar-converted.pdf
• Juliana Juleva – advertising airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Juliana-Juleva-airships.pdf
• Qatar University – Robotic Cloud: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Qatar-University_Robotic-Cloud-converted.pdf

Personal airships:

• Aeolus – personal airship yacht:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Aeolus-converted.pdf
• Alpha-D project – personal airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Alpha-D-Project-converted.pdf
• Escape – hybrid personal airship & land vehicle:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Escape-personal-airship-converted.pdf
• OSKBES MAI – SkyBoat HELIOS hybrid airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/MAI-OSKBES-Skyboat-HELIOS-converted.pdf
• Sky Voyage – hybrid personal airship / glider:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Sky-Voyage-personal-airship-converted.pdf

Thermal (hot air) airships:

• Sterling – solar-powered thermal airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Sterling-solar-thermal-airship-converted.pdf
• Sunrise – solar-powered thermal airship: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Sunrise-solar-thermal-airship-converted.pdf
• Tensairity – thermal airship:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Tensairity-thermal-airship-converted.pdf

Biomimetic airships:

• Aerolabe – solar-powered airship / ornithopter hybrid:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Aerolabe-ornithopter-airship-converted-1.pdf
• Imaginactive Medusa and Cubozo – airship / jellyfish hybrids:  https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Imaginactive-Medusa-and-Cubozo-converted.pdf

Rocket / airship hybrids:

• Walden Aerospace – Silver Dart shuttle, W.A.V.E.S. & HYPER: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Walden-LTAS_Exotic-hybrid-airships.pdf