I

NASA ContractorReport

2922

Feasibility Study
of Modern Airships,
Phase 11 - Executive Summary

CONTRACT NASZ-8643
NOVEMBER 1977

I
TECH LIBRARY KAFB, NY

0061675

NASA Contractor Report 2922

Feasibility Study
of Modern Airships,
Phase I1 - ExecutiveSummary

Goodyear Aerospace Corporation

Akron, Ohio

Prepared for
Ames ResearchCenter
underContract NAS2-8643

National Aeronautics
and Space Administration

Scientific and Technical

Information Office
1977

FOREWORD

GoodyearAerospaceCorporation
(GAC) under a j o i n t l y
s p o n s o r e d NASA/Navy C o n t r a c t (NAS2-8643) has conducted a twop h a s eF e a s i b i l i t yS t u d yo f
Modem A i r s h i p s .R e f e r e n c e s
1
through 6 summarize t h e d e t a i l s of t h ec o n t r a c t u a le f f o r t .
This document i s an o v e r v i e w o f t h e e n t i r e s t u d y w i t h e m p h a s i s
upon the Phase I1 S t u d y r e s u l t s .
RalphHuston w a s t h e GAC ProgramManager of t h e Feasib i l i t y S t u d y .G e r a l dF a u r o t e
was t h e P r o j e c t E n g i n e e r f o r t h e
Phase I1 Heavy L i f t A i r s h i p i n v e s t i g a t i o n a n d J o n
Lancaster
w a s the Project Engineer for the Airport Feeder and
Navy
application studies

D r . Mark Ardema, t h e NASA P r o j e c t M o n i t o r , p r o v i d e d v a l u abletechnicalguidanceanddirectiontotheentirestudyeffort,

as d i d t h e LTA P r o j e c t O f f i c e o f t h e
Naval A i r Development
Center.

The c o n t r a c t o r w i s h e s t o acknowledge t h a t NASA Ames

ResearchCenter (ARC) p r o v i d e dt h e use of t h e ARC 7 x 10-foot
Wind T u n n e l F a c i l i t y f o r t h e p u r p o s e
of an e x p l o r a t o r y e v a l u a t i o n of t h e P h a s e I1 Heavy L i f t A i r s h i p .
S u b c o n t r a c t o r sa n do t h e ri n d u s t r yc o n t r i b u t o r ss u p p o r t i n g
theGoodyearStudyincluded:
N e i l s e nE n g i n e e r i n ga n dR e s e a r c h ,I n c .
Battelle Columbus L a b o r a t o r i e s
PiaseckiAircraftCorporation
S i k o r s k y Aircraft C o r p o r a t i o n
G e n e r a l E l e c t r i c Company
RadioCorporationof
America
Summit Research Corporation
Northrop Research & TechnologyCenter

TABLE OF CONTENTS

............................
LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LIST OF ACRONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FOREWORD

............................
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PHASEIOVERVIEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
HEAVY LIFT AIRSHIP STUDY WSULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
D e s c r i p t i o n of HLA andRelatedPerformance
........
DesignAnalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Aerodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F l i g h t Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F l i g hC
t o n t r oS
l ystem
................
S t r u c t u r a lA n a l y s i sa n d
Materials . . . . . . . . . .
Economic A n a l y s i s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SUMMARY

...................
..............
.............
AIRPORT FEEDER STUDY RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
V e h i c lD
e e s i gD
n efinition
................
O p e r a t i o n aA
l nalysis
TechnologyAssessmentAnalysis
Conclusions
and
Recommendations

.............
...
..
NAVY MISSION STUDY RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
M i s s i oD
ne s c r i p t i o n
...................
G e n e r a l i z e d Parametric A n a l y s i R
s esults
.........
Mission S p e c i f i cR e s u l t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Trail Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SOSUS AugementationMission . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ASW Barrier Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Convoy E s c o r tM i s s i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
O p e r a t i o n aPl r o c e d u r eA
s nalysis
C o s tA n a l y s i sa n dC o m p a r i s o nw i t hA l t e r n a t i v e
Modes
M i s s i o n / V e h i c l eF e a s i b i l i t ya n dT e c h n o l o g yA s s e s s m e n t

-iii-

i
V

vi
vii
1
1
3

7
13
14
14

16
18
20
22
24
25

27
28

28
30
35
36
39
41
41
42
48

48
48

51
51

TABLE OF CONTENTS

............
................
Ground Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

O v e r a l lM i s s i o n / V e h i c l eC o n c l u s i o n s
O p e r a t i o n aC
l onsiderations

....................
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vulzerability

52
53

53
53
54
55
56
57

-iv-

"

..

LIST OF
FIGURES
FIGURE NO.

1.
2.

3.

PAGE

TITLE

......
Phase I: G e n e r a l Approachand
Overview. . . . . .
S t r u c t u r a l E f f i c i e n c y of Modemand H i s t o r i c a l
N e u t r a l l y - B u o y a nR
t i g i dA i r s h i p s .
........
F e a s i b i l i t yS t u d yo f

Modem A i r s h i p s .

4.

Basic Methods o f A n a l y s i s

5.

SpecificProductivityofFullyBuoyantAirships

6.
7.

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

15.
16.
17.

18.

(GASP ComputerProgram)

.......
M i l i t a r y P a y l o a d s Beyond H e l i c o p t e r L i f t
Capability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Phase I1 General Arrangement a n d S e l e c t e d
Performance marateristics1 . . . . . . . . . . .
PoweredModel i n ARC 7 x 10-Foot Wind Tunnel
F a c i l i t yi nP r e s e n c e
of Ground P l a n e . . . . . . .
Phase I1 HLA Response t o Lateral Gust . . . . . .
Phase I1 Heavy L i f tA i r s h i p

Concept

..
M a j o rS t r u c t u r a l Components of HLA. . . . . . . .
Frame AnalysisProcedure.
............
HLA Fly-By-Wire

ControlSystemBlockDiagram.

4
4
6
6
9
10
13
15
17
19

20
21

Comparison of S64F and HLA T o t a l O p e r a t i n g C o s t

P e rP a y l o a d Ton Mile a t Design Range of HLA

23

F i n a l P h a s e I1 B a s e l i n e A i r p o r t F e e d e r
Configuration

29

...

..................
AirportFeederConceptofOperations.
......
Two-Segmented Payload ModuleCabinLayout
( 6A b r e a sS
t eating)
...............
Buoyancy R a t i o T r e n d s f o r Maximum P r o d u c t i v i t y
Phase I andPhase
I1 Study. . . . . . . . . . . .

19.

Comparison of RepresentativeVehFcleConcepts

20.

S t r u c t u r a lE f f i c i e n c y

21.

11 MCF RigidDesign

22.

HoverCapableNon-RigidAirship

Comparison.

........

.......
.........

Characteristics

-V-

..

30

32
34
44
45
46
47

LIST OF FIGURES

(Continued)
FIGURE NO.

23.
24.
25.

TITLE

~~~~

PAGE

T r a i l Mission P a r a m e t rPi ce r f o r m a n cRee s u l t s

( N e u t r a l l y Buoyant R i g i d ) .

49

T r a i l Mission P a r a m e t rPi ce r f o r m a n cRee s u l t s

(Construction C o n c e p t s ) .

49

TOS Versus

50

.............

..............
ROA f o r 11 MCF R i g i d A i r s h i p . . . . . . .

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE NO.

. I1
I11
IV

TITLE

PAGE

.......
BASELINE DOC/ASSM
COST
BREAKDOWN
..........
SUMMARY
OF
DOC SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
RESULTS.
....
REQUIRED R&D AREAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BASELINE CONFIGURATION
WEIGHT

SLJ"ARY.

33
37

38
40

LIST OA
FCRONYMS

A/F

A i r p o r tF e e d e r

AFCS

A u t o m a t i cF l i g h tC o n t r o lS y s t e m

APU

A u x i l l i a r y Power Unit

ARC

Ames ResearchCenter

ASL

Average Stage Length

AS SM

Available Seat Statute

ASW

Anti Submarine Warfare

Mile

S t a t i c L i f t / G r o s s Weight
CER

CostEstimatingRelationship

CTOL

Conventional Take

DOC

D i r e c t Operating Cost

DOF

Degree of Freedom

Ew

Empty Weight

FAA

Federal Aviation Administration

FBW

F l y By Wire

FRV

FlightResearchVehicle

GAC

GoodyearAerospaceCorporation

GASP

Goodyear A i r s h i pS y n t h e s i sP r o g r a m

Gw

Gross Weight

HLA

Heavy L i f t A i r s h i p

LERTA

Lake E r i e R e g i o n a l T r a n s p o r t a t i o n A u t h o r i t y

MCF

M i l l i o nC u b i cF e e t

MQ4

M i l l i o n C u b i c Meter

NADC

Naval A i r DevelopmentCenter

nm

N a u t i c a l Mile

PAX

Passenger

PHS

P r e c i s i o n Hover Sensor

pNdB

Perceived Noise Decibels

PV/E

S p e c i f i cP r o d u c t i v i t y ,P a y l o a d

Off andLanding

Times Velocity

o v e r Empty Weight
R

Range

RABH

Revenue A i r c r a f t BlockHours

RDTU

Research,Development

TestandEvaluation

vii

LIST OF ACRONYMS (Continued)

ROA

Radius of Action

RPV

Remotely Piloted Vehicle

sosus

Sound Surveillance System

STU

Steward(ess)

SURTASS

Surveillance TASS

TAA

Technology

TAS S

Towed Array Sonar System

TOC

Total Operating Cost

TOS

Time on Station

UL

Useful Load

VC
VTOL

Cruise

Vertical Takeoff and Landing

WER

Weight Estimating Relationship

Assessment

Analysis

Velocity

viii

A f e a s i b i l i t ys t u d y

of modern a i r s h i p sh a sb e e nc o m p l e t e d .I nt h e

s e c o n dh a l fo ft h i ss t u d y ,

summarized h e r e i n ,t h r e ep r o m i s i n g

a i r s h i ps y s t e mc o n c e p t s

of r o t o r l i f t ,

were s t u d i e d : (1)

and t h e i ra s s o c i a t e dm i s s i o n s

a h e a v y - l i f ta i r s h i p ,e m p l o y i n g

a n o n - r i g i dh u l la n d

modern

a s i g n i f i c a n t amount

u s e df o rs h o r t - r a n g et r a n s p o r ta n dp o s i t i o n i n g

of heavy

(2) a VTOL ( v e r t i c a lt a k e - o f fa n dl a n d i n g ) ,

m i l i t a r y and c i v i lp a y l o a d s ;

u s e d a s a s h o r t - h a u lc o m m e r c i a lt r a n s -

m e t a l c l a d ,p a r t i a l l yb u o y a n ta i r s h i p

p o r t ; and ( 3 ) a c l a s so ff u l l y - b u o y a n ta i r s h i p su s e df o rl o n g - e n d u r a n c e
Navy m i s s i o n s .

The h e a v y - l i f ta i r s h i pc o n c e p to f f e r s

inverticalliftcapabilityoverexistingsystems
p e r ton-mile.

lower t o t a lo p e r a t i n gc o s t s
c o n c e p ta p p e a r st o

a s u b s t a n t i a li n c r e a s e
and i s p r o j e c t e d t o h a v e

The VTOL a i r s h i pt r a n s p o r t

be e c o n o m i c a l l yc o m p e t i t i v ew i t ho t h e r

VTOL a i r c r a f t

c o n c e p t sb u tc a na t t a i ns i g n i f i c a n t l yl o w e rn o i s el e v e l s .

The f u l l y -

b u o y a n ta i r s h i pc o n c e p tc a np r o v i d ea na i r b o r n ep l a t f o r mw i t hl o n ge n d u r ancethatsatisfies

manyNavy

m i s s i o nr e q u i r e m e n t s .

INTRODUCTION
Inthefall
oneof

of 1974,GoodyearAerospaceCorporation

(GAC) was awarded

two i d e n t i c a l c o n t r a c t s by NASA A m e s R e s e a r c hC e n t e rt o

f e a s i b i l i t y ofmodern

were t o beaccomplished

A t theendofthefour-monthPhase

aredetailedinReference

two-phase s t u d y .

were i d e n t i f i e d

(The GoodyearPhase

I results

1).

Phase 11, p e r f o r m e ds o l e l y
o ft h es e l e c t e dc o n c e p t s ,w i t h

inthis

I , promisingconcepts

of c o m p e t i t i v em i s s i o nv a l u e

t i o n a lf a c t o r s .T h i s

a i r s h i p su n d e rc e r t a i ng r o u n dr u l e s .F i g u r e

s u m m a r i z e st h et a s k st h a t

onthebasis

s t u d y the

by G o o d y e a r ,f o c u s e do nt h ed e s i g nf e a t u r e s

lesser a t t e n t i o n p a i d t o c o s t a n d o p e r a -

summary r e p o r tc o n c e n t r a t e so nt h e

-1-

r e s u l t s ofPhase

I1

e-- PHASE

r-._""""

I &PHASE

11 __*

---"---------

I NAVl STUDY

1
I

PA,RAHETRIC
i c VEHICLE
I
DEFINITION
I

CONCEPTUAL
VEHICLE
DEFllllTION

1 TO 3 VEHICLES
b

"_""_"

I"-!"!
I

SURVEY

PROCEDURES

;"L"-

"
"
"
"

COST
CIVENESS
O R E T IT

F i g u r e 1.

F e a s i b i l i t yS t u d yo f

MODES

Modern A i r s h i p s

2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 .

o ft h es t u d ya sr e p o r t e di nR e f e r e n c e s

7.

summary was g i v e ni nR e f e r e n c e

CORETlIdG

An a b b r e v i a t e d

O f n e c e s s i t y ,o n l yt h eh i g h l i g h t s

i s r e f e r r e dt ot h e

t h es t u d ya r eg i v e nh e r e i n ,a n dt h er e a d e r

of

above

r e f e r e n c e sf o rd e t a i l s .
WhereasPhase

I was l i m i t e dt oc i v i la p p l i c a t i o n s ,t h eP h a s e

I1

e f f o r t was b r o a d e n e dt oi n c l u d em i s s i o n so fp o t e n t i a lm i l i t a r yw o r t hf o r
t h e Navy.
F o rt h e
a n a l y z e d :( 1 )

NASA portionofPhase

11, two c o n c e p t s were s e l e c t e d and

a 7 5 - t o n - p a y l o a d Yh e a v y - l i f tv e h i c l ec o n s i s t i n go fa na e r o -

s t a t and f o u r CH-54 h e l i c o p t e r s , and (2) a n8 0 - p a s s e n g e r / c a r g o

t r a n s p o r ta p p r o x i m a t e l yt h e
b u tw i t hd o u b l et h ee n v e l o p e
TheNavy

same l e n g t h a s

VTOL

a Goodyear a d v e r t i s i n g a i r s h i p

volume.

p o r t i o n of t h es t u d yf o c u s e d

b u o y a n ta i r s h i p st ol o n g - e n d u r a n c e

on t h ea p p l i c a t i o n

Navy m i s s i o n s .

of f u l l y -

A s c o n t r a s t e dw i t ht h e

NASA p o r t i o n of Phase 11, t h e Navy s t u d yi n c l u d e dp a r a m e t r i ca n a l y s i s

e x c l u d e dc o s tc o m p e t i t i v ea n a l y s i s .

-2

and

PHASE I
B e f o r ed i s c u s s i n gt h eP h a s e
rized.

OVERVIEW

I1 r e s u l t s , P h a s e

A s mentionedpreviously,Phase

I r e s u l t sa r ed e t a i l e di nR e f e r e n c e

1; a more complete summary, i n c l u d i n gb o t hP h a s e

i n Reference 8.
bilityStudy

I w i l l be b r i e f l y summa-

I s t u d i e s , may befound

F i g u r e 2 d e p i c t st h ee v o l u t i o no fP h a s e

and t h e i n t e r a c t i o n s

among t h ef o u rm a j o rt a s k s .

The f i r s t t a s k was t o c o n d u c t

a briefhistoricaloverview

and t e c h n i c a l f e a t u r e s , a c q u i s i t i o n

o p e r a t i n gc o s t s ,o p e r a t i n gp r o c e d u r e s ,o t h e rs y s t e me l e m e n t s ,
s y s t e mc h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .

of t h e a i r -

were summariesofmajormissions,

s h i pv e h i c l e sa n do p e r a t i o n s .I n c l u d e d
m a r k e t s ,v e h i c l ep e r f o r m a n c e

I o ft h eF e a s i -

The g o a l was n o t t o o b t a i n

and
andkey

a comprehensivecatalog

of d a t a o n p a s t a i r s h i p s b u t t o c o n c e n t r a t e o n d a t a r e l e v a n t f o r
a i r s h i pd e s i g n s .A l s o ,p a r t
t e c h n i c a l andeconomic

of t h i s t a s k

improvementon

1930and1974

modern technology.

i n Task 1 i s shown i n F i g u r e

mationdeveloped

modern

was a comparisonbetweenthe

statesoftheartin

of a s s e s s i n gt h ei m p a c to f

sub-

structuralefficienciesthat

f o rt h ep u r p o s e

An example of t h ei n f o r -

3 , which d e p i c t st h et y p eo f

new m a t e r i a l s and p r o p u l s i o n

technologycanprovide.
I n Task 2 , a s u r v e y was c o n d u c t e d t o i d e n t i f y p o t e n t i a l m i s s i o n s f o r
a i r s h i pa p p l i c a t i o n s .
a l t h o u g ho t h e rt y p e s

Emphasis was on c i v i lt r a n s p o r t a t i o nm i s s i o n s
of m i s s i o n sw e r ea l s oc o n s i d e r e d .I n c l u d e d

were

unique LTA a p p l i c a t i o n s a s w e l l a s c o n v e n t i o n a l m i s s i o n s c u r r e n t l y
formed by o t h e rt r a n s p o r t a t i o n

i s t i c s andeconomicsofmost
n o tb e e ne s t a b l i s h e d
missionanalysis

modes.

B e c a u s et h eo p e r a t i n gc h a r a c t e r -

of t h e p o t e n t i a l

modern a i r s h i p c o n c e p t s

had

and becauseofthebroadscopeofthestudy,the

was n e c e s s a r i l y of a p r i m a r i l y q u a l i t a t i v e n a t u r e .

The v e h i c l e p a r a m e t r i c a n a l y s i s
t a s ki nP h a s e

per-

was r e g a r d e d a s t h e

most i m p o r t a n t

I o ft h eF e a s i b i l i t yS t u d y .I nt h i st h i r dt a s k ,t h ee n t i r e

s p e c t r u mo fa i r s h i pc o n c e p t s ,e n c o m p a s s i n gb o t hc o n v e n t i o n a la i r s h i p s
h y b r i d s , w a s examined.Emphasis
shapedconceptsand

was p l a c e do nc o n v e n t i o n a l ,e l l i p s o i d a l -

a m o d i f i e dd e l t ap l a n f o r ml i f t i n g - b o d yh y b r i d .V e h i c l e s

-3-

and

TASK 3:
PARAMETERIZATION
OF
DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS

GROSS YEIGHT

CONFlGURAilON
CHARACTERISTICS

STRUCTURAL AN0 PROPULSIVEDESIGN

APPROACHES

CONVENTIONAL LTA

DYNAMIC L I F TU T I L I Z A T I O N

UNCONVENTIOHALVEHICLES
OPERATING PROCEDURES

MISSIONS.MRKETS.AN0

COSTS

"""_"""

STOL
AN0
VTOL

CAPABILITIES

CRUISE
VELOCITY

E S T I M T E OF IMPACT OF 1974 SO4 ON

PARAHETERIZEODATA

PARAMETRIC
ANALYSIS

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY DESIGNOPTIONS

---"""""

OPTIMIZE0
CONFIGURATION
CHARACTERISTICS
NORWLIZEO
PARAMETRIC
PERFORMNCE
CHARACTERISTICS

I
"

SURVEY OF CONVENTIONAL
TRANSPORTATION
MISSIONS (CURRENT
AND
PROPOSED)

P EXISTINGTRANSPORTATIONSYSTEMPERFRO"

OVERALL
PERFOWANCE
COMPARISON
OF
GENERAL CONFIGURATIONCLASSES

EVALUATION OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

DESIGNOPTIONS

ANCE LIMITATIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL, ENERGY, AND SOCIOECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS

""""l a

"
"

IDENTIFICATION OF PROMISING
MISSIONS
IDENTIFICATION OF MISSIONS
UNIQUE

TASK 4 :

MISSION/VEHICLE
UNIQUE COMBINATIONS

FIGURES OF MERIT FOR SELECTIONAND

EVALUATION
a

MISSION PECULAR
OPERATIONAL
RESTRICTIONS

Phase I:

CONVENTIONAL TRANSPORTATION
MISSION/
VEHICLECOMBINATIONS
M U L T I M I S S I W V E H I C L E CONFIGURATIONS

Figure 2 .

MlSSION/VEHICLE
EVALUATION
AN0
SELECTION

MISSION/VEHICLE
RANKING
AN0
RECOtWENOiO
PHASE I I STUDY BASELINE

GeneralApproachandOverview

LL

0.04

HISTORICAL AIRSHIPS

3
0

u)

003

MODERN AIRSHIPS

Q:

F
"
;0 0 2 0
u
P
>

t
I
w

0.01

MAXIMUM GAS VOLUME (lo5 FT31

Figure 3 .

S t r u c t u r a lE f f i c i e n c y of Modern and H i s t o r i c a l
Neutrally-Buoyant Rigid Airships

-4-

10

from 3000 l b s t o

w i t hg r o s sl i f t i n gc a p a b i l i t i e sr a n g i n g
w e r ei n v e s t i g a t e d .

6,000',000 l b s

im-

The p a r a m e t r i cs t u d i e si n c l u d e dt h ee f f e c t so f

p o r t a n td e s i g nf a c t o r ss u c ha sv e h i c l eg e o m e t r y ,r a t i oo fb u o y a n t

lift-

t o - t o t a l l i f t , and c r u i s es p e e d .S i n c et h ee m p h a s i so fP h a s e

I was on

of merit were p r o d u c t i v i t y ,

transportationmissions,theprincipalfigures

times c r u i s es p e e d ,

d e f i n e da se i t h e rp a y l o a do ru s e f u ll o a d
p r o d u c t i v i t y ,d e f i n e da sp r o d u c t i v i t yd i v i d e d

byempty

and s p e c i f i c

w e i g h t .( S i n c e

i s n o t meant f o r p r o d u c t i v i t y m i s s i o n s ,

theheavy-liftairshipconcept
i t was t r e a t e d s e p a r a t e l y . )

A key p a r t o f T a s k

3 was thedevelopmentanduseof

a vehicle

s y n t h e s i s( i n t e g r a t e dc o n c e p t u a ld e s i g n )c o m p u t e rp r o g r a m .
i s c a l l e dt h e

Goodyear A i r s h i pS y n t h e s i sP r o g r a m

shows i t s f u n c t i o n a lc a p a b i l i t y .T h i s
a n c ef o r
canbeused

The program
(GASP) and F i g u r e 4

programcomputesmissionperform-

a s p e c i f i e dv e h i c l ec o n c e p t ,s h a p e ,

and m i s s i o n d e f i n i t i o n

a wide v a r i e t y o f b o t h c o n -

toconductparametricstudiesof

many of thesubprograms

v e n t i o n a l and h y b r i da i r s h i p s .A l t h o u g h

and

i n GASP

were d e r i v e d f r o m a i r s h i p a n a l y s i s c a p a b i l i t y w h i c h h a s e v o l v e d o v e r
y e a r s , a s i g n i f i c a n t amountof

many

e f f o r t was r e q u i r e d t o d e v e l o p w e i g h t

e s t i m a t i n gr e l a t i o n s h i p sf o rh y b r i da i r s h i p ss i n c et h e s er e p r e s e n t

a new

classofvehicle.

As anexampleoftheparametric
ventionalairships,effects
F i g u r e 5.

r e s u l t s whichwereobtainedforcon-

o ft y p eo fc o n s t r u c t i o n

and s i z e a r e

shown i n

The d a s h e dl i n e sf o rt h en o n - r i g i dc o n c e p t sa tt h eh i g h e rg r o s s

w e i g h t si n d i c a t e
r e g i o n .T h i sf i g u r e

a r e q u i r e m e n tf o r

fact,allconcepts

in this

shows t h a tn o n - r i g i d st e n dt ob ef a v o r e df o rs m a l l

s i z e s ,m e t a l c l a d sf o rm i d - s i z e s ,
i s g e n e r a l l yn o t

improvedseamingtechnology

and r i g i d s f o r l a r g e s i z e s b u t t h a t t h e r e

a g r e a td e a lo fd i f f e r e n c e

betweentheconcepts.In

had a s t r u c t u r a l w e i g h t - t o - g r o s s - w e i g h t r a t i o

5 a l s o shows t h a t i f

0.4 over- a widerangeofgrossweights.Figure

Kevlar i s d e v e l o p e da sa ne n v e l o p em a t e r i a l

for a n o n - r i g i d ,t h e nt h e

r i g i d i s t h es u p e r i o rc o n c e p tf o ra l m o s ta l ls i z e s .

-5-

of a b o u t

non-

._ ........

. . - ... ._ ...........

.......

.._........_..........-...... ..-....._....._. . . . ......

PAPAMETER VAR!ATION
AND SEI.ISITIVITYITER-

NASACOHMIN
OPTIMIZATION

Figure 4 .

Basic Methods of Analysis(GASP Computer Program)

*O0

...

c
*

v)

--.

*,

0
C

KEVLAR
w
0

3-

CLAD

METAL

50
//

0
I 03

Figure 5 .

RIGID
1o3

105
GROSS WEIGHT, Ib

1o6

S p e c i f i cP r o d u c t i v i t y

-6-

I
6 x IO6

of F u l l y Buoyant Airships

A f t e r a p r e l i m i n a r ys c r e e n i n g ,o n eh y b r i dc o n c e p t

was s e l e c t e d f o r

p a r a m e t r i ce v a l u a t i o nf o rp r o d u c t i v i t ym i s s i o n s .T h i s
shapewhichhad

was a l i f t i n g body

a p a r a b o l i cp l a n f o r mw i t he l l i p t i c a lc r o s ss e c t i o n s ;

it

w a sc h o s e nb e c a u s eo fs t r u c t u r a lw e i g h tc o n s i d e r a t i o n sa n dt h ep r o x i m i t y

pressure.

ofthecentersofbuoyancyand

The p a r a m e t r i ca n a l y s i sf o c u s e d

o nd e t e r m i n i n gt h ev a l u e so fa s p e c tr a t i o ,t h i c k n e s s - t o - c h o r dr a t i o ,
c r u i s es p e e dw h i c h

maximized p r o d u c t i v i t y a t v a r i o u s v a l u e s o f g r o s s w e i g h t

(B),

(GW), b u o y a n t - t o - t o t a ll i f tr a t i o
that at almost all values of
as

8 t e n d e dt oz e r o ,

optimum.

i.e.,

andrange

The r e s u l t s showed

(R).

GW and R , t h e b e s t p r o d u c t i v i t y
a v e h i c l ew i t h

The l i f t i n g body hybridconcept

was o b t a i n e d

no buoyant l i f t ( a na i r p l a n e )

is

was compared withtheconven-

GW, 8 ,

t i o n a lr i g i da i r s h i pa tv a r i o u sv a l u e so f

and R.

GW, t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l r i g i d c o n s i s t e n t l y

l a r g ev a l u e so f

and

E x c e p tf o rv e r y
had a h i g h e rp r o -

ductivitythanthehybrid.
I was t o s e l e c t p r o m i s i n g v e h i c l e / m i s s i o n

The f i n a l t a s k i n P h a s e

c o m b i n a t i o n sf o rf u r t h e rs t u d yi nP h a s e
o t h e rt a s k s ,t h eh e a v y - l i f t

11.

r e s u l t s fromthe

and VTOL t r a n s p o r t c o n c e p t s a p p e a r e d t o

t h e mostpromisingandwereselected,with
s t u d yi nP h a s e

Basedon

NASA a p p r o v a l , f o r

be

more d e t a i l e d

11.
HEAVY LIFT AIRSHIP

STUDY RESULTS'

Summary
A m a j o rd e f i c i e n c yi nc u r r e n ta i rt r a n s p o r t a t i o n .s y s t e m s

h a u lo fh e a v ya n dv e r yh e a v yo u t s i z e dc a r g oa n dt h i s
Goodyear'sPhase

I S t u d ya s

is theshort

was i d e n t i f i e d d u r i n g

a m i s s i o nu n i q u e l ys u i t e dt o

modern a i r s h i p

is w e l l
The m i l i t a r yn e e df o r
a heavy v e r t i c a l l i f t c a p a b i l i t y
2
documentedand
t h ec i v i ln e e d ,w h i l ee q u a l l ya p p a r e n t ,
i s i nt h ep r o c e s s

vehicles.
ofbeing

more c o m p l e t e l yc h a r a c t e r i z e d

NASA Study.

anddocumented

The p r i m a r ym i l i t a r yr e q u i r e m e n t

i n a forthcoming

i s t h eo f f - l o a d i n g

R e f e r e n c e s 2 , 3 , and 4 p r o v i d ec o m p r e h e n s i v er e s u l t sr e l a t i v et ot h e
Phase I1 Heavy L i f t A i r s h i p S t u d y
Navy Operational Requirement

N u d e r W1019-SL

PrsmarilyContainerizedCargo

-7-

ofcargo

1111

water p o r t f a c i l i t i e s w h i l e t h e c i v i l

f r o ms h i p si na r e a sl a c k i n gd e e p
needs a r e c e n t e r e d i n t h e

power g e n e r a t i n g ,p e t r o l e u m ,c o n s t r u c t i o n ,

l o g g i n g , andheavyequipment

i n d u s t r i e s .T h e r ea l s oa p p e a r st ob e

considerableforeigncivilmarketintheoff-loadingofcargofromships
i nd e v e l o p i n gn a t i o n sl a c k i n gd e e pw a t e rp o r t s .C u r r e n t l y ,m i l i t a r ya i r borneheavy

l i f ts c e n a r i o sc o n s i d e ra g g r e g a t el o a d sr e q u i r i n gp a y l o a d

c a p a c i t i e s u p t o 1 4 0t o n sw h i l ep o t e n t i a lc i v i la p p l i c a t i o n sc o u l di n v o l v e
s e v e r a lh u n d r e dt o n s .

Range r e q u i r e m e n t sv a r yf r o m

i n some c o n s t r u c t i o n i n d u s t r y a p p l i c a t i o n s w i t h

miles o f i n t e r e s t i n t h e

s e v e r a lh u n d r e d

a fewhundredyards

a r a n g ec a p a b i l i t yo f

movement of miningequipment

to

remote s i t e s .
Variousheavy
beenproposed

l i f t conceptscombiningbuoyantandrotor

l i f t have

i nr e c e n ty e a r sf o rp e r f o r m i n gt h ee m e r g i n gh e a v yl i f t

s h o r th a u lm i s s i o n s .

TheHeavy

L i f tA i r s h i p

(HLA) e v a l u a t e dd u r i n g

Phase I1 i s a c o n c e p t f i r s t p r o p o s e d

by P i a s e c k i A i r c r a f t C o r p o r a t i o n

(Reference 9) whichcombinesbuoyant

liftderived

helium-filledairshiphullwithpropulsiveliftderived
h e l i c o p t e rr o t o r s .

fromconventional

The buoyant l i f t e s s e n t i a l l y o f f s e t s t h e

load and t o maneuverand

empty weight

i s a v a i l a b l ef o rl i f t i n gt h eu s e f u l

of t h ev e h i c l e ;t h u st h er o t o rt h r u s t

c o n t r o lt h ev e h i c l e .

set the

The a b i l i t y t o o f f

buoyancy p e r m i t s a quantum i n -

e n t i r e empty w e i g h t o f t h e v e h i c l e w i t h
c r e a s ei nc u r r e n t

from a c o n v e n t i o n a l

plus

and p r o j e c t e d h e l i c o p t e r l i f t i n g c a p a b i l i t i e s

potentially a substantialreductionincurrentverticalliftcosts.
The c o n c e p t a l s o e l i m i n a t e s t h e s i g n i f i c a n t h i s t o r i c a l a i r s h i p
d e f i c i e n c y o fi n t e r c h a n g i n gb a l l a s t
c e p tp r o m i s e st os i g n i f i c a n t l y

a n dp a y l o a d .I na d d i t i o n ,t h e

improve t h e low s p e e dc o n t r o l

q u a l i t i e so fp r i o ra i r s h i p sw h i l ea l s ol e a d i n gt o
characteristics.

conand h o v e r i n g

improvedground

handling

The c l a s s i c a lh e l i c o p t e rp r o b l e m so fh i g hf u e lc o n s u m p t i o n

and a i r f r a m ew e i g h ta r ei m p l i c i t l y

minimized i nt h ec o n c e p t .F u r t h e r ,

s i g n i f i c a n t l y improved m a i n t a i n a b i l i t y and r e l i a b i l i t y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
a p p e a rt o

be a v a i l a b l e i f d e d i c a t e d p r o p u l s i o n s y s t e m s ( r o t o r / t u r b i n e /

t r a n s m i s s i o nm o d u l e s )a r ed e v e l o p e d ,
unnecessary.

making t h e use of e x i s t i n g h e l i c o p t e r s

The HLA concept i s r e l a t i v e l y immune t o s c a l e e f f e c t s

-8-

and

p r i o ra n a l y s e s( R e f e r e n c e s

1 and 10) have shown t h a tp a y l o a d s

up t o s e v e r a l

miles.

hundredtonscanbetransportedseveralhundred

The s p e c i f i c HLA c o n f i g u r a t i o n s t u d i e d i n P h a s e

I1 combines f o u r CH-

54B h e l i c o p t e r s , by means o f a n i n t e r c o n n e c t i n g s t r u c t u r e , t o

a two andone-

halfmillioncubicfootnon-rigidairshiphullfabricatedofpresent-day
proven a i r s h i pm a t e r i a l s( F i g u r e

Figure 6.
68,040 Kg ( 7 5t o n s )

6).

T h i s HLA h a s a p a y l o a dc a p a c i t yo f

Phase 11 Heavy L i f tA i r s h i pC o n c e p t

and a n o n - r e f u e l e dr a n g e

of 1.852 x

lo5

m ( 1 0 0n a u t i -

c a lm i l e s ) .W i t h o u tt h eb u o y a n c y ,t h ec o l l e c t i v ep a y l o a dc a p a b i l i t yo f
thefourhelicoptersatthe
t h a t of t h e HLA.
canbelifted

same r a n g e wouldbeon

Figure 7 i l l u s t r a t e st h e

by t h e HLA b u t whichcannot

theorder

of50%of

many m i l i t a r yp a y l o a d sw h i c h
be l i f t e d by e x i s t i n g h e l i -

copters.
The HLA i s c o n t r o l l e d f r o m t h e a f t l e f t h e l i c o p t e r
p i l o tu s i n g
- .

Fly-By-Wire

by a command

(FBW) t e c h n i q u e s .A u t o m a t i cf l i g h tc o n t r o l

and

1 The r a n g e c a p a b i l i t y o f a n o p e r a t i o n a l

HTA c o n f i g u r a t i o n u s i n g d e d i c a t e d
propulsionsystemsreflective
of c u r r e n t t e c h n o l o g y w i l l be s u b s t a n t i a l l y
g r e a t e rt h a nt h eP h a s e
I1 c o n f i g u r a t i o n( R e f e r e n c e 10).

-9-

I
I-

O
I

X
rD
P
Y.

i,
0

'0
R

ID

r.

hover modes, w i t h t h e h o v e r c a p a b i l i t y e n h a n c e d
Sensor (PHS),wouldbe

by a P r e c i s i o n Hover

p r o v i d e di na d d i t i o nt ot h e

manual f l i g h t modes.

(AFCS), PHS and FBW e l e c t r o n i c s

The A u t o m a t i cF l i g h tC o n t r o lS y s t e m

HLA i n v o l v ep r i n c i p l e s ,t e c h n i q u e s ,

r e q u i r e df o rt h e

andhardwaredevelop-

U. S. Army Heavy L i f t H e l i c o p t e r

edanddemonstratedduringthe

Program

and a NASA-Langley Program during which Sikorsky Aircraft modified

54B h e l i c o p t e r t o o b t a i n

a FBW c a p a b i l i t y .

The c o n f i g u r a t i o n i n v e s t i g a t e d d u r i n g P h a s e
helicopterwith

a CH-

I1 r e t a i n s t h e e n t i r e

a minimum o f m o d i f i c a t i o n b e c a u s e o f t h e

economy involved

inusingexistinghardwareassetsforaninitialflightresearchvehicle.
A significantbenefit

ofthe

coming NASA S t u d y o f t h e c i v i l h e a v y l i f t

market w i l l be a m a r k e t s i z e d e f i n i t i o n s u c h t h a t
a sufficientquantity

made a st ow h e t h e r

a determinationcan

ofheavy

lift vehicles

c o s te f f e c t i v e l ya m o r t i z e d .T h i sd e d i c a t e dp r o p u l s i o ns y s t e m
HLA a l o n g w i t h

usedontheoperationalversionofthe
c a rf o rt h ef l i g h t

i s needed

a d e d i c a t e dp r o p u l s i o ns y s t e mc a n

overwhichthedevelopmentcostsof

be

be

wouldbe
a central control

crew.

The m a j o ra r e a so fi n v e s t i g a t i o nd u r i n gt h eP h a s e

I1 HLA S t u d yi n -

c l u d e d : (1) a p o i n td e s i g na n a l y s i s( a e r o d y n a m i c s ,f l i g h td y n a m i c s ,c o n and w e i g h t s ) ; (2) a n economic a n a l y s i s ; ( 3 ) a no p e r -

t r o l s ,s t r u c t u r e s ,
a t i o n a la n a l y s i s ;

and ( 4 ) a t e c h n o l o g ya s s e s s m e n ta n a l y s i s .

A c o r p o r a t e l yf u n d e d
a t e dd u r i n gP h a s e

poweredwind

I1 i n t h e

The r e s u l t s o ft h e s e

t u n n e l model o f t h e

HLA was e v a l u -

NASA A m e s 7 x 1 0 - f o o t wind t u n n e l f a c i l i t y .

tests i n d i c a t et h ea e r o d y n a m i cf e a s i b i l i t yo f

b i n i n gl a r g er o t o r si nc l o s ep r o x i m i t yt o

a l a r g eh u l l .T h e s e

comt e s t s have

a l s o shown t h a t t h e c r o s s - w i n d s t a t i o n k e e p i n g c a p a b i l i t y o f t h e v e h i c l e
c a n beimprovedby
the current

m o d i f i c a t i o n s ,s u c ha sc h a n g i n gr o t o rl o c a t i o n s ,t o

HLA c o n f i g u r a t i o n .

A s anadditionalarea

of: c o r p o r a t e s u p p o r t ,

( 6 DOF) h y b r i dc o m p u t e rf l i g h td y n a m i c ss i m u l a t i o n
assesstheflight

dynamicsand

p r e c i s i o nh o v e r

-11-

a S i x Degree-of-Freedom
was d e v e l o p e dt o
mode accuracyofthe

HLA

...

..

. .

and t oa s s i s ti nt h es y n t h e s i so ft h ef l y - b y - w i r ec o n t r o ll a w sa n da u t o p i l o ts y s t e m .B a s e d

upon t h e wind t u n n e la n df l i g h td y n a m i c ss i m u l a t i o n

HLA h a s s u f f i c i e n t c o n t r o l l a b i l i t y t o p e r f o r m

e f f o r t s i t a p p e a r st h a tt h e
themilitary

i t i s b e i n gc o n s i d e r e do v e ra n

and c i v i l m i s s i o n s f o r w h i c h

a c c e p t a b l er a n g eo fa t m o s p h e r i cc o n d i t i o n s .
DuringPhase

11, v a r i o u ss t r u c t u r a la r r a n g e m e n t s

and m a t e r i a l t r a d e

s t u d i e s were performed i n o r d e r t o m i n i m i z e s t r u c t u r a l w e i g h t , w h i l e
A r e a s o n a b l yd e t a i l e dp o i n t

m a i n t a i n i n ga c c e p t a b l ea c q u i s i t i o nc o s t s .

d e s i g n a n a l y s i s was p e r f o r m e d o n t h e a r r a n g e m e n t f i n a l l y s e l e c t e d a n d a s
a resultthe

empty w e i g h t e s t i m a t e s f o r t h e v e h i c l e a r e b e l i e v e d t o b e

reasonablyaccurate.
The Phase I1 e c o n o m i ca n a l y s i si n d i c a t e st h eT o t a lO p e r a t i n gC o s t s
(TOC) o ft h e

HLA on a p a y l o a dt o n - m i l eb a s i st ob es u b s t a n t i a l l yr e d u c e d

overcurrentlargehelicopterverticalliftcostsbasically
economicleverageafforded
programs i n t h e a r e a s o f

due t o t h e

by t h eb u o y a n tl i f t .G i v e np r o p e rt e c h n o l o g y
low m a i n t e n a n c er o t o rc o n c e p t sa n dt h ei n c l u s i o n
TOC f o r t h e

o fc u r r e n tt u r b i n et e c h n o l o g y ,t h e

HLA shouldbe

more f a v o r -

a b l et h a ne s t i m a t e dh e r e i n .
The technologyassessmentofthe

HLA i n d i c a t e st h a tt h e r ea p p e a r st o

benomajorunresolvabletechnologyproblemsandthustheconcept
b a s i c a l l yf e a s i b l e .

However, a d d i t i o n a ld a t a

and a n a l y s i sc a p a b i l i t y

needed i n s e v e r a l t e c h n i c a l a r e a s b e f o r e a n o p e r a t i o n a l
d e s i g n e dw i t h

low r i s k a n dh i g he f f i c i e n c y .

technologydevelopmentprogram

is
is

HLA couldbe

A s p a r to fP h a s e

11, a

t os u p p l yt h i si n f o r m a t i o nh a sb e e no u t -

lined.
A l o g i c a l s t e p t o w a r d sd e v e l o p m e n to fa no p e r a t i o n a lv e h i c l e

f l i g h tr e s e a r c hv e h i c l e

(FRV) program.

n o to b t a i n a b l ei ng r o u n db a s e df a c i l i t i e s
b i l i t y oftheconcept.

T h i s would g i v er e s e a r c hc a p a b i l i t i e s
and would s e r v e t o v e r i f y f e a s i -

maximum
The FRV would make

ponentstominimizeprogramcosts.

-12-

is a

u s e o fe x i s t i n g

com-

D e s c r i p t i o n of HLA and Related Performance

F i g u r e 8 p r e s e n t st h eP h a s e

I1 HLA g e n e r a la r r a n g e m e n t

p e r f o r m a n c ec h a r a c t e r i s t i c so fi n t e r e s t .
147,365 kg (324,950lbs)ofwhich
and81,993

amountof

65,375 kg (144,150 l b s ) i s buoyant l i f t

The f o u rh e l i c o p t e r sa r ec a p -

l i f t w i t h oneengineoutandadequate

a 30.48 m/min (100 f t / m i n )c l i m b .T h e r ea r e

r e s e r v ef o r

is

The d e s i g ng r o s sw e i g h t

kg (180,800 lbs) i s r o t o r l i f t .

ableofprovidingthis

and s e l e c t e d

on t h eo r d e ro f

fifteenairshiphangarsremaininginthiscountrythatcan

accommodate two

such vehicles.

ROTOR L I F T
6 U O l A N TL I F T
E M P TN
I EIGH!
USEFUL LOA0
S T A I I CH E A V I N E S S .

160,800 l b r
144.150 lbs
140.070 l b s
176.800 lbs
3.929 l b s
2 . 5 I 106 C Y It
5 . 1 5 a lo5 cu t t

ENVELOPEVOLURE
BALLONET VOLUME

IALLONET
ccILImc
RA710
H U L LF I N E N E S S
D E S I G NS P E E D
(TAS)
RANGE
DESIGN
W I T H MAX PAYLOAD
NO PAlLOAO
f ERR1
NOTf:

T
2I

Figure8.Phase

3.2
b0 t n a t a

100 nm
I96 nm

1.150 .n

1.0 f t
3.041 I 10-lm. 1.0 lbm
4.536 a 10-1 t p
1.0 k n o t
5.144 a 10 . I s . 1 . 0 cu f t I 2.032 a 10.
1.0 nm
1.852 I IO

I1 GeneralArrangement

PerformanceCharacteristics

A t s e al e v e l ,s t a n d a r dd a y ,

--

8.500 I t

cu

and S e l e c t e d
2

93% i n f l a t i o n .

The r a n g e c a p a b i l i t y o f a n o p e r a t i o n a l
HTA c o n f i g u r a t i o n u s i n g d e d i c a t e d
p r o p u l s i o ns y s t e m sr e f l e c t i v eo fc u r r e n tt e c h n o l o g y
w i l l be s u b s t a n t i a l l y
g r e a t e rt h a nt h eP h a s e
I1 c o n f i g u r a t i o n( R e f e r e n c e IO).

-13-

i s obtainedfrom

The b u o y a n t p o r t i o n o f t h e l i f t

a two andone-half

millioncubicfootnon-rigidhullfabricatedfrompresentdayprovenairs h i p f a b r i c s .B a s i cf a b r i c

g r e a t e rt h a nt h e

andseam

s t r e n g t h sr e q u i r e da r eo n l ys l i g h t l y

maximum o f t h e l a r g e s t n o n - r i g i d e v e r b u i l t , t h e

b u i l t by Goodyear f o rt h e

U. S. Navy i nt h el a t e1 9 5 0 ' s .

ZPG-3W
The l i f t i n g g a s

i s helium.

The t w i n - e n g i n e h e l i c o p t e r s a r e a t t a c h e d t o t h e b u o y a n t h u l l
o ft h ei n t e r c o n n e c t i n gs t r u c t u r e

much ofwhich

envelopetoreduceaerodynamicdrag

by means

i s "submerged" w i t h i n t h e

and o v e r a l lv e h i c l eh e i g h t .

The f o u r

S i k o r s k y CH-54B h e l i c o p t e r s h a v eb e e na d a p t e dt ot h ei n t e r c o n n e c t i n g
s t r u c t u r e by means of a g i m b a ld e v i c e .
c o p t e r sa r er e p l a c e dw i t hp r o p e l l e r s
p r o p u l s i v ef o r c ef o rf o r w a r df l i g h t
minimum g r o s sw e i g h t .
a l t e r e d andused

The t a i l r o t o r s o f t h e a f t h e l i and r e o r i e n t e d t o p r o v i d e s u f f i c i e n t

and d i r e c t i o n a l c o n t r o l a t o r n e a r

The t a i lr o t o r so ft h ef o r w a r dh e l i c o p t e r sa r e

un-

t op r o v i d es i d ef o r c ef o ri n c r e a s i n gt h ec r o s s - w i n d

station keeping ability.

The FBW c o n t r o ls y s t e mc o m b i n e st h en o r m a lp i l o tc o n t r o l
t h en e e d e da u t o m a t i cf l i g h tc o n t r o l

and hover modes.

technology i s s i m i l a r t o t h a t d e m o n s t r a t e d i n t h e
Programduringwhich

The c o n t r o ls y s t e m

Heavy L i f t H e l i c o p t e r

a p r o t o t y p e FBW c o n t r o l s y s t e m was s u c c e s s f u l l y f l o w n

on t h e tandem r o t o r CH-47 h e l i c o p t e r w i t h o v e r
accumulated

modes w i t h

300 h o u r so ff l i g h tt i m e

The Phase I1 c o n f i g u r a t i o np e r m i t sc e n t e rp o i n tm o o r i n gt o
whichminimizesmooringarea
wind t u n n e ld a t aa r er e q u i r e dt o
t h ec o n c e p tc a n

be c o n s i d e r e d

andmooringmastrequirements.Additional
p e r m i t a f i n a la s s e s s m e n ta st ow h e t h e r

accommodate a l l m o o r i n gr e q u i r e m e n t so fo p e r a t i o n a li n t e r -

est.

Design Analysis
Aerodynamics
One f a c t o rl e a d i n gt oG o o d y e a r ' sP h a s e
c o n c e p t was thejudgmentthat

I recommendationof

t h i s HLA

i t p o s s e s s e df a rf e w e ra e r o d y n a m i cu n c e r t a i n t i e s

-14-

t h a nt h eo t h e rh e a v y

l i f t conceptscombiningbuoyant

uncertaintythatexisted
t h el a r g er o t o r s

was t h e e x t e n t

One

of aerodynamicinterferencebetween

A s a r e s u l t of t h i su n c e r t a i n t y ,

a n dt h el a r g eh u l l .

j o i n t Goodyear/NASA s p o n s o r e de x p l o r a t o r y
c o n c e p t was u n d e r t a k e n i n t h e

and r o t o r l i f t .

NASA
Ames

wind t u n n e l i n v e s t i g a t i o n

of t h e

7 x 1 0 - f o o t wind t u n n e l f a c i l i t y .

The mode 1, shown i n F i g u r e 9 , i s 1.22 m ( 4 f t ) l o n g and 0 . 4 1 m (16

i n c h e s )i nd i a m e t e r .R o t o rl o c a t i o n ,t h r u s tm a g n i t u d e
roll)alongwiththe
p l a n ec a n

be v a r i e d .

and i n c l i n a t i o n( i n

model a n g l e of s i d e s l i p and h e i g h t abovetheground

Themodel

employs s i x

component b a l a n c e si ne a c h

o u t r i g g e r and a six-component main b a l a n c e i n t h e

F i g u r e 9.

model h u l l .

Powered Model i n ARC 7 x 10-Foot Wind Tunnel

F a c i l i t y i n P r e s e n c e of Ground P l a n e

-15-

The f o l l o w i n g r e p r e s e n t t h e
wind t u n n e lt e s t i n g :( 1 )

most s i g n i f i c a n t c o n c l u s i o n s f r o m t h e

no a p p r e c i a b l ei n t e r f e r e n c ee f f e c t si nf o r w a r d

( 2 ) no a p p r e c i a b l e i n t e r f e r e n c e e f f e c t s w e r e

f l i g h t wereobserved;

60 d e g r e e s( a tz e r od e g r e e s

o b s e r v e df o ra n g l e so fs i d e s l i pl e s st h a n
a n g l eo fa t t a c k ) ;( 3 )r o t o r - r o t o ri n t e r f e r e n c e
e f f e c to ft h eh u l l

on t h e r o t o r s

creaseincrossflowdrag

was n e g l i g i b l e and t h e

was s m a l l ; and ( 4 ) a c o n s i d e r a b l ei n -

o ft h eh u l lo c c u r sa s

a r e s u l t of t h e o p e r a t i o n
is a strong

of a l lf o u rm o t o r s .T h i sl a s ta d v e r s ei n t e r f e r e n c ee f f e c t

f u n c t i o n of r o t o r p l a c e m e n t w i t h t h e e f f e c t d e c r e a s i n g a s t h e r o t o r s
a r e moved o u t b o a r d .F o r e

and a f td i s p l a c e m e n t

o ft h er o t o r sr e s u l t e di n
The t e s t

no a p p r e c i a b l ec h a n g ei nt h eo b s e r v e di n t e r f e r e n c ee f f e c t s .
resultsalsoindicatethatin
f i e l d a r o u n dt h eh u l l

a c r o s s f l o wt h em o d i f i c a t i o no ft h ef l o w

by t h e o p e r a t i o n

of t h e r o t o r s

may be a u s a b l e

More t e s t i n g , however, i s n e c e s s a r y

phenomenon i nc o n t r o l l i n gt h ev e h i c l e .
t oc o n f i r mt h i s .

R e f e r e n c e 5 p r o v i d e s a comprehensive summary of t h e modeland

strumentationcharacteristics

in-

and t e s t program r e s u l t s .

F l i g h t Dynamics
A p r e l i m i n a r y 6 DOF simulationhasbeendevelopedusingtheGoodyear

h y b r i dc o m p u t e rf a c i l i t yt oa s s e s st h ef l i g h t
t h e HLA.

dynamics c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f

S p e c i f i c u s e s o ft h es i m u l a t i o ni n c l u d e :( 1 )s y n t h e s i so fo v e r -

( 2 ) s y n t h e s i s of t h ef l y - b y - w i r ec o n t r o l

a l lc o n t r o ls y s t e mr e q u i r e m e n t s ;

and ( 3 ) v e r i f i c a t i o nt h a tt h ec o n t r o l

laws and a u t o p i l o t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ;

AFCS and PHS modes a r ec o m p a t i b l e

l a w sd e v e l o p e df o ri n t e r f a c ew i t ht h e
w i t h manualmodes.

The e l e m e n t si n v o l v e di nt h es i m u l a t i o n

The HLA g u s t model, c o n t r o l lawsand

i nt h eh y b r i ds e t u pa r ea sf o l l o w s .
a u t o p i l o t sa r e

and t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e l o c a t i o n

programmed on t h e 'EA1 7800 analogcomputer.

computer i s l i n k e d ,t h r o u g ha n

The a n a l o g

EA1 8 8 3 1h y b r i di n t e r f a c es y s t e mt o

a Xerox

Sigma 9 d i g i t a l computerwhichcontainstheequations

of m o t i o n ,a i r s h i p

and h e l i c o p t e rn o n - l i n e a ra e r o d y n a m i c s ,

wind h o v e r i n t e r -

f e r e n c e model developedfrom
s i m u l a t i o nh a sp r o v e du s e f u li n

w i l l have t o beimproved
studies

and t h e c r o s s

t h e wind t u n n e lt e s t

i t s presentform,

and expanded f o r u s e i n

results.

Althoughthe

many of i t s e l e m e n t s
more d e t a i l e d d e s i g n

.
-16-

"

I nP h a s e
i nt h ec r u i s e

I1 t h e HLA s i m u l a t i o n was " f l o w n " w i t h a u t o p i l o t c o n t r o l

andhover

flownmanually

HLA s i m u l a t i o nc a nb e

I na d d i t i o n ,t h e

by s t i c ki n p u t st ot h ea n a l o gc o m p u t e r .

o p e r a t e si nr e a l
inputs.

modes.

timeto@rovide

realisticflightresponsesforflight

A l l r e s u l t s a r ed i s p l a y e da sa no u t p u t

onanoscillographor

The s i m u l a t i o n

of theanalogcomputer

on a c a t h o d e r a y t u b e .

of t h e p r e c i s i o n h o v e r

A p r e l i m i n a r ya s s e s s m e n t

and d i r e c t i o n a l

s t a b i l i t y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e HLA were o b t a i n e d u s i n g t h e f l i g h t

results

d y n a m i c ss i m u l a t i o n .F i g u r e1 0p r e s e n t st y p i c a ls i m u l a t i o n
i n d i c a t i n gt h ev e h i c l er e s p o n s et o

2
w

a lateralgust.

1. 0
8
O

6
4

- 5 15
15 10

25
25 20

30

35

LATERAL GUST VELOCITY (FPS)

Figure10.Phase

I1 HLA Response t oL a t e r a l

The s i m u l a t i o n s t u d i e s t o - d a t e i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e h o v e r
al stability characteristics
significantrange

Gust

and d i r e c t i o n -

of t h e HLA a r e a d e q u a t e f o r o p e r a t i o n s o v e r

of e x p e c t e da t m o s p h e r i cc o n d i t i o n s .

-17-

FlightControl

System

The p r e l i m i n a r y f l i g h t
a v a i l a b l er o t o rf o r c e sc a n
i nb o t hf l i g h t

andhover

d y n a m i c ss i m u l a t i o ns t u d i e sh a v e

be a p p r o p r i a t e l y combined t o c o n t r o l t h e v e h i c l e
modes.

T h i sa c t i v ec o n t r o ls y s t e ma p p r o a c h

(i.e.,

e l i m i n a t e s a s e v e r ed e f i c i e n c yo fp a s ta i r s h i p s
i s n o tr e q u i r e df o r

c o n t r o l )s i n c ea i r s p e e d

A s s t a t e de a r l i e r ,t h e

c o n t r o lf o r c e s .

c o n t r o ls y s t e mt e c h n i q u e s
flight tested

shown t h a t . t h e

andhardware

l a c ko f

low speed

ths@2HLA t od e v e l o p

H U c o n t r o ls y s t e m

maximum

would u s e FBW

s i m i l a rt ot h o s ed e v e l o p e d

and

on a tandem r o t o r CH-47 h e l i c o p t e r programduringthe

program.Automatic

HLH

modes a r ep r o v i d e di n c l u d i n ga u t o m a t i ch o v e re m p l o y i n g

a p r e c i s i o nh o v e rs e n s o r .
The HLA i s f l o w nu s i n gs t a n d a r dh e l i c o p t e rc o n t r o l s .
helicopterservesasthe
p i l o ta r el o c a t e d .

command s t a t i o n i n which a command and s a f e t y

The command p i l o t ' sc o n v e n t i o n a lm e c h a n i c a lc o n t r o l s

arereplacedwithelectriccyclic
electricpedals

and c o l l e c t i v e s t i c k s a s w e l l a s

whichgeneratethe

c o n t r o ls y s t e m .

commands t ot h ea n a l o g

The r e m a i n i n gh e l i c o p t e r sa r es l a v e dt ot h e

c o p t e rt h r o u g ht h e
gramofFigure

The a f t l e f t

FBW f l i g h t
command h e l i -

FBW commands a s i n d i c a t e d i n t h e s i m p l i f i e d b l o c k d i a -

11.

S a f e t yp i l o t sc o u l d

beused

i nt h es l a v eh e l i c o p t e r s

w i t ht h ec o n v e n t i o n a lm e c h a n i c a lh e l i c o p t e rc o n t r o l sa v a i l a b l ei fn e e d e d .

i s a d u a lr e d u n d a n t

The HLA f l y - b y - w i r e p r i m a r y f l i g h t c o n t r o l s y s t e m
systemfromthe

command p i l o t ' s commands t o t h e i n p u t

h e l i c o p t e ra u t o p i l o t .

The h e l i c o p t e ra u t o p i l o t ,a l s o

e l e c t r o n i cs y s t e m ,f l i e st h eh e l i c o p t e r

commands t oe a c h
a d u a lr e d u n d a n t

on t h eg i m b a lt h r o u g ht h ee l e c t r o -

mechanica 1 AFCS s e r v o .
I m p l e m e n t a t i o no ft h ec o n t r o l
consistent with the

CH-54B
AFCS

concept which has

c h a n n e ls u c ht h a te i t h e ro rb o t hc a n

beused.

t h r e e modes o fo p e r a t i o nf o rs a f e t y - o f - f l i g h t :

a redundant electrical

The HLA t h e r e f o r eh a s

(1) a c t i v ep a t hf l y - b y -

and ( 3 ) a s a f e t y p i l o t u s i n g

wire; ( 2 ) r e d u n d a n tp a t hf l y - b y - w i r e ;
manual f l i g h t c o n t r o l

is

laws i n d u a l p a t h s f o r r e d u n d a n c y

system.9:

It is envisionedthatanoperationalconfiguration
would u s e a c e n t r a l
c o n t r o l c a r much l i k e p r i o r a i r s h i p s t h u s s a f e t y p i l o t s
would n o t be
r e q u i r e d a n d a t r i p l e r e d u n d a n t s y s t e m similar t o t h e HLH wouldbe
implemented.

-18-

HELICOPTER

COMMAND

(SLAVE)

(SLAVE)

SERVO

SERVO

SERVO

SERVO

#1

II

CONTROL LAWS

IKPUTS

HELICOPTER

HELICOPTER
#2
(SMYE)

HELICOPTER

t"

#3

#4

FLY-BY-WIRE
COMMANDS

NIXING

I
"
"
"
"
"
-

RATE GYROS
I

I
I
I
I

VERTICAL GYRO

I
I EXISTING
I HLH EQUIPflENT
L

___________

F i g u r e 11.

I
JI

II

I INTERCONNECTING
I STRUCTURE
L
---J

__-__-

HLA Fly-By-Wire ControlSystemBlockDiagram

The CH-54B h e l i c o p t e r i s i d e a l l y s u i t e d t o c o n v e r s i o n t o f l y - b y -

wire c o n t r o lw i t hs a f e t yp i l o to v e r r i d eb e c a u s eo ft h e
f a c t , a s i m i l a rc o n v e r s i o nh a sb e e na c h i e v e d

AFCS s e r v o .I n

by S i k o r s k y f o r

NASA

L a n g l e yf o rv a r i a b l es t a b i l i t yt e s tp u r p o s e s .I nt h a tc o n v e r s i o nt h e

test pilot's cyclic stick

was disconnectedmechanicallyfromtheco-

p i l o t s t i c k and e l e c t r i c a l t r a n s d u c e r s w i t h
added.

The c o - p i l o t( s a f e t yp i l o t )

test pilot at any

a stick feel system

were

had t h ea b i l i t yt oo v e r r i d et h e

time w i t h m e c h a n i c a l s t i c k p o s i t i o n s t a k i n g

command

of t h e h e l i c o p t e r i f r e q u i r e d .
An a u t o p i l o t i s r e q u i r e d o n t h e
a n dp i t c ha t t i t u d eh o l d .
sensorthat

HLA f o r t h e p r e c i s i o n h o v e r

The p r e c i s i o nh o v e r

mode

mode uses a p o s i t i o n

commands t h e a u t o p i l o t w h i c h p r o v i d e s l o a d s p o t t i n g a c c u r a c y

beyond t h e c a p a b i l i t i e s o f

a pilotmanuallyflyingthe

-19-

HTA v i ap r i m a r y

..

..

f l i g h tc o n t r o ls y s t e mi n
by t h ef o r e

a hover mode.

and a f t b a l l o n e t s c o u l d

The s t a t i c trim c a p a b i l i t y a f f o r d e d

be i n t e g r a t e d i n t o t h e p i t c h a t t i t u d e

A s n o t e dp r e v i o u s l yt h ef l i g h t

h o l da u t o p i l o tf u n c t i o n .

l a t i o n was used i n t h e s y n t h e s i s o f t h e a u t o p i l o t s y s t e m

dynamicssimuand a l s o t o

e x p e r i m e n t a l l yd e f i n et h ea u t o p i l o tg a i n s .
Structural Analysis

and M a t e r i a l s

D u r i n gt h ep r e l i m i n a r ys t u d i e so fP h a s e

I i t became o b v i o u st h a tt h e

HLA c o n c e p t i n t r o d u c e s s t r u c t u r a l d e s i g n c o n d i t i o n s n e v e r b e f o r e e n -

c o u n t e r e di na i r s h i pd e s i g n .

The b a s i cr e a s o nf o rt h i s

t h e maximum r o t o r f o r c e s a v a i l a b l e a r e i n e x c e s s o f t h e
t h ev e h i c l e

i s t h ef a c tt h a t
empty w e i g h t of

and a r e t h e r e f o r e c a p a b l e o f c r e a t i n g a c c e l e r a t i o n s f a r i n

e x c e s s of p r e v i o u sa i r s h i pe x p e r i e n c e .F u r t h e r m o r e ,t h ev e r yn a t u r eo f
t h ev e h i c l er e s u l t si nr o t o rl o c a t i o n sw h i c hp r o v i d el a r g e
c r e a t et h ep o s s i b i l i t y

o fv e r yl a r g e

moment armsand

moments a b o u t a l l t h r e e a x e s b e i n g

t r a n s m i t t e dt ot h ee n v e l o p e( F i g u r e1 2 ) .T h e s ec o n s i d e r a t i o n si n d i c a t e
r e q u i r e m e n tf o r

a broadbasedsuspensionsystemwithanarrangement

f a c i l i t a t i n gl a r g er i g g i n gt e n s i o n si nt h ec a b l e s
slackinthe

s o t h a t no c a b l e s go

most s e v e r el o a d i n g s .

Figure 12.

Major S t r u c t u r a l Components of HLA

-20-

I t was a l s o a p p a r e n t t h a t

a large s t r u c t u r e , s u f f i c i e n t t o

pre-

c l u d ep h y s i c a la n da e r o d y n a m i ci n t e r f e r e n c eb e t w e e nt h er o t o r sa n dt h e
e n v e l o p e a n db e t w e e na d j a c e n tr o t o r s ,

becomes a ni m p o r t a n tc o n s i d e r -

ation fromthestandpointofstructuralintegrityandinertweight.
I t was c l e a r t h a t c o n s i d e r a b l e e f f o r t

was j u s t i f i e d toward d e f i n i n g a

s t r u c t u r a l l ys o u n d l, i g h t w e i g h t i, n t e r c o n n e c t i n gs t r u c t u r e .
t h i s endnumerous

were i n v e s t i g a t e d .

d e s i g na p p r o a c h e s

Toward
The s e l e c t e d

interconnectingstructuralconceptconsistedofaninternal"star
frame"which

i s submerged w i t h i n t h e e n v e l o p e a s

The s t a r frame i s f a b r i c a t e d o f

shown i n F i g u r e

12.

three-boomed,weldedhighperformance

s t e e l g i r d e r se m p l o y i n gp i ne n d e dj o i n t s .

The o u t r i g g e r s and l i f t

s t r u t s w h i c ha r ee x t e r n a lt ot h ee n v e l o p ea r e

of a n aluminum honeycomb

s a n d w i c hc o n s t r u c t i o n .
The l a r g e number of h e l i c o p t e r and l a n d i n gl o a d i n gc o n d i t i o n s
e x p e r i e n c e d by t h ei n t e r c o n n e c t i n gs t r u c t u r el e dt ot h ed e v e l o p m e n t
of a s e r i e s ofcomputerprogramscombined

a si n d i c a t e di nF i g u r e

tofacilitatethestructuralanalysiseffort.

"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"

I
I

INTEGMTED CWUTER PROGRRn

SUSPENSlOii SYSTEI *

- *GEOXTRY
*STIFFNESS

A*

FRAYE JOINT
LORDS

FRCE MER
WADS

*UNIT SOLUTIOHS
"
"
"

""-

AND STIFFNESS.

-21-

I
I

13

is

for t h e v a r i o u s d e s i g n c o n d i t i o n s

The f a b r i c s t r e n g t h r e q u i r e d

dependent upon t h ef r e q u e n c yo fo c c u r r e n c e

of t h e s e c o n d i t i o n s

and t h e

i s under stress i nt h e s ec o n d i t i o n s .S i n c e

l e n g t ho ft i m et h ef a b r i c

creep r u p t u r e s t r e n g t h i s u s u a l l y

i nt h ed e s i g no fa ne n v e l o p et h e

c r i t i c a lr a t h e rt h a nt h eq u i c kb r e a ks t r e n g t ho ft h ef a b r i c ,t h eq u i c k
breakstrength

i s reduced by a f a c t o r which w i l l g u a r a n t e e a d e q u a t e

l i f e o ft h es t r u c t u r e .T h i sf a c t o rp r o v i d e sn o to n l yf o rc r e e pr u p t u r e

stress c o n c e n t r a t i o n s , wear and a s c a t t e r

e f f e c t s ,b u ta l s on o m i n a l

and were

f a c t o r .P r o v e nf a b r i c sa r ea v a i l a b l ef o rt h i sa p p l i c a t i o n
assumed i nt h eP h a s e

I1 d e s i g n .

Advanced m a t e r i a l s would g i v es i g n i f i -

c a n t component w e i g h t r e d u c t i o n s b u t

a v e r i f i c a t i o n programwouldbe

required.

A two-dimensionalenvelopeshapeanalysiscomputerprogram

was

d e v e l o p e dt od e f i n et h ec r o s s - s e c t i o n a ld e f o r m a t i o n so c c u r r i n gf o r
b o t ht h eu n s y m m e t r i c a la i rl o a d s

when masted o u t andsymmetrical

r i g g i n gl o a d s .
was s e l e c t e d so t h a t w r i n k l i n g

The e n v e l o p e p r e s s u r e

d e f o r m a t i o n w i l l notoccurunder

and e x c e s s i v e

l i m i t loads.

The e n v e l o p e a n a l y s i s h a s i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e c r i t i c a l l o a d s

which

d e f i n et h ee n v e l o p ef a b r i cs t r e n g t hr e q u i r e m e n t sa r et h o s ea s s o c i a t e d
w i t ht h ea i r s h i pb e i n g

masted o u t .T h i si n d i c a t e st h a ta l t e r n a t i v e st o

c e n t e r - p o i n t mooringshould
d a t aa r e

be i n v e s t i g a t e d .A d d i t i o n a l

needed t o c o n f i r m t h a t t h e

c a n beusedover

new c e n t e r p o i n t

mooringconcept

of o p e r a t i o n a lc o n d i t i o n s .I fn o t ,

a s u i t a b l er a n g e

a more conventionalmooringconcept

w i l l have t o be adopted.

Economic A n a l y s i s

A p r e l i m i n a r ye s t i m a t eo ft h eT o t a lO p e r a t i n gC o s t
a b l ep a y l o a dt o n - m i l e( s t a t u t e )

was made a s p a r t ofPhase

analysisconsideredanoperationalconfigurationthatdiffers
Phase I1 HIA i n t h a t o n l y t h e h e l i c o p t e r

A l l d o l l a r sa r ec o n s t a n t

wind t u n n e l

1976 d o l l a r s
-22-

(TOC) p e r a v a i l -

11.

The TOC
fromthe

rotor/turbine/transmission

module i s r e t a i n e do ne a c ho u t r i g g e ra n d
t h ef l i g h t

crew.

a centralcar

i s p r o v i d e df o r

would r e s u l t i n

It i s e s t i m a t e dt h a tt h i , sa p p r o a c h

a p p r o x i m a t e l y a 20% r e d u c t i o n i n t h e a c q u i s i t i o n c o s t a s
t h eP h a s e

compared t o

I1 c o n f i g u r a t i o n which r e t a i n s t h e e n t i r e h e l i c o p t e r

o u t r i g g e r s .F l i g h tc r e wr e q u i r e m e n t sa n dc o s t sa r ea l s ob a s e d
o p e r a t i o n a lC o n f i g u r a t i o n

(i.e.,

on t h e

s a f e t yp i l o t sn o tr e q u i r e d ) ,

The model u s e d i n c a l c u l a t i n g t h e d i r e c t p o r t i o n

i s t h es t a n d a r d

operatingcost

The i n d i r e c t e l e m e n t s
helicoptersin

of t h e t o t a l

A i r T r a n s p o r tA s s o c i a t i o na p p r o a c h .

are d e r i v e df r o mc o s t sn e e d e dt os u p p o r tl a r g e

commercialoperations.

Comparison o f t h e HLA TOC w i t ht h el a r g e s tc o m m e r c i a l

S64F, i s made i nF i g u r e1 4 .

c o p t e r ,t h eS i k o r s k y
c o n s i d e r e dt o

on t h e

beperforming

of p e r f o r m i n gi n

Both v e h i c l e sa r e

a m i s s i o nt h a tt h eh e l i c o p t e r

ter.ms ofpayloadweight.

U. S. H e l i is capable

The f i g u r ei n d i c a t e st h e

FAX GROSS WEIGHT

BEST ENDU3ANCE SPEED

1500

I000

UTILIZATION

2000

(HRVANNUM)

Figure14.Comparison
of S64Fand HLA T o t a lO p e r a t i n gC o s tP e r
Payload Ton Mile a t Design Range of HLA

-23-

g e n e r a le c o n o m i cb e n e f i t st ob ed e r i v e df r o mc o m b i n i n gr o t o ra n db u o y a n t

liEt.

The r e d u c e dm a i n t e n a n c ea n di m p r o v e df u e lc o n s u m p t i o nc h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

w i l l servetofurther

o f a d e d i c a t e dc u r r e n tt e c h n o l o g yp r o p u l s i o ns y s t e m
HLA.

improvetheeconomicsofthe

The a d d i t i o n a le c o n o m i cb e n e f i t st h a t

terms o f

a v e h i c l ec a p a b l eo fl i f t i n gl a r g eo u t s i z e dl o a d sc a np r o v i d ei n
s i t e a s s e m b l y ,s p e c i a l

f a c t o r yv e r s u sr e m o t e
i n go n l yl i m i t e d

highway o r roadways r e c e i v -

u s e , e t c . , m u s t a l s o beincluded

i n a n yd e t a i l e dm a r k e t

andeconomicanalysis.
F o rp u r p o s e so ft h ee c o n o m i ca n a l y s i s ,t h e
e s t i m a t e da t

$50 x 10

The HLA f u e lc o n s u m p t i o nf o rt h ed e s i g ns p e e d

of 60 k t s i s e s t i m a t e dt ob e
w i t h o u tt h eb e n e f i t so f
o r d e ro f

HLA RDT&E c o s t sh a v eb e e n

0.36 g a l / t o n - m i l e .

As a m a t t e ro fi n t e r e s t ,

buoyancy t h e f u e l r e q u i r e m e n t s

wouldbeon

the

0.52 g a l / t o n - m i l e .
OperationalAnalysis

The HLA c o n c e p t e l i m i n a t e s o r m i n i m i z e s t h e s i g n i f i c a n t h i s t o r i c a l
a i r s h i pd e f i c i e n c i e s .

The most i m p o r t a n to ft h e s e

i s e l i m i n a t e d by t h e u s e o f s u f f i c i e n t

changepayloadandballastwhich
rotorlifttogive
dition.

i s always i n a h e a v i e r - t h a n - a i rc o n -

a v e h i c l ew h i c h

terms o fc u r r e n t l yp o s t u l a t e du s e s )h i s t o r i c a l

The s e v e r e( i n

l i m i t a t i o no fl a c ko f

i s t h en e e dt oi n t e r -

low s p e e dc o n t r o l

i s s i g n i f i c a n t l y minimized i n t h e

HLA c o n c e p t ,a g a i nd u et ot h el a r g er o t o rf o r c e sb e i n ga v a i l a b l ef o r
c o n t r o l .P r i o ra i r s h i p sh a v e
e x c e p ti n t o

hadno

a steadyheadwind.

s t u d i e s ,d i s c u s s e dp r e v i o u s l y ,

a p p r e c i a b l eh o v e r i n gc a p a b i l i t i e s

However, t h ef l i g h t
show t h a t t h e

dynamicssimulation

HLA h a s good p o t e n t i a l i n

t h i sr e g a r d .
Ground h a n d l i n go ft h e

HLA i n c o m p a r i s o n t o p r i o r a i r s h i p s

will

be much improved f o r two r e a s o n s .F i r s t ,t h er o t o rc o n t r o lf o r c e s

c a nb eu s e do nt h eg r o u n da si nf l i g h tt oc o n t r o lt h ev e h i c l e
v e h i c l e i s n o t moored.

S e c o n d l y ,t h e

The widebasedlandinggeararrangementprovides

-24-

HLA h a s a w i d e basedlandinggear

some c a s e s were l i m i t e d t o

a r r a n g e m e n tw h e r e a sp r i o ra i r s h i p si n
s i n g l ew h e e lg e a r .

when t h e

a
a

s i g n i f i c a n t improvement i n v e h i c l e r o l l s t a b i l i t y o n t h e
w i l l minimizevehicleresponsetogroundturbulence.

groundwhich
The widebased

w i l l alsodecreasethehistorical

l a n d i n gg e a ra r r a n g e m e n t

problem t h a t

snow and i c e a c c u m u l a t i o n h a v e r e p r e s e n t e d t o p a s t a i r s h i p s
Priorairships,

which a f t e r u s e d o n l y

v e r ys u s c e p t a b l et oo v e r t u r n i n g

when moored.

a s i n g l ew h e e ll a n d i n gg e a r ,

were

due t o snow and i c ea c c u m u l a t i o n .

A new " c e n t e rp o i n t "m o o r i n gc o n c e p tf o rt h e

HLA, whichreduces
I1 Study.

p r i o r mooring d a t ar e q u i r e m e n t s ,h a se v o l v e dd u r i n gt h eP h a s e
The concepttakesadvantageofthewidebasedlandinggeararrangement
a sw e l la st h e

"rugged"natureofthesuspensionsystem.

thatwiththis

mooringconceptthe

f r o mu n p r e p a r e df i e l d si n v o l v i n g
centerpoint

mooringsystem

w i t hs t r u c t u r ea tt h ec e n t e r
t h ev e h i c l es t a W L z e s ,

It a p p e a r s

HLA c a n be moored o u t , and o p e r a t e d

a widerangeof

s o i lc o n d i t i o n s .

The

u t i l i z e s a "stub"mastwhichinterfaces
of t h ei n t e r c o n n e c t i n gs t r u c t u r e .

when masted o u t , b r o a d s i d e t o t h e

Thus,

wind t h e r e b y

r e d u c i n gt h em o o r i n ga r e ai nc o m p a r i s o nt ot h a tr e q u i r e di nt h ec o n v e n t i o n a l bow mooringarrangement.
T r a n s p o r to r" f e r r y "o ft h e

H J A t ot h ea r e a

of o p e r a t i o n a l need w i l l

be accomplished much t h e same a s i nt h ep a s ta i r s h i p s .

The o p e r a t i o n a l

HLA c o n f i g u r a t i o n w i l l l i k e l y u s ea na u x i l i a r yt u r b o p r o pp r o p u l s i o n

s y s t e mf o rt h ef e r r ym i s s i o n ;t h u st h eh i g hf u e le f f i c i e n c yi n h e r e n t
i n p a s t a i r s h i po p e r a t i o n s

w i l l be a c h i e v e d .

Technology Assessment Analysis

The f i n a l t a s k ofthe
A n a l y s i s (TAA).

HLA Phase I1 Study was a TechnologyAssessment

T h i si n c l u d e dt h r e em a j o rs u b t a s k s :

( 1 )I d e n t i f i c a t i o no fa r e a s
towardimproved

whereadvancedtechnologycouldcontribute

s a f e t y ,p e r f o r m a n c e ,o re c o n o m i c so ft h ev e h i c l e .

(2)

I d e n t i f i c a t i o no ft h e

(3)

I d e n t i f i c a t i o no fc o s t s

and schedulesfortechnologydevelopmentand

flightresearchvehicle

programs.

Onlythe

need f o rf l i g h tr e s e a r c hv e h i c l e s .

f i r s t two items w i l l be summarized h e r e i n .

-25-

Although no t e c h n i c a l b a r r i e r s t o d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e v e h i c l e c o n c e p t

were d i s c o v e r e di nt h ec o u r s eo ft h e

HLA Phase I1 i n v e s t i g a t i o n , t h e r e

a r es e v e r a la r e a si nw h i c hf u r t h e ra n a l y s i s

i s f o rf u r t h e rs m a l l - s c a l et e s t i n g .

dynamics,theimmediaterequirement
o b v i o u sc h o i c ef o rt h i sw o r k

and d a t aa r en e e d e d .I na e r o -

NASA A m e s

i s t h e1 2 - f o o tp r e s s u r et u n n e la t

R e s e a r c hC e n t e rs i n c et h ev a r i a b l ed e n s i t yf e a t u r eo ft h i st u n n e l
a l l o wt e s t i n gs i g n i f i c a n t l ya b o v et h ec r i t i c a lR e y n o l d s

An

will
number.

Test

r e s u l t s w i l l p r o v i d ea e r o d y n a m i cd a t af o r :( 1 )f l i g h td y n a m i c ss i m u l a t i o n ,
( 2 )v e r i f i c a t i o no ft h et h e o r e t i c a lt e c h n i q u e sf o rp r e d i c t i n ga e r o d y n a m i c

(3) d e f i n i t i o n

i n t e r f e r e n c ee f f e c t sw h i c ha r ec u r r e n t l yb e i n gd e v e l o p e d ,

o f a f i n a lc o n f i g u r a t i o n( e . g . ,s e l e c t i o no fr o t o rl o c a t i o n ,h u l lf i n e n e s s

( 4 ) e n v e l o p ea n a l y s i s ,a n d

r a t i o , and t a i ls u r f a c ec o n f i g u r a t i o n ,i fa n y ) ,

( 5 ) mooringsystemanalysis.
F i n a la e r o d y n a m i cd a t af r o mt e s t i n gi n

4 9 x 80 f o o t wind t u n n e l f a c i l i t y a t

a l a r g et u n n e ls u c ha st h e

Ames w i l l beneeded.This

facility

a l l o w s a model o f s u E P i c i e n t s i z e s u c h t h a t a r t i c u l a t e d r o t o r s c a n

be

u s e d .A r t i c u l a t e dr o t o r sa r en e c e s s a r yt oa s s e s su n s t e a d ya e r o d y n a m i c
e f E2cts.
A key t e c h n i c a l r e q u i r e m e n t

o ff l i g h t

dynamicssimulation.

i s continueddevelopmentandrefinement

The f o l l o w i n g i s needed i n terms o f

up-

g r a d i n ge x i s t i n gs i m u l a t i o nc a p a b i l i t i e s :( 1 )c o m p l e t e ,e x p e r i m e n t a l l y
v e r i f i e d G DOF a e r o d y n a m i c s ;( 2 )i m p r o v e dr e p r e s e n t a t i mo ft h er o t o r
dynamics; ( 3 ) improved t u r b u l e n c es p e c t r a ;

( 4 ) improved r e p r e s e n t a t i o no f

t h ei n t e r a c t i o no ft h et u r b u l e n c ew i t ht h ev e h i c l e ;
a e r o e l a s t i ce f f e c t s .
b et os u p p o r t

The main uses o ft h ef l i g h td y n a m i c ss i m u l a t i o n

(1) c o n t r o ls y s t e md e s i g na n da n a l y s i s ,

s i m u l a t o re x p e r i m e n t s ,

and ( 5 ) i n c l u s i o no f

will

( 2 ) ground-based

( 3 ) d e v e l o p m e n to fd e s i g nc r i t e r i a ,a n d

(4) struc-

t u r a l d e s i g n and a n a l y s i s .
T h e r ea r es e v e r a la r e a si ns t r u c t u r e s
nologydevelopment.
criteria.

and m a t e r i a l sw h i c hn e e dt e c h -

One need i s f o rd e v e l o p m e n to fs t r u c t u r a ld e s i g n

A d e t a i l e ds t r u c t u r a l

d y n a m i c sa n a l y s i s

a s s u r e a v e h i c l e s t r u c t u r e f r e eo fi n s t a b i l i t i e s .

w i l l b er e q u i r e dt o
A c o m p r e h e n s i v ea n a l y s i s

w i l l a l s o be n e c e s s a r y .

o ft h ee n v e l o p ea n ds u s p e n s i o ns y s t e m
-26-

The l a r g e

d e f o r m a t i o n s( a s

HLA w i l l r e q u i r e

compared t o p r i o r a i r s h i p s ) o f t h e

A program t oe x p e r i m e n t a l l yv a l i d a t e

new e n v e l o p ea n a l y s i st e c h n i q u e s .

a d v a n c e dm a t e r i a l s ,p a r t i c u l a r l yf a b r i c s

and f i l m s , would l e a dt os u b -

s t a n t i a l l y improved v e h i c l ep e r f o r m a n c e .
A technologyprogramwhich

thedevelopment

would l e a dt oe c o n o m i cb e n e f i t

of a low maintenancepropulsionsystem.

r e q u i r e m e n t so ft h eh e l i c o p t e r s .

The a v a i l a b i l i t y ofbuoyant

marginsonthedynamiccomponentsand
a propulsionsystemfor

thiscould

bilitiesthatcannot

be e x p l o i t e d i n t h e

low maintenance.

The TAA h a s i n d i c a t e d t h e d e s i r a b i l i t y o f
The primarypurposeofan

FRV wouldbe

a FlightResearchVehicle
t oo b t a i nr e s e a r c hc a p a -

be d u p l i c a t e d i n g r o u n d - b a s e d f a c i l i t i e s o r i n

FRV i s p a t t e r n e d

ground-basedcomponentandsub-systemtesting.Ifthe
a f t e rt h eP h a s e

lift to

permit greater

o f f s e tt h ew e i g h to ft h er o t o rs y s t e mc o m p o n e n t sc a n

(FRV).

The p r o j e c t e d

I1 HTA are dominated by t h e m a i n t e n a n c e

m a i n t e n a n c ec o s t so ft h eP h a s e

d e s i g no f

is

I1 HLA, i t would a l s o be c a p a b l eo fp r o v i d i n gc o n c e p t

v e r i f i c a t i o n and o p e r a t i n g c o s t d a t a u n d e r a c t u a l m i s s i o n c o n d i t i o n s .

Use o f e x i s t i n g h e l i c o p t e r s

and o t h e r o f f - t h e - s h e l f

componentswould

r e s u l t i n a low c o s t FRV program.

One a p p r o a c h t o a n

HLA FRV program i s t o d e v e l o p t h e

withthetechnologydevelopmentprogramandthisapproach
Reference 2 .

The FRV i n i t i a l l y wouldbe

p r o v e nt e c h n o l o g yi n s o f a r
a t a r e l a t i v e l ye a r l yd a t e .
t h e n be i n t e g r a t e d i n t o t h e

FRV c o n c u r r e n t l y
was adopted i n

c o n s t r u c t e du s i n ge x i s t i n g ,

as p o s s i b l e so t h a t f l i g h t t e s t i n g c o u l d b e g i n
The r e s u l t s fromthetechnologyprogram

would

FRV a s t h e y became a v a i l a b l e .

ConclusionsandRecommendations
Significantconclusionsresulting

from t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h e h e a v y

lift airship concept are:

(1)

The c o n c e p ta p p e a r st o

potentialformeetingthe

be t e c h n i c a l l yf e a s i b l e

need f o r t h e

heavyandveryheavy

andhasthe
vertical lift

o fl a r g eo u t s i z e dc a r g o .
(2)

The buoyancy, i na d d i t i o nt op e r m i t t i n g
-27-

a s u b s t a n t i a li n c r e a s e

insinglevehicleverticalliftcapability,shouldprovide

a significant

r e d u c t i o ni nc u r r e n tv e r t i c a ll i f tc o s t s .A d d i t i o n a l l y ,t h e
r e d u c e st h ef u e lr e q u i r e m e n t sf o rl i f t i n g

and t r a n s p o r t i n g c a r g o i n

com-

tems.

parison to current helicopter sys

(3)

buoyancy

The c o n c e p tm i n i m i z e so re l i m i n a t e ss i g n i f i c a n to p e r a t i o n a l

deficienciesofpastairshipdesigns.

(4)

The t e c h n o l o g ya s s e s s m e n ta n a l y s i sh a si n d i c a t e dt h a ts i g n i f i -

c a n tt e c h n o l o g ye f f o r t s( e . g .

wind t u n n e l t e s t i n g , f l i g h t

dynamics

dynamics a n a l y s i s ) are needed t oa s s u r et h e

s i m u l a t i o n ,s t r u c t u r a l

successfuldevelopmentoftheconcept.Othertechnologyprograms(e.g.
i n m a t e r i a l s and p r o p u l s i o ns y s t e m s )

would s u b s t a n t i a l l y improve t h e

performanceandeconomics.

(5)

The t e c h n o l o g ya s s e s s m e n ta n a l y s i sa l s oh a si n d i c a t e dt h e

great utility

of a f l i g h t r e s e a r c h v e h i c l e f o r r e s e a r c h

and p r o o f - o f -

conceptpurposes.
S i g n i f i c a n t recommendations r e s u l t i n g f r o m t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n

ofthe

HLA c o n c e p t a r e :
(1)

A marketstudy

m a r k e ts i z e

(2)

i s r e q u i r e dt ob e t t e rd e f i n et h ec o m m e r c i a l

and t h e optimum v e h i c l e andmissionparameters.

A s e r i e s of t e c h n o l o g yp r o g r a m sa r en e e d e dt oa c q u i r es u f f i c i e n t

a n a l y t i c a lt o o l s

and e m p i r i c a ld a t at os u c c e s s f u l l yd e v e l o pt h ec o n c e p t .

Otherprogramstoimprovethevehicleperformanceandeconomicsshould
a l s o be p u r s u e d .

(3)

A f l i g h tr e s e a r c hv e h i c l e

bedeveloped

w o u l db eh i g h l yd e s i r a b l e

and should

i n a t i m e l y manner.

RESULTS
AIRPORT FEEDER STUDY
S umma r y
The A i r p o r tF e e d e rV e h i c l e

i s a VTOL semi-buoyantairshipcapable

of t r a n s p o r t i n gp a s s e n g e r so rc a r g ot om a j o r
suburbanand

downtown d e p o t s .

CTOL hub t e r m i n a l sf r o m

The b a s e l i n eP h a s e

- 28-

I1 c o n f i g u r a t i o n i s

shown i nF i g u r e

15.

One o p e r a t i o n a lc o n c e p t

i s shown i nF i g u r e

Principlevehicledesigncharacteristics

16.

and c a p a b i l i t i e s i n c l u d e :

Pressurizedmetalcladconstruction
Volume

3
3
12,135 M (428,500 F t )

GrossWeight

30,618 kg ( 6 7 , 5 0 0l b )

S t a t i cL i f t / G r o s s

Weight

0.35

80PassengerCapacity
Modularizedcargo/passengerdesign
VTOL

F i g u r e 15.

F i n a lP h a s e

I1 B a s e l i n eA i r p o r tF e e d e rC o n f i g u r a t i o n

-29-

AIRWAYS TO
M O R AIRPORTS
OR ADJACENT
CITY CEKTER

Alie+V

F i g u r e 16.

andModes,and

. .

A i r p o r tF e e d e rC o n c e p to fO p e r a t i o n s

The Phase I1 s t u d ye f f o r t
D e s i g nD e f i n i t i o n ,

.
.

1) V e h i c l e

was o r g a n i z e di n t of o u rt a s k s :

2 ) O p e r a t i o n a lP r o c e d u r e sA n a l y s i s ,

4 ) Mission/VehicleFeasibility

The f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n s d e s c r i b e t h e

workdone

3 ) C o s tA n a l y s i s

andTechnologyAssessment.
inthesetasks.

Vehicle Design Definition

The v e h i c l e d e s i g n d e f i n i t i o n

was a c o m b i n a t i o n o f p o i n t d e s i g n

a n a l y s i s and p a r a m e t r i c v e h i c l e s i z i n g

andperformanceoptimization.

The o b j e c t i v e was t o d e f i n e t h e v e h i c l e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
p a s s e n g e ra i r p o r tf e e d e rf o r
p u l s i o ns y s t e md e s i g n

of a n 80

maximum s p e c i f i cp r o d u c t i v i t y .

andperformance

The pro-

characteristicsrequiredforone-

e n g i n e - o u t VTOL r e c e i v e ds p e c i a le m p h a s i s .
i n t e r e s t was t h e r a t i o o f b u o y a n t - t o - t o t a l l i f t

-30-

The majorparameterof

(B).

S e v e r a la l t e r n a t ep a s s e n g e rs e a t i n ga r r a n g e m e n t s
a t i o nc o n c e p t s

were e v a l u a t e d .

17.

i s a modularcon-

The s e l e c t e dc o n c e p t

figurationwithtwo-fortypassenger
shown i nF i g u r e

and c a r c o n f i g u r -

modulesand

sixabreastseatingas

o r combined o p e r -

E i t h e r a l l passenger, a l lc a r g o ,

a tions are possible.

P r o p u l s i o ns y s t e m se v a l u a t e di n c l u d e df o u re n g i n ef u l l yc r o s s - s h a f t e d
p r o p e l l e r ,f o u re n g i n ef u l l yc r o s s - s h a f t e dd u c t e df a n ,
u n c r o s s - s h a f t e dc o n f i g u r a t i o n s .

and s i x e n g i n e

The f o u re n g i n ef u l l yc r o s s - s h a f t e d

f i g u r a t i o n was s e l e c t e d a s t h e b a s e l i n e c o n f i g u r a t i o n b a s e d o n
w e i g h t , VTOL and c r u i s e power r e q u i r e m e n t s ,a n d
The f i n a l c o n f i g u r a t i o n d e f i n i t i o n s t u d y
atingtheresults

o fp o i n td e s i g na n a l y s e si n t ot h e

SynthesisProgram

(GASP).

VTOL s i d e l i n e n o i s e l e v e l s .

was performed by i n c o r p o r Goodyear A i r s h i p

i.e.

payload times v e l o c i t yd i v i d e d

empty w e i g h t , PV/E, e v a l u a t e da tt h ed e s i g nr a n g e ,w h i c h
m e t e r s (400 n mi) p l u s a 74 k i l o m e t e rd i v e r s i o n( 4 0
minutehold

minimum

The o p t i m i z a t i o nc r i t e r i af o rt h es t u d y

maximum s p e c i f i c p r o d u c t i v i t y ,

a t a s p e e df o r

con-

maximum endurance.

was
by

was 740 k i l o n m i ) p l u s a 20-

The i n d e p e n d e n tv a r i a b l e s

c o n s i d e r e di nt h eo p t i m i z a t i o ns t u d yi n c l u d e dc r u i s ea l t i t u d e ,c r u i s e
velocity,

B , g r o s sw e i g h t

p r e s s u r i z e dm e t a l c l a d

and f i n e n e s s r a t i o f o r

two t y p e s of c o n s t r u c t i o n :

and p r e s s u r i z e dK e v l a rn o n - r i g i d .

The Phase I1 r e s u l t s ,c o n s i s t e n tw i t ht h eP h a s e

t y p e of c o n s t r u c t i o n was s l i g h t l y s u p e r i o r

t h a tt h ep r e s s u r i z e dm e t a l c l a d

maximum PV/E.

t ot h ep r e s s u r i z e dn o n - r i g i df o r
s e l e c t e dd e s i g n

i s g i v e ni nT a b l e

c o u l dp o t e n t i a l l yo f f e r
feedervehicle

I t r e n d s ,i n d i c a t e d

I.

A w e i g h t . s t a t e m e n to ft h e

The p r e s s u r i z e dK e v l a rn o n - r i g i d

a lower c o s t , more o p e r a t i o n a l l y f l e x i b l e a i r p o r t

andshould

be r e t a i n e d a s

a potentialcandidateinfuture

studies.
The Phase I1 r e s u l t s a r e
ofthePhase

I S t u d yt r e n d .

shown i n F i g u r e
An optimum

I1 v e h i c l e , a l t h o u g h t h e s e n s i t i v i t y o f

0.3 t o 0.5 i s s m a l l .

18 a l o n g w i t h

8 of 0.35 was found f o rt h eP h a s e

PV/E between

The d i f f e r e n c eb e t w e e nt h eP h a s e

-31-

a comparison

B ' s offromabout

I andPhase

I1 t r e n d s

OVERHEADBAGGAGE
STORAGE

Figure 17.

Two-Segmented Payload Module CabinLayout

(6 Abreast Seating)

-32-

Table I

BASELINE
CONFIGURATION
WEIGHT

SUMMARY
1 1 , 1 5 0 Lb

H u l lS t r u c t u r e
C a rS t r u c t u r e

4,600

M o d u l a r PAX C o m p a r t m e n t( 2 )

7 ,000

E m p e n n a g ea n dC o n t r o l s

3 ,100

L a n d i n gG e a r

1,120
15,050

PropulsionSystem

7 ,400

F u e la n dF u e lS y s t e m
F l i g h tI n s t r u m e n t sa n d

APU

1,200*

F u r n i s h i n g s l S e a t sa n d

Belts

1,820*
660*

C r e w (2S
) T U ' s( 2 a) n dG e a r
8 0 PAX (3 1 6 0 Lb/PAX

+ 20

Lb/PAX Baggage

TAKEOFFGROSSWEIGHT

Basedon
NASA " S t u d yG u i d e l i n e sf o rC o n c e p t u a l
V/STOL A i r c r a f t "

NOTE:

1 Lb

0.453 kg

-33-

14,400*

67,500 Lb

1985

..

?reaaurized
Ihtalclad
A i r p o r tF e e d e r

lSO

100

VI

Y
I

.
Y

n.

50

?base I1 Result.

BOP1

0,
0

0.2

0.35

0.6

0.4

0.8

1.0

1 ft

NOTE:

F i g u r e1 8 .

0 . 3 0 4 8 m, 1 l b

0.4536

k g . 1 k n o t - 0 . 5 1 4 8 nls

Buoyancy R a t i oT r e n d sf o r
Maximum P r o d u c t i v i t y :
Phase I and Phase I1 Study

c a nb et r a c e dt ot h ec a rs t r u c t u r e l p a s s e n g e ra c c o m m o d a t i o n sd e s i g n
w e i g h tr e q u i r e m e n t

and t h ep r o p u l s i o ns y s t e mr e q u i r e m e n t sf o ro n e - e n g i n e -

o u t VTOL c a p a b i l i t y .
(130knots)

The c r u i s e v e l o c i t y f o r

a ta na l t i t u d eo f

d e s i g n andperformance
exceeded.

610 meters(2000

maximum
PV/E
ft).

i s 86.5

h o v e r l t r a n s i t i o np h a s es t a b i l i t y

be met o r

mile.

were i d e n t i f i e d t o

and t h e c o n t r o l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

f l y i n g l r i d eq u a l i t i e si nt u r b u l e n ta i r .

-34-

m/s

pNdB, 8 . 5 pNdB u n d e rt h es p e c i f i e d

Consumption i s a b o u t0 . 2 5g a l l o n s / t o n

The m a j o ra r e a so ft e c h n i c a lu n c e r t a i n t y

was67

A l l NASA s p e c i f i e d

c r i t e r i ad e f i n e df o rt h em i s s i o nc a n

The n o i s ea tt a k e o f f

c o n s t r a i n t .F u e l

and

be t h e
and

OperationalProcedureAnalysis
A g e n e r a l i z e da n a l y s i so fo p e r a t i o n a lc h a r a c t e r i s t i c so f

a "most

p r o b a b l e "a i r p o r tf e e d e rs y s t e mo p e r a t i n gw i t h i nt h ee x i s t i n gt r a n s p o r t a t i o ni n f r a - s t r u c t u r e

was performed.Both

e f f o r t and a s i t es p e c i f i ca n a l y s i s
s t i t u t i o n a lc o n s i e r a t i o n s

a n o n - l o c a l eo r i e n t e d

were i n v e s t i g a t e d .I m p o r t a n ti n -

and t h ei m p l i e do p e r a t i o n a lr e q u i r e m e n t s

a r e summarizedbelow.
The s y s t e m w i l l l i k e l ys e r v eb u s i n e s st r a v e l e r s .T h e r e f o r e ,t h e

u s e r must perceiveconvenienceand/or
From t h e use.r 's p o i n t o f

time a d v a n t a g e o v e r a l t e r n a t i v e s .

view, t h e s y s t e m s h o u l d p r o v i d e a d e q u a t e

f r e q u e n c i e s ,s c h e d u l e dd e p a r t u r e s ,

trip

CTOL f l i g h t s a f e t y i n v i r t u a l l y a l l

w e a t h e r , and r e a s o n a b l e r i d e q u a l i t y

andcomfort.

From t h en o n - u s e r / c o m m u n i t ya c c e p t a n c ep o i n to fv i e w ,n o i s e ,a i r
p o l l u t i o n andgroundcongestionshouldbeminimized,aswellasany
a d v e r s ei m p a c to np r o p e r t yv a l u e

and h a z a r dd u et oa c c i d e n t s .T h e s e

c o n s i d e r a t i o n sd i c t a t eq u i e to p e r a t i o n s
a c c e s sp l a n n i n g .

and c a r e f u l t e r m i n a l

An e x t e n s i v ep u b l i cp r o g r a m

may beneeded

and l a n d
t od e f i n et h e

b e n e f i t so ft h es y s t e mt ot h ep u b l i c .
A i r p o r to p e r a t i o n sr e p r e s e n tt h ef i r s tl e v e lo fc o n t r a c tw i t hu s e r /
non-usergroup.

The major a r e a s of c o n c e r ni n c l u d et h e

o f t h ea i r p o r tf e e d e r

(A/F)

system and t h ec o m p a t i b i l i t yw i t he x i s t i n g

o p e r a t i o n s .I d e a l l y ,t h es y s t e ms h o u l dr e d u c ec o n g e s t i o n
d e l a y sr e s u l t i n g

and t e r m i n a l

from a i r p o r ta c c e s s .T h i si n d i c a t e st h a tt h ef e e d e r

m u s t be i n t e g r a t e d i n t o o r

b ec o m p a t i b l ew i t he x i s t i n ga i r p o r to p e r a t i o n s .

A p r e l i m i n a r ye v a l u a t i o no ft h em a r k e ts i z ef o rt h e
t h a to n l y ' t h el a r g e s t
s u f f i c i e n tt os u p p o r ta n
Feedertype

income p o t e n t i a l

1 0m e t r o p o l i t a na r e a s

A/F s e r v i c e .

A/F s y s t e m i n d i c a t e d
may havepassenger

demand

The m a r k e tp o t e n t i a lf o ra nA i r p o r t

of s e r v i c e i s a n i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r w h i c h u n f o r t u n a t e l y

is not

w e l l - d e f i n e da tp r e s e n t .
The Lake E r i e R e g i o n a l T r a n s p o r t a t i o n A u t h o r i t y
r e g i o n was s e l e c t e df o r

a s i t e - s p e c i f i ce v a l u a t i o n .

-35-

(LERTA) s e r v i c e
The p h y s i c a l

r e s t r i c t i o n sa s s o c i a t e dw i t ha i r p o r ta c c e s st ot h ep r o p o s e dl a k e p o r t
s i t e may r e s u l t i n a u n i q u er e q u i r e m e n tf o r
h a u la i r p o r tf e e d e rs y s t e m .

and b e n e f i t from a s h o r t
LERTA a n a l y s i sc o n f i r m e d

The r e s u l t so ft h e

many o f t h e o p e r a t i o n a l r e q u i r e m e n t s d e r i v e d i n t h e g e n e r a l i z e d a n a l y s i s
and p r o v i d e dt h eg u i d e l i n e sf o rd e v e l o p i n gt h e
S e v e r a la p p r o a c h e st ot h el o a d i n g
cargowereexamined.

A/F o p e r a t i o n a lp r o c e d u r e s .

and u n l o a d i n go fp a s s e n g e r s

The s e l e c t e dc o n c e p t

modulewhichcanbe

i s a modularpassengerlpayload

all

t r a n s f e r r e d f r o mt h eb a s i cA i r p o r tF e e d e rw i t h

p a s s e n g e r sa b o a r do rc a nu s e

CTOL type ramp f a c i l i t i e s f o r p a s s e n g e r

a c c e s s .T h i so p e r a t i o n a lc o n c e p to f f e r ss u b s t a n t i a l
l a n d i n g l o n - g r o u n do p e r a t i o n so ft h e
airships.

and

The low valueof

CostAnalysis

improvements i nt h e

A/F v e h i c l e a s

compared w i t h p a s t

B a l s os h o u l df a c i l i t a t e

groundhandling.

and Comparison with Alternative

The o b j e c t i v e o ft h ec o s ta n a l y s i s

Modes

was t o e s t i m a t e t h e o p e r a t i n g c o s t

o ft h eA i r p o r tF e e d e rf i n a lb a s e l i n ev e h i c l ed e f i n e dp r e v i o u s l y ,o p e r a t i n g
i nt h es h o r th a u lp a s s e n g e rt r a n s p o r t a t i o nm a r k e t .E x t e n s i v eu s e

was

made of s e v e r a l NASA d e v e l o p e dc o s te s t i m a t i n gr e l a t i o n s h i p s( C E R ' s ) .

C o s td a t a

i s i n 1975 d o l l a r su n l e s so t h e r w i s en o t e d .

certaintyin

RDT&E i n c l u d e Government s u p p o r to f

Requirements, RDT&E r e q u i r e d f o r t h e

"SecondEver''

Major a r e a so f

un-

RDT&E, FAA C e r t i f i c a t i o n

M e t a l c l a d and t h e

c o s t of d e v e l o p i n g t h e t e r m i n a l f a c i l i t i e s .
The approachused

was t oi n v e s t i g a t et h e

RDT&E c o s t sp a r a m e t r i c a l l y

and t o d e t e r m i n e t h e v a r i a t i o n s o f t h e o p e r a t i n g c o s t s a s

a f u n c t i o n of

t h e RDT&E c o s t s .

The b a s e l i n e RDT&E c o s te s t i m a t ef o rt h e

was $80,000,000.

The u p p e r andlowerbounds

a n a l y s i s were$160,000,000and

A/F System

c o n s i d e r e di nt h es e n s i t i v i t y

$40,000,000, r e s p e c t i v e l y .

The a c q u i s i t i o n c o s t e s t i m a t e s f o r t h e A i r p o r t F e e d e r v e h i c l e c o n c e p tw e r ec a l c u l a t e df o rp r o d u c t i o nq u a n t i t i e so f

1, 25,and

125 v e h i c l e

p r o d u c t i o nr u n s .E s t a b l i s h e da i r c r a f tc o s te s t i m a t i n gr e l a t i o n s h i p s
(CER's)wereused

f o rl e a r n i n gf a c t o r s ,a i r c r a f ts y s t e m s ,p a s s e n g e rp r o -

v i s i o n s and f u r n i s h i n g s , p r o p u l s i o ng r o u p ,

-36-

and t h e c a r s t r u c t u r e

and

passengeraccommodations.

GAC r e f e r e n c ed a t a

w a s used t od e v e l o p

m o d i f i c a t i o n st ot h eb a s i c

C E R ' s f o rt h ec a rs t r u c t u r e ,t h eh u l l

s t r u c t u r e and t h e empennage.
O p e r a t i n gc o s te s t i m a t i n gr e l a t i o n s h i p sd e v e l o p e df o rs h o r th a u l
p a s s e n g e rt u r b o p r o pa i r c r a f to p e r a t i o n s( R e f e r e n c e
t oe s t i m a t e

IOC and DOC.

125unitfleetsize,
c o s to f

B a s e l i n ea s s u m p t i o n sf o rt h ea n a l y s i sw e r e

3000revenue

aircraftblockhoursperyear,fuel

13 m / s (25 k n o t ) wind

30 c e n t s / g a l l o n ,b l o c ks p e e db a s e do n

s p e e d( h a l fh e a dw i n d ,h a l ft a i lw i n d ) ,

of 74 km (40 n mi).
Table 11.

11) were u t i l i z e d

and a na v e r a g es t a g el e n g t h

The r e s u l t i n g b a s e l i n e

DOC breakdown i s shown i n

The DOC s e n s i t i v i t yt oa l t e r n a t ea s s u m p t i o n s

i s shown i nT a b l e

111.

TABLE 11.

BASELINE
DOC/ASSM
COST

I tem

DOC (Cents /ASSM)

Depreciation

1.37

13.7
F l i g h t Crew Expense

0.75

F u e l O i l andTaxes
22.8

1.25

Insurance

BREAKDOWN

4.7

% of DOC
25

0.26

Maintenance
A i r Frame

0.41

8.5

Engine

0.42

7.6

0.95

17.3

MaintenanceBurden
H e l i u0.11
m Replenishment
DOC ( C e n t s / A v a i l a b l e
S e a tS t a t M i ) =

NOTE:

1 S t a t u tM
e ile

0.3

5.52 Cents/ASSM

1.609 km

-37-

99.9%

TABLE 111.

SUMMAR
OY
F

DOC SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

RESULTS

DOC /ASSM
CENTS

Parameter
Values
Parameter

-A

RDTdrE

$ lo6
5.71 5.52 5.45
40 160

RABH

HRS400030002000

ASL

N.MI.

15

Fue 1

c/GAL

156.62 5.52
30 4.92

baseline^_____

-A

+A

Baseline

/ASSM
.

80
6.37
40 5.07 100
5.52

5.10 5.52

6.80

60

NOTE:

1 n.mi.

= 1.853 km

The DOC per a v a i l a b l e s e a t s t a t u t e

5c/ASSM t o a b o u t

7c/ASSM over a w i d er a n g eo fa v e r a g es t a g el e n g t h s ,

(ASL) y e a r l y u t i l i z a t i o n ,
f l e e ts i z e

mile (ASSM) rangesfromabout

(Revenue A i r c r a f tB l o c kH o u r s ,

RABH p e ry e a r )

DOC s e n s i t i v i t yt of u e lc o s t ss u g g e s tt h a t

and f u e lc o s t s .

optimum o p e r a t i n g a d d e s i g n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

oftheAirportFeedervehicle

shouldvarywithfuelcost.
I nc o m p a r i s o nw i t hr e c e n t
a i r p l a n e s ,t h e

r e s u l t s of s t u d i e s o fc o n c e p t u a ls h o r t - h a u l

A/F a p p e a r st ob ee c o n o m i c a l l yc o m p e t i t i v e .I nc o m p a r i s o n

w i t ha c t u a lh e l i c o p t e ra i r l i n ee x p e r i e n c e ,t h e
s u p e r i o r by a f a c t o r o f
s e a ts t a t u t e

mile.

e s t i m a t e dt ob ea p p r o x i m a t e l y

t h es t u d yo b j e c t i v e

be

two b a s e d o n d i r e c t o p e r a t i n g c o s t p e r a v a i l a b l e

Fuelconsumption

A s mentioned e a r l i e r , t h e

A/F i s e s t i m a t e d t o

p e r a v a i l a b l e s e t s t a t u t e mile i s

30% b e t t e r t h a n c u r r e n t t e c h n o l o g y h e l i c o p t e r s .

A/F n o i s e l e v e l a t t a k e o f f

i s c o n s i d e r a b l yb e l o w

of 95 pNdB and t h e r e f o r e belowmost

t h a n - a i rd e s i g n s .

-38-

ifnotallheavier-

Mission/VehicleFeasibility

andTechnologyAssessment

The g r e a t e s t a r e a o f u n c e r t a i n t y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e A i r p o r t F e e d e r
c o n c e p t i s t h em a r k e tf o rt h es e r v i c ep r o v i d e d .S e v e r a l
h a v eb e e ni d e n t i f i e dw h i c hs h o u l d

key q u e s t i o n s .

be i n v e s t i g a t e d i n

more d e t a i l .

i n c l u d em a r k e ts i z e ,v e h i c l ep e r f o r m a n c e / d e s i g nr e q u i r e m e n t sf o r
economic v i a b i l i t y , u s e r a c c e p t a n c e ,n o n - u s e rr e a c t i o n ,
tailedinvestigation

These
maximum

and a more de-

o fc a r g oo p e r a t i o n s .

D e t a i lm a r k e ts t u d i e sn e e dt o

beperformed

t of u r t h e rd e f i n et h e

demand and. p o t e n t i a l u t i l i z a t i o n f o r t h e A i r p o r t F e e d e r s y s t e m c o n c e p t .
T h i sa n a l y s i ss h o u l d

be i n t e g r a t e d w i t h f u r t h e r v e h i c l e d e s i g n ,

a n c e and o p e r a t i o n a lt r a d es t u d i e s .P r o m i s i n gs t u d ya r e a s
v e h i c l e DOC m i n i m i z a t i o na s
c o s t s , andbuoyancy

perforrn-

would i n c l u d e

a f u n c t i o n of d e s i g n p a s s e n g e r c a p a c i t y , f u e l

ratio.

No unknowns h a v e b e e n d e f i n e d w h i c h p r e s e n t t e c h n o l o g i c a l b a r r i e r s

t ot h es u c c e s s f u ld e v e l o p m e n to ft h ev e h i c l ec o n c e p t .

Many a r e a s have

beenidentifiedwhichrequireadditionalresearch

anddevelopment;

primary among t h e s e a r e h o v e r p e r f o r m a n c e / s t a b i l i t y

and c o n t r o l , a e r o -

d y n a m i c s ,v e h i c l er e s p o n s et ot u r b u l e n c ea s s o c i a t e dw i t h

CTOL a i r p o r t

andsuburban/downtown

anddevelopment

o p e r a t i o n s ,f l y i n g l r i d eq u a l i t i e s ,

a n di n t e g r a t i o no fc y c l i cp r o p e l l e r / p r o p - r o t o rt e c h n o l o g yf o rh o v e rc o n t r o l .
Table I V summarizeskey
s p e c i f i e dd e s i g n
basedonthe

a r e a sr e q u i r i n gf u r t h e r

RDT&X.

O v e r a l l ,t h e

andperformancerequirementsappeartobeachievable

r e s u l t s t od a t e .

The r e s u l t si n d i c a t et h a ti nt e r m s

o p e r a t i n ge c o n o m i c s ,f u e lc o n s u m p t i o n ,
A i r p o r tF e e d e rv e h i c l ec o n c e p t

of

and n o i s ep e r f o r m a n c e ,t h e

is atleastaspromisingas

aircraft.

-39-

competing

A e r o d y n a m i c s / S t a b i l i t y and C o n t r o l / F l i g h t
Dynamics R&D Areas
H u l l / R o t o rI n t e r f e r e n c eE f f e c t s

(Hoverand

G u s t Environrnent/VehicleResponse
Regions

RideQualityDuringCruise

Cruise)

i n A i r p o r t and C i t y Center

a t Low A l t i t u d e s

S t a b i l i t y andControlinTransition

andHover

Flight

ApplicationofActiveControlsTechnology
Aerodynamic C o n f i g u r a t i o n M o d i f i c a t i o n s f o r

Improved L i f t / D r a g

Mission/Marke t A n a l y s i s R&D Areas

MarketAnalysisvsVehicleDesignandPerformanceCapability
Pissenger Acceptance

of Low A l t i t u d e R i d e Q u a l i t y

Design Optimization based

Design Optimization

on Return on Investment

a t High Fuel Cost

General R&D Areas

O p e r a t i o n a l Development/Verification ofTether/WinchLanding
Sys tern
PropellerInterferenceduringTransition
Low Cost Materials Handling/Manufacturing Approaches
PassengerCompartmentNoiseLevelReduction
EnvironmentalandOperationalLimitationsof
Metalclad H u l l S t r u c t u r e
D e s i g nI m p l i c a t i o n so f
Applicationsof

MinimumGauge

HighGround-Air-GroundCycleOperations

Advanced M a t e r i a l s

-40-

NAVY MISSION STUDY RESULTS

Mission Description
The p r i m a r y p u r p o s e o f t h e

the technical feasibility of utilizing

s y s t e m st op e r f o r mp e r t i n e n t

cepts w i t hb u o y a n t - t o - t o t a l
Fourmissions

LTA v e h i c l e s o r LTA v e h i c u l a r

Navy m i s s i o n s .

t h et r a d e o f f sa n di n t e r a c t i o n s
p u l s i v ee f f i c i e n c i e sd i c t a t e d

I1 w a s t o assess

Navy p o r t i o n o f P h a s e

The a n a l y s i sa c c o u n t e df o r

among aerodynamic, s t r u c t u r a l , a n d p r o by t h em i s s i o nr e q u i r e m e n t s .V e h i c l e

l i f t ratios,

(f3) d o m t o

con-

0.8 were c o n s i d e r e d .

were i d e n t i f i e d f o r t h e s e f u l l y b u o y a n t a i r s h i p s :

(1) sub-

marine t r a i l , (2) SOSUS ( s o u n ds u r v e i l l a n c es y s t e m ) / o c e a ns u r v e i l l a n c e ,

( 3 ) ASW Barrier, and(4)convoyescort.

I nt h es u b m a r i n e

i s self-sufficientand

t r a i l mission,theairship

for p e r i o d s r e q u i r i n g

capableofindependentoperationsfromlandbases
m u l t i p l e crews and crew f a c i l i t i e s .

i s t o main-

The m i s s i o no b j e c t i v e

tainclosecontactwithsubmarinessubsequenttolocalizationbyother
means.

The p r i m a r ys e n s o r

u n d e ri n v e s t i g a t i o nb yt h e
c a p a b i l i t y is n e c e s s a r y ,a n d

i s anadvancednonacousticsystemcurrently

Naval. A i r Development Center.

A reacquisition

a limitedself-defensecapability

i s de-

a c o v e r t mode u s i n g towed a r r a y s

s i r e a b l e .I na d d i t i o nt ot h eo v e r t m o d e ,
w a s a l s oc o n s i d e r e d .

The SOSUS/Ocean S u r v e i l l a n c e m i s s i o n o b j e c t i v e
andmaintainsurveillanceofsubmarinetargetsinocean

is to detect, classify

areas where t h e

land-based SOSUS performance i s p o o ro rt e m p o r a r i l yo u to fo p e r a t i o n .

p r i m a r ys e n s o r
array.

The

i s a SURTASS ( S u r v e i l l a n c e TASS) e q u i v a l e n t t h i n l i n e t o v e d

A h y b r i dp r o c e s s i n gs y s t e m

i s i n c l u d e do n b o a r dt h ea i r s h i pw h i c h

permitsthedatatobedisplayedandprocessedonboardtheairshipand/or
data linked to shore for use in the land-based

main e v a l u a t i o n c e n t e r s .

ASW s u p p o r t f o r c e s f r o m l a n d - b a s e d o r s e a - b a s e d o p e r a t i o n s c o u l d b e

v e c t o r e dt os u p p o r tt h ea i r s h i ps y s t e mi nc o n d u c t i n gl o c a l i z a t i o n ,c l a s s i f i ASW missions.Secondaryoperations

c a t i o n , a n dn e g a t i o np o r t i o n so ft h e

-41-

such as a i r and s u r f a c e s u r v e i l l a n c e c o u l d b e p e r f o r m e d i n
to the

some a p p r o a c h e s

SOSUSIOcean S u r v e i l l a n c e M i s s i o n . '

The ASW b a r r i e r m i s s i o n w i l l r e q u i r e an LTA v e h i c l e w h i c h i s s e l f s u f f i c i e n t andcapableofindependentoperationsfromlandbasesfor

It w i l l b es u p p l e -

crews and crew f a c i l i t i e s .

p e r i o d sr e q u i r i n gm u l t i p l e

mentarytobothsurfaceandaircraftresources,thusrelievingtheburden

levels make t h e

on t h e s e f o r c e s i n s i t u a t i o n s w h e r e e c o n o m i c s o r t h r e a t
l o n ge n d u r a n c e

LTA a t t r a c t i v e .

f i l l t h e gapbetween

I ns i m p l i s t i c

terms, i t is i n t e n d e dt o

r e l a t i v e l y slow-speed,longendurance,largepayload

small p a y l o a d a i r c r a f t .

s u r f a c es h i p sa n dh i g h - s p e e d ,s h o r te n d u r a n c e ,

use dipped, towed o r r e t r i e v a b l e s e n s o r s b e c a u s e o f

It w i l l b e a b l e t o

o n s t a t i o nh o v e rc a p a b i l i t y .

i s t om a i n t a i n

The m i s s i o no b j e c t i v e

1300 km

(700 n mi)and

transit r o u t e s .

countingordetectiononlybarrieracrosssubmarine

Barrier l e n g t h so f

its

o n s t a t i o ne n d u r a n c e

of 20 t o

30 days were g e n e r a l m i s s i o n o b j e c t i v e s .
In the baseline

convoy e s c o r t m i s s i o n t h e m i s s i o n o b j e c t i v e

of a i r , s u r f a c e ,a n d

p r o v i d ed e t e c t i o n ,c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ,a n de a r l yw a r n i n g
s u b s u r f a c e Lreats.

is t o

7 t o1 0d a y sw i t h o u tr e p l e n i s h m e n t

An enduranceof

w i l l p r o v i d eu n r e f u e l e dt r a n s - A t l a n t i ce s c o r tm i s s i o nc a p a b i l i t y .I n is also possible for

f l i g h tr e f u e l i n ga n dr e p l e n i s h m e n tf r o ms u r f a c es h i p s

w i l l rely primarily

s e l f - d e f e n s e ,a n d

a l i m i t e do n b o a r dc a p a b i l i t yf o r

The LTA v e h i c l e h a s

e x t e n d e dm i s s i o n s .

on o t h e r a i r a n d s u r f a c e u n i t s f o r p r o a limitedonboardcapa-

t e c t i o na g a i n s ta i r / s u r f a c et h r e a t s .S i m i l a r l y ,
b i l i t y is availabletolocalizeandattackclose-in
i t w i l l rely primarily

on o t h e r a i r ASW v e h i c l e s f o r p r o s e c u t i o n

s u r f a c ea n ds u b s u r f a c ed e t e c t i o n s .
a d v a n c e d ,t h i nl i n e ,

ASW t a r g e t s ; however,

The p r i m a r ya c o u s t i cs e n s o r

t a c t i c a l a r r a y .S p r i n t - a n d - d r i f t

t h e LTA v e h i c l e ' s s p e e d c a p a b i l i t y p e r m i t
whilemaintainingthe

of i t s

i s an

tactics t h a te x p l o i t

a highpercentage

of s e a r c h time

convoyspeedofadvance.

G e n e r a l i z e d Parametric A n a l y s i s R e s u l t s
Vehicleconceptsrangingfromapproximately

(1.5 m i l l i o n c u b i c f e e t ,

42,500 c u b i c meters

MCF) t o o v e r 1 . 1 3 3 m i l l i o n c u b i c

-42-

meters, MCM

( 4 0 MCF) were e v a l u a t e d i n t h e p a r a m e t r i c s t u d y . F i g u r e 1 9 i l l u s t r a t e s

as compared w i t h t h e

conceptsoverthisstudyrange

Akron s i z e a i r s h i p

( 0 . 2 1 MCM, 7.4 MCF) and t h e most r e c e n t Navy n o n - r i g i d a i r s h i p t h e

-(41,300cu

ZPG-3W

m, 1.5 MCF).

w a s conducted

A technologyassessmentanddesignoptionevaluation

f o rg e n e r a l i z e de n d u r a n c em i s s i o na p p l i c a t i o n s .T h i si n c l u d e dc o n s i d e r a -

active c o n t r o l s t e c h -

t i o n of p r o p u l s i o n s y s t e m c y c l e , s t e r n p r o p u l s i o n ,

n o l o g y ,v e c t o r e dt h r u s t / l o ws p e e dd y n a m i c sa n dc o n t r o l ,t o w i n gp e r f o r m a n c e
and c o n t r o l , s t r u c t u r e s a n d

materials, andaerodynamicallyaugmentedflight.

Two s i g n i f i c a n t d e s i g n o p t i o n s

are t h e optimum f i n e n e s s r a t i o f o r t h e f o u r

differentconstructionconcepts

andthe

optimum v a l u e o f

The optimum l e n g t h t o d i a m e t e r r a t i o

a l l o w e dd u r i n gt h es t u d y

of3.5,

p r e s s u r i z e dm e t a l c l a da i r s h i p

thenon-rigidairship

a t 5.2,

optimum f i n e n e s s r a t i o s r e s u l t e d

vehicle

the

a t 7.0.

and t h e r i g i d a i r s h i p

Thesevalues

0.425 MCM (10 t o 1 5

The

are v a l i d f o r v e h i c l e s

MCF) volume range.

1) i n d i c a t e a f i n e n e s s r a t i o

F o re x p e d i e n c y ,t h e s ev a l u e s

a t 4.75,

from t h e i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n a e r o d y n a m i c

d r a ga n ds t r u c t u r a lw e i g h tf r a c t i o n .

r e s u l t s( R e f e r e n c e

was found t o dependon

The sandwich monocoque o p t i m i z e d at t h el o w e s tv a l u e

s t r u c t u r a lc o n c e p t .

i nt h e0 . 2 8 3t o

8.

NASA Phase I

dependency on g r o s sw e i g h t .

were u s e dd u r i n gt h i ss t u d y .

The comparison

ofthestructuralweightfractionsofthefourdifferentconstruction

i s shown i n F i g u r e 20.

c e p t s a t t h e optimum f i n e n e s s r a t i o
Aerodynamicallyaugmented

crease theperformance(time

flight(verticaltakeoffcapable)

missionvelocity,theradiusofaction,the
the speed profile associated with

the rangeof0.85

canin-

on s t a t i o n ) of a c o n s t a n t volume v e h i c l e .

The optimum f3 i s missiondependentanddepends

v e l o c i t y .I ng e n e r a l ,

con-

upon t h e m a x i m u m d e s i g n
minimum a l l o w a b l e l o i t e r s p e e d ,

the o n - s t a t i o n time, a n d t h e t r a n s i t

8 which w i l l maximizeon

s t a t i o ne n d u r a n c e

is i n

t o 0.9 f o r t h e v e h i c l e c o n f i g u r a t i o n s a n d m i s s i o n s i n -

vestigated during this study.

-43-

7.40

MCF

RIGID

USS AKRON

-44-

F i g u r e 20.

As a r e s u l t o ft h e

S t r u c t u r a lE f f i c i e n c y

Comparison

combined m i s s i o n / t e c h n o l o g y a n a l y s i s ,

The f i r s t i s a

d e s i g nc o n f i g r u a t i o n sw e r es e l e c t e df o rf u r t h e ra n a l y s i s :
311,500cubic

two p o i n t

21) u s i n g modem

meter, ( 1 1 MCF) r i g i d a i r s h i p ( F i g u r e

d e s i g nt e c h n i q u e sa n ds u b s y s t e m s .T h i sd e s i g nc a np e r f o r mt h ee n t i r e

than home b a s e

spectrum of specified missions independent from other

support.

The second is a 42,480 cu m (1.5 MCF),

a i r s h i p( F i g u r e

22) capableofperforming

hover-capable,non-rigid

some less demanding m i s s i o n s( s u c h

as c o a s t a l s u r v e i l l a n c e a n d d e f e n s e ) i n d e p e n . d e n t l y a n d t h e
m i s s i o n i f s u p p o r t e d by s u r f a c e v e s s e l s .

-45-

convoy e s c o r t

t-

"
"

-"

8 3 2 . 0 FT
(253.6m)

DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS
VOLUME HULL

1 1 . 2 MCF (0.317 hlChl)

VOLUME
HELIUM

10.53 MCF ( 0 . 2 9 8 hlCM)

DESIGN SPEED

80 KNOTS (41 M/S)

PROPULSION :
CRUISE - VECTORABLE
TURBOSHAFT
4 @ 1 3 4 0 HP/ENGINE
LOITER - FIXED PROPELLER DEISELS
2 @ 3 2 5 IIP/ENGINE
WT-LBS

WEIGHT

(KG)

GROSS
WEIGHT

(5000' DESIGN ALT)

562 I 500 ( 2 5 5 1 5 0 )

EMPTY
WEIGHT

(VEHICLE)

2 5 3 , 4 0 0 (114942)

MISSION/CRE\VSYSTEMSWEIGHTS
AIRPLANE COMPARTMENT
CREW QUARTERS (36 MAN)
ASW COMPARTMENT & EQUIPMENT

2 4 , 9 0 0 (11295)
5,860' ( 2 6 5 8 )
12,190 (5529)

4,180 (1896)

REPAIR FACILITIES
OPERATINGWEIGHTEMPTY

278,300 ( 1 2 6 2 3 7 )

USEFUL LOAD
PAYLOAD (SOSUS)

284,100 ( 1 2 8 8 6 8 )

7 2 , 5 0 0 (3288G)
211,600 ( 9 5 9 8 2 )

FUEL, O I L AND CONSUMABLES

PERFORMANCE

FUEL RATE

AIRSPEED
75

1680 LBS/HR

( 7 6 2 KG/HR)

30

128 LBS/HR

( 5 8 KG/HR)

-46-

141.5"--~

264.5'

"

182.2"

3.4

4-+
\

L 1 0 0 . 0 " 1
2.2O

p-ll2.o""--cl

t
I
"
93.5""---c1

DESIGNCHARACTERISTICS

1 . 4 9 MCF (42197h13)

HULL VOLUME

90 MOTS ( 4 6 M/S)

SPEED
DESIGN
PROPULS ION

MAIN PROPULSION 2 AVCO LTClK TURBOPROPS

CROSSSHAFTED

ON T I L T WING

STERNPROPULSION

2 A L L I S O NC 2 5 0 - 2 0 B

TURBOSHAFTS

"V" RUDDER DEFLECTEDSLIPSTREAM

LBS (KG)

WEIGHTS
GROSS WEIGHT (

= 0.86)

OPERATING WEIGHT EMPTY

PAYLOAD

96500 (43772)

51100 (23178)
24340 (11040)

CREW

FUEL & OIL

21060 (9553)

PERFORMANCE
ENDURANCE @ V

Figure 22.

30 KTS

8 8 IIOURS

Hover Capable Non-Rigid A i r s h i p

-47-

-.

Mission Specific Results

T r a i l Mission

time on s t a t i o n o f t h e

Ninety-fivepercentofthe

f i l e i s a t low a l t i t u d e a n d l o i t e r s p e e d .

a t 1524 m (5000 f e e t ) a l t i t u d e .
TOS from 10 t o 30 d a y s , r a d i i

The p e r f o r m a n c e r a n g e o f i n t e r e s t i n c l u d e s
(ROA) f r o m 1 8 5 3 t o

4632 km (1000 t o 2500 n a u t i c a l m i l e s ) a n d

t o 64.35 m / s

dashspeedsfrom38.6

The trail

( 7 5k n o t st o1 2 5k n o t s ) .

i s 20,400kg(45,000

missionpayload

time on

Five p e r c e n to ft h e

s t a t i o n i s s p e n t a t t h e maximum (dash)speed

o fa c t i o n

trail mission pro-

l b s ) w h i c hi n c l u d e s

a 20 man crew.

Representativeperformancecapabilitiesofneutrallybuoyantrigid
TOS as a f u n c t i o n o f

a i r s h i p s are shown i n F i g u r e 2 3 i n termsof

c r u i s es p e e da n dv e h i c l e

T i m e on s t a t i o n i s r e l a t i v e l y i n s e n s i t i v e

volume.

to radius of action for large

7.0

MCM,

volume v e h i c l e s ( g r e a t e r t h a n 0 . 2

MCF) b u t i s h i g h l y s e n s i t i v e t o t h e d e s i g n
o ft h em i s s i o n

ROA,

dash speedeventhoughonly5%

t i m e is spentindash.

Figure24comparestheperformanceofthefourdifferentconstruction

time on s t a t i o n versus h u l l volume.

c o n c e p t si nt e r m so f
t o 0.283 MCM ( 5 t o 1 0

0.142 MCM

MCF) r a n g e , t h e r i g i d , n o n - r i g i d a n d m e t a l c l a d

cepts are approximatelycompetitive.

size vehicle for

Inthe

The f i g u r ei n d i c a t e st h a tt h e

a 30-day on s t a t i o n c a p a b i l i t y w i l l b e a c h i e v e d

r i g i dt y p eo fc o n s t r u c t i o n .C o n v e n t i o n a lr i g i da i r s h i p si nt h i s

conminimum
by the
volume

range are a n e a r term, low r i s k e x t e n s i o n o f t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l r i g i d a i r s h i p

state-of-the-art.

SOSUS Augmentation Mission

~

T h r e eo p e r a t i o n a lc o n c e p t s
airshipdeploys

were c o n s i d e r e d f o r t h i s m i s s i o n :

an o f f - b o a r d a r r a y a n d m o n i t o r s v i a

a i r s h i p towsanadvanced

thinlinearray

1) t h e

a data link, 2) the

a t low speed,and

3) t h e a i r s h i p

deploys a powered sea s l e d w h i c h p r o v i d e s t h e a r r a y t e n s i o n f o r c e .

Array d r a g is s i g n i f i c a n t ( a p p r o x i m a t e l y
f o r low speedtow).Figure25summarizes

-48-

20 times t h e a i r s h i p d r a g

TOS vs ROA f o rt h ec o n c e p t u a l

loo0 NAUT RI

2500 MUT nr

15

Figure 23.

10

25
30
HULL VOLW (+-lo6 CU FT)

TrailMissionParametric
Performance Results
(Neutrally Buoyant Rigid)

30

20

10

tuu VOLM (v&

24.

35

20

TrailMissionParametric
(ConstructionConcepts)
-49-

cu n)
Performance Results

i n the towand

l a r g er i g i dv e h i c l e

off-board modes.

In the tow mode of

operation, TOS c a p a b i l i t i e s o f

from 15 t o 22 days, depending on ROA, can

beachieved.Intheoff-board

mode of operations TOS of 20 t o 30 days

can b e achieveddepending

on ROA.

11.2 MCF RIGID TOWING THIN-LINESURVEILLANCE

ARRAY

I"

I E!f

= 20

E
E 15
v)

52
<

10

v)

e 5

I
"

6-KNOT TOW SPEED

1000

2000

I
3000

ROA (NAUT M I )

11.2 MCF R I G I D MONITORING OFF-BOARD ARRAY

Q

35
CI

I-

30
T I ME

v)

25

CI

20

z?
=
L

<
c

15

1000

2000

3000

ROA (NAUT M
I
>
Figure25.

TOS Versus ROA f o r 11 MCF RigidAirship

-50-

The SOSUS a u g m e n t a t i o n o r

a p r o m i s i n ga i r s h i pm i s s i o n .V e h i c l e s
cu m ( 7 t o

is

openoceansurveillancemissionconcept
on t h eo r d e ro f

200,000 t o 317,000

11 MCF) which are n e a r term, low r i s k a i r s h i p c o n c e p t s c a n

p r o v i d e 2 t o 3weeks

on-stationcapabilityin

a towmode.

The TOS can b e

increased or vehicle size reduced

via t h e use o f o f f - b o a r d a r r a y o p e r a t i o n a l

concepts.

tow mode, o f f - b o a r da r r a ya n ds l e d

The t r a d e sb e t w e e nt h e

assessment

operationalapproachesneedsfurtherexamination,includingan
ofsecurityfrom

jamming, a r r a y l i n e a r i t y ,

t h eo f f - b o a r da n d

tow modes.

and array performance i n b o t h

use m u l t i p l e

O p e r a t i o n a lc o n c e p t sw h i c h

arrays to enchance localization and classification operations warrant

further investigation.

ASW Barrier Mission

analysis of a towed a r r a y ASW

Resultsobtainedfromanabbreviated

MCM

barrier operation indicate that for vehicles in the 0.283 to 0.425

(10 t o 15 MCF) s i z e r a n g e , t h e
quired to maintain

"backup" f a c t o r (numberof

one s t a t i o n c o n t i n u o u s l y ) f o r

r a d i u s of a c t i o n i s below 2 i n a l l cases.
ranges on t h e o r d e r o f

a i r s h i p s re-

a 2500 n a u t i c a l mile

I f towed a r r a y d e t e c t i o n

463 Km (250nmi)canbeachieved,the

numberof

mount a 1300 Km (700 nmi)

ASW d e t e c t i o n

airship stations required to

b a r r i e r w i l l be less than

2.

Convoy E s c o r t
Any v e h i c l e s i z e d f o r t h e
mission or the

t r a i l m i s s i o n ,t h e

SOSUS augmentation

ASW b a r r i e r m i s s i o n w i l l b e s u f f i c e n t t o c o n d u c t t h e i n per-

dependent convoy e s c o r to p e r a t i o n s .S u b s t a n t i a le x c e s sp a y l o a do r
formancecapability
order of 0.317

would b e a v a i l a b l e

from t h e v e h i c l e s i z e s

MCM ( 1 1 MCF) which are r e q u i r e d f o r t h e

on t h e

t r a i l and SOSUS

missions.
An alternate o p e r a t i o n a l a p p r o a c h t o t h e

convoy e s c o r t m i s s i o n

u t i l i z i n g a t sea r e p l e n i s h m e n t c a n s u b s t a n t i a l l y r e d u c e t h e v e h i c l e

last Navy n o n - r i g i da i r s h i p ,

s i z er e q u r e d .V e h i c l e st h es i z eo ft h e
t h e ZPG-3W

can perform the

convoy e s c o r t m i s s i o n u t i l i z i n g a d v a n c e d

-5 1-

thinline

towed a r r a y s i n a s p r i n t / d r i f t o p e r a t i o n a l mode.

vessels on a one t o two day c y c l e i s s u f f i c i e n t

replenishmentfromsurface

An a d d i t i o n a l o p e r a t i o n a l c a p a b i l i t y

d e p e n d i n go nm i s s i o ns p e c i f i c s .
could be realized

R e f u e la n d

by u t i l i z i n g t h e

borne early warning and/or suface surveillance to perfcrm

a t i o n s as w e l l as o v e r t h e h o r i z o n

air-

same v e h i c l e , r e c o n f i g u r e d f o r

A E W / S S oper-

command, controlandcommunications

Several o p e r a t i o n a l / t a c t i c a la p p r o a c h e sa p p e a rp r o m i s i n g

a n dt a r g e t i n g .

f o r e i t h e r small v e h i c l e s o r l a r g e v e h i c l e s i n

convoy e s c o r t m i s s i o n s .

Overall M i s s i o n / V e h i c l e C o n c l u s i o n s
The o v e r a l l p a r a m e t r i c a n a l y s i s c o n c l u s i o n s i n d i c a t e t h a t v e h i c l e
s i z e so fa p p r o x i m a t e l y0 . 3 1 7

MCM cu m (11 MCF) can s a t i s f y t h e m i s s i o n

a l l f o u rm i s s i o n s

r e q u i r e m e n t sf o r

t o t h i r t y day t i m e s - o n - s t a t i o n
rizidairships

as d e f i n e df o rt h i ss t u d y .

Twenty

are a c h i e v a b l e w i t h c u r r e n t t e c h n o l o g y

which are n e a r term, low r i s k v e h i c l e s . A i r s h i p a p p l i c -

ations utilizing

towed a r r a y s e n s o r s r e p r e s e n t

a uniqueaccommodation

ofsensorrequirementsandplatformcapabilities.
The m e t a l c l a d , r i g i d a n d n o n - r i g i d c o n s t r u c t i o n c o n c e p t s
competitiveintherange

from0.141

t o0 . 3 1 7

are a l l

MCM (5 t o 11 MCF) f o r t h e

l o n ge n d u r a n c em i s s i o n si n v e s t i g a t e d .I ng e n e r a l ,t h er i g i dc o n c e p t
results in the
station.

minimum volume r e q u i r e d t o a c h i e v e

a s p e c i f i e d time-on-

of 38.6 m / s ( 7 5k n o t s )a n da na l t i t u d e

A d e s i g ns p e e d

of 1524 m

(5000 f e e t ) can s a t i s f y a l l m i s s i o n r e q u i r e m e n t s s p e c i f i e d f o r t h e f o u r
up t o 51.9 m / s

m i s s i o n s .H i g h e rs p e e d s
modest penalties in vehicle
ments.

(100knots)canbeachievedwith

empty w e i g h t a n d p r o p u l s i o n s y s t e m r e q u i r e - .

The p e n a l t y i n o n - s t a t i o n p e r f o r m a n c e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e h i g h e r

speed capability results primarily

s p e n t a t t h eh i g hs p e e d

from t h e d u r a t i o n o f t h e m i s s i o n

time

as opposed t o t h e a c t u a l d e s i g n c a p a b i l i t y .

Improvements i n v e h i c l e empty w e i g h t due t o modem materials andpropulsion

technology allow higher payloads or altitudes to be achieved for
volume.

-52-

a given

t i m e tomission

The r a t i o o f o n - s t a t i o n

i s h i g h ; 70% t o 90% dependingon

operatingintheconceptualmissions
t h er a d i u so fa c t i o n .

time f o r t h e a i r s h i p s
of t h e t o t a l y e a r l y

Thus, a h i g hp e r c e n t a g e

u t i l i z a t i o n w i l l b es p e n t

An i m p o r t a n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f

on s t a t i o n .

LTA v e h i c l e s i s t h e low ( l e s s t h a n

longendurance

required to maintain

2) backup f a c t o r

a station.
OperationalConsiderations

Prior airships

were o p e r a t i o n a l l y i n f e r i o r t o

p o t e n t i a l modem LTA v e h i c l e s .

the c a p a b i l i t i e s of

Two areas o f o p e r a t i o n a l d e f i c i e n c y

were

dashspeedandlowspeedcontrol.Currenttechnologyprovidesthe
c a p a b i l i t yt ol a r g e l y

overcome t h e s ed e f i c i e n c i e s .L i g h t w e i g h tg a s

cruise s p e e d c a p a b i l i t y

turbinesallowhigherdashand

at l o w e r i n s t a l l e d

Modem V/STOL t e c h n o l o g y ,i n c l u d i n g

p r o p u l s i o ns y s t e mw e i g h tf r a c t i o n s .

a d v a n c e da u t o m a t i cf l i g h tc o n t r o ls y s t e m s ,p r o v i d et h ec a p a b i l i t yf o r
fullyhovercapable,

low s p e e d c o n t r o l l a b l e ,

VTOL c a p a b l e LTA v e h i c l e s .

Precise low s p e e d a n d h o v e r c o n t r o l r e s u l t s i n i m p r o v e d g r o u n d h a n d l i n g

operationsandexpandsthemissionapplicabilityofmodem

Naval LTA

vehicles.
Ground H
andla
-__
Duringthe

l a t e 1 9 5 0 ' s ,t h e

U. S . N a v y developedmechanizedground

h a n d l i n ge q u i p m e n ta n dm o o r i n gt e c h n i q u e sf o rt h e
andmooringof

crew.

t h e ZPG-3W r e q u i r e d o n l y

Dockingandundocking

r e q u i r e da p p r o x i m a t e l yt h e

10 t o 18 p e r s o n n e l i n t h e g r o u n d

were performedwith
same number.

ZPG-3W a i r s h i p s .L a n d i n g

11 t o 12 men; t a k e o f f

The mooringandgroundhandling

3W a i r s h i p are a p p l i c a b l e t o t h e

equipmenttechniquesdevelopedforthe

larger airships considered for future naval missions.

Weather

No v e h i c l e i s t r u l y an all-weather v e h i c l e i n t h a t
perform i t s a s s i g n e d m i s s i o n i n
submarine).

it caneffectively

anyweathercondition(exceptpossibly

However, many v e h i c l e s can s u r v i v e severe w e a t h e rc o n d i t i o n s

-53-

"
"

and resume o p e r a t i o n s a f t e r the weather h a s p a s s e d ; m o d e m a i r s h i p s w o u l d

. be such vehicles.

Naval R e s e a r c h a s s i g n e d

I n 1954,theOfficeof

t o t h e Naval Air Develop-

ment U n i t a t South Weymouth, Mass., conducted a p r o j e c t t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h e

a l l - w e a t h e rc a p a b i l i t yo ft h ea i r s h i p .T e c h n i c a lg u i d a n c ea n di n s t r u menation were f u r n i s h e d by t h e N a t i o n a l A d v i s o r y
nautics.

Committee f o r Aero-

Navy r e p o r t( R e f e r e n c e1 2 )

The c o n c l u s i o n so ft h eo f f i c i a l

on t h e

p r o j e c ti n c l u d e dt h ef o l l o w i n g :
11

AirshIpgroundhandlingevolutions

can beaccomplished

in

v i r t u a l l y a l l weather c o n d i t i o n s . "
"Routinegroundmaintenancecanbeaccomplishedunder
extremelyadverseweatherconditions.

"Rime ice accretion at normal airship operating altitudes

i s notconsidered

a d e t e r r e n t to p r o p e r s t a t i o n k e e p i n g

time . I 1

for protracted periods of

"Maintaining a c o n t i n u o u s b a r r i e r s t a t i o n o v e r t h e
Ocean a p p e a r s t o b e f e a s i b l e u n d e r

Atlantic

a l l weathercondit5ons."

Wind
Wind i s a ni m p o r t a n tw e a t h e re l e m e n ti na i r s h i po p e r a t i o n s .
w h i l eh i g hw i n d si nt h e m s e l v e s

However,

are n o t h r e a t t o t h e s t r u c t u r a l s a f e t y o f

an airship in flight, historically the

low a i r s p e e d n e c e s s i t a t e d t h a t h i g h

h e a dw i n d sb ea v o i d e db yf l y i n gt h ep r e s s u r ep a t t e r n s .H i g h e rs p e e d
c a p a b i l i t y ofmodem

Naval LTA v e h i c l e s w i l l a l l o w them t o remainopera-

t i o n a l at h i g h e r wind speeds.
SignificantprogressinforecastinggeneralandlocalmeteGrologica1

last r i g i d a i r s h i p s

c o n d i t i o n sh a sb e e nr e a l i z e ds i n c et h e
adventofweather

were flown.

s a t e l l i t e s , o n b o a r dr a d a r ,i m p r o v e dn a v i g a t i o n ,a n d

improvedcommunlcations

w i l l result in safety benefits

operational capability.

-5 4-

andimproved

The

Vulnerability
Any d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e u s e o f a i r s h i p s i n m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o n s

must

a d d r e s st h eq u e s t i o no ft h ev u l n e r a b i l i t yo ft h e s el a r g ev e h i c l e s .T h i s

u s e of a i r s h i p s ,

h a s always been a f o r e m o s t a r g u m e n t a g a i n s t t h e m i l i t a r y

b o t hr i g i da n dn o n - r i g i d .A l t h o u g ht h em i l i t a r yr i g i da i r s h i pe v o l v e d
d u r i n g World War I as a bombing p l a t f o r m d e s i g n e d t o o p e r a t e a g a i n s t f o r midableopposition,

i t did not prove to be effective in this role and has

as a combat v e h i c l e .C u r r e n t

n e v e rs i n c eb e e nc o n s i d e r e ds e r i o u s l y

t e c h n o l o g yh a sn o tr e v e r s e dt h i sd e c i s i o nb u th a sc o n t r i b u t e dt ot h e
improvement i n e x p e c t e d s u r v i v a b i l i t y
r o l e ss u c h

when t h e a i r s h i p

i s used i n military

as t h e sea c o n t r o l m i s s i o n s .

From a t e c h n i c a l a s p e c t t h e l a r g e r i g i d a i r s h i p c o u l d p r o b a b l y
sustain hits,

from a number o f a i r - t o - a i r

missiles o r s u r f a c e - t o - a i r

missiles w i t h o u ts e r i o u sc o n s e q u e n c e s .I nt h i sr e s p e c t
s u r v i v a b l et h a n

a C-SA,

f o r example,where

i t is much more

a s i n g l e missile h i t would

n o r m a l l yb ec a t a s t r o p h i c .F u r t h e r m o r e ,t h ea i r s h i pc a nb ee q u i p p e dw i t h

a v e r yc r e d i b l es e l f - d e f e n s ec a p a b i l i t y .T h i sc o u l dc o n s i s to fe a r l y
warningand

firecontrolradar,

advancedweaponsystems,

anti-air a n d a n t i - m i s s i l e

ESM equipmentand

missiles o r o t h e r

a v a r i e t y of e l e c t r o n i c c o u n t e r -

m e a s u r e ss u i t a b l et ot h et h r e a t .
I n s p i t e of t h i s c a p a b i l i t y t o s u s t a i n

repair and t o p r o v i d e f o r

damage, t o c o n d u c t i n f l i g h t

i t s own s e l f - d e f e n s e , p r u d e n t m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o n

would n o t p e r m i t t h e a f r s h i p t o b e u s e d i n s i t u a t i o n s t h a t

were beyond its

l i m i t e d combat c a p a b i l i t i e s .I ns h o r t ,t h ea n s w e rt oa c h i e v i n ga c c e p t a b l e

levels o f s u r v i v a b i l i t y

lies i n employing the airship in missions for

it is particularly suited, and in

designed.
bility of

t a c t i c a l environments for which

which
i t hasbeen

A p r e l i m i n a r ye x a m i n a t i o n( c l a s s i f i e d )o ft h es e l f - d e f e n s ec a p a -

LTA's u s i n g an advanced weapon system was performed by the Northrop

ResearchandTechnologyCenter.

The r e s u l t s are encouragingandcould

expand the p o t e n t i a l t a c t i c a l e n v i r o n m e n t s f o r

-55-

modem Naval a i r s h i p s .

Conclusions
TheNavy

meters (11MCF) can s a t i s f y a l l

s i z e so fa p p r o x i m a t e l y3 1 1 , 5 0 0m i l l i o nc u
s p e c i f i e dm i s s i o nr e q u i r e m e n t s ;( 2 )

( 7 5k n o t s )

--

20 t o 30 d a y st i m e - o n - s t a t i o n

three c o n s t r u c t i o nc o n c e p t s

a c h i e v a b l e ;( 3 )
metzlclad

LTA v e h i c l e

M i s s i o nF e a s i b i l i t yS t u d yc o n c l u d e dt h a t :( 1 )

--

r i g i d ,n o n - r i g i d ,a n d

39 m / s

are g e n e r a l l yc o m p e t i t i v e ;( 4 )d e s i g ns p e e d so f

m (5000 f e e t ) can s a t i s f y a l l s p e c i f i e d

and a l t i t u d e s of1524

4572 m

m i s s i o nr e q u i r e m e n t s ;a n d( 5 )h i g h e rs p e e d sa n da l t i t u d e st o
(15,000 f e e t ) are f e a s i b l eb u t
airshipsintherequired

would r e q u i r el a r g e rv e h i c l e s .R i g i d

volume range are low r i s k e x t e n s i o n s o f p r e -

v i o u s LTA v e h i c l e s .S m a l l( n o n - r i g i d )a i r s h i p s
demanding missionssuch

a p p e a r st ob e

less

convoy e s c o r t .

a l l m i s s i o n st e n dt ob e

o rd e p l o y e d ,e x p e n d e do rr e t r i e v e d

o fp r o p a g a t i o n

may a l s o s a t i s f y

as s h i p s u p p o r t e d

The p r i m a r y s e n s o r s f o r

a d v a n t a g eo fu s i n g

is

items e i t h e r towed

by t h e LTA p l a t f o r m .

One s i p i f i c a n t

an a i r s h i p as a tow p l a t f o r m i s v i r t u a l e l i m i n a t i o n

of tow p l a t f o r m n o i s e i n t o t h e

medium.

The a i r s h i p a l s o

an i d e a l p l a t f o r m f o r t h e c a r r i a g e , d e p l o y m e n t , m o n i t o r i n g ,
R P V launchandrecoveryoperations.

a n dr e c o v e r yo fo f f - b o a r da r r a y sa n df o r

-56-

REFERENCES

1.

" F e a s i b i l i t y S t u d y of Modern A i r s h i p s , "P h a s e

I, Volumes I , 11, 111, &
I V ; GoodyearAerospaceCorporation;
NASA CR-137692, J u l y 1975.

2.

" F e a s i b i l i t y S t u d y of Modern A i r s h i p s , " P h a s e 11, Volume I , Book I ;

GoodyearAerospaceCorporation;
NASA CR-151917; September1976.

3.

" F e a s i b i l i t y S t u d y of Modern A i r s h i p s , " P h a s e 11, Volume I , Book 11;

GoodyearAerospaceCorpration;
NASA CR-151918, September1976.

4.

" F e a s i b i l i t y S t u d y of Modem A i r s h i p s , " P h a s e 11, Volume I , Book 111;

GoodyearAerospaceCorporation;
NASA CR-151919, September1976.

5.

" F e a s i b i l i t y S t u d y of Modem A i r s h i p s , " P h a s e 11, Volume 11; Goodyear

AerospaceCorporation;
NASA CR-151920, September1976.

6.

" F e a s i b i l i t y S t u d y of Modern A i r s h i p s , " P h a s e 11, Volume 111; Goodyear

AerospaceCorporation;
NASA CR-151989, J u l y1 9 7 7 .

7.

Huston, R. F. and Ardema, M. D . :

" F e a s i b i l i t yo f
D e f i n i t i o na n dP e r f o r m a n c e
of S e l e c t e d C o n c e p t s ; "
January 19 7 7 .

8.

Ardema, M. D . :
m e n t ; "J o u r n a l

9.

P i a s e c k i , F. N . :
"Ultra-Heavy V e r t i c a l L i f t System - The ' H e l i - S t a t ' , "
ProceedingsoftheInteragency
Workshop o n L i g h t e r Than A i r V e h i c l e s ,
FTL Report R75-2, January1975.

10.

"Development of Weight E s t i m a t i n gR e l a t i o n s h i p sf o rR i g i da n d
Non-Rigid
Heavy L i f t A i r s h i p s , " GoodyearAerospaceCorporation;
NASA CR-151976,
March 1 9 7 7 .

11.

"Study of S h o r t - H a u l A i r c r a f t O p e r a t i n g E c o n o m i c s , " F i n a l R e p o r t ;
Douglas A i r c r a f t Company; NASA CR-137685, September1975.

12.

"Summary of A i r s h i p A l l W e a t h e r C a p a b i l i t i e s , " USN, BureauofAeronautics,

N a v y Department,Washington,
DC, Memorandum
AER-AC-721,
A p r i l6 ,1 9 5 6 .

Modern A i r s h i p s - Design
AIAA Paper 77-331,

" F e a s i b i l i t y of Modern A i r s h i p s - P r e l i m i n a r y Assessof A i r c r a f t , v o l .

1 4 , no. 11, November 1977.

- 57 -

1. Report No.

NASA

3. Recipient's Cata
o
l g No.

2. Government Accession No.

CR-2922

.".

~~

5. Report Date

4. Title and Subtitle

"Feasibility Studyof Modern Airships, Phase I1

Executive Summaryll
.

~~

November 1977

6. Performing Organization Code

8. Performing Organization Report No.

7. Author(s1

10. Work Unit No.

. .. .-"

9. Performing Organization Name and Address

Goodyear
Aerospace
Corporation
1210 Massillon Road
44315
Akron,
Ohio

11. Contract or Grant No.

of

13. Type

Report and Period Covered

2. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address

National Aeronautics E Space Administration

Washington, D.C. 20546

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

5. Supplementary Notes

. ..."

..

"

"

6. Abstract

A feasibility studyof modern airships has been completed. In the

second half of this study, summarized herein, three promising modern
airship system concepts and their associated missions were studied:
(1) a heavy-lift airship, employing a non-rigid hull and a significant
amount of rotor lift, used for short-range transport and positioning of
heavy military and civil payloads; (2) a VTOL (vertical take-off and
landing), metalclad, partially buoyant airship used as a short-haul
commercial transport; and (3) a class of fully-buoyant airships used
for long-endurance Navy missions. The heavy-lift airship concept offers
a substantial increase in vertical lift capability over existing systems
and is projected to have lower total operating costs per ton-mile. The
VTOL airship transport concept appears be
to economically competititve
with other VTOL aircraft concepts but can attain significantly lower
noise levels. The fully-buoyant airship concept can provide an airborne
platform with long endurance that satisfies many Navy mission requirements.

~.-.

-"
7. Key
(Suggested
Words

AuthorM)
by

Airships
Lighter Than

18. Distribution Statement

Air

Technology

UNCLASSIFIED-UNLIMITED
.-

3. Security Classif. (of

this
report)

UNCLASSIFIED

20. Security Classif. (of this

. .

pagel

$3.75
*For sale by the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 221 61
NASA- Langley, 1977