Aereon Dynairship
(AEREON Dynairship)

Aereon Dynairship
Role - Concept lifting body hybrid aircraft
National origin - United States of America
Designer - William Miller, working on behalf of the Aereon Corporation
Status - Conceptual only
Number built - None

The Aereon Dynairship is a conceptual large hybrid airship developed by the Aereon Corporation for civilian and military cargo transport.
It is one of Aereon's lifting body airship concepts, where a craft without a conventional "wing" generates lift by itself. It would have also have been filled with buoyant gas such as preferably helium or hydrogen, but possibly heated gases, making it a truly hybrid craft. This kind of configuration was researched by Aereon beginning in the 1960s and continuing until the 1980s. Several patent applications were filed, including a patent application filed in 1969. The early development of the deltoid pumpkinseed aerobody was described in a John McPhee 1973 book.
Design and development
The Dynairship was to be a very large ship, the conceptual designs showing it to form a large triangle, with small finlets at the back of either end.
The proof-of-concept aircraft for the Dynairship was the Aereon 26. Following the apparent success of this project, Aereon's board voted unanimously to proceed with the Dynairship for civilian and commercial purposes.
Three proposed versions of the Dynairship were put forward:
- A "small patrol aircraft" 50 feet (15 m) long, with a gross weight of 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg);
- A "medium-size cargo aircraft" 200 feet (61 m) long, with a gross weight of 270 long tons (270 t);
- A "logistic carrier" 1,000 feet (300 m) long, with a gross weight of 4,200 long tons (4,300 t).
Original propulsion was stated in the patent to be four externally mounted propellers on the top of the body, with engine nacelles. In the 1991 patent, a glass cockpit can be seen at the front. However, the Aereon corporation state that the design can be either manned or un-manned.
A lack of funding ended the project. According to Aereon, the Department of Defense told Miller in 2003, "You were 30 years ahead of your time"!
Navy and Air Force research
When it turned out that building the Dynairship under Aereon at that time was financially impossible, Miller went on to design very similar craft for research in the military field. The job of building a prototype craft was given to Lockheed's L-TAV division, and the resulting craft was named the STOL-340.

AEREON 26

AEREON 26
Role - lifting body aircraft
National origin - United States of America
Manufacturer - Aereon Corporation
First flight - March 1971
Number built - 1

The AEREON 26 was an experimental aircraft developed to investigate lifting body design with a view to using its shape to create hybrid designs, part airship, part conventional aircraft. It was powered by a piston engine, driving a pusher propeller, and generated lift through the aerodynamics of its lozenge-shaped fuselage.
Although results of flight tests conducted in 1971 were promising, funding for larger and semi-buoyant aircraft was not forthcoming at the time. The story of the test program was recounted by John McPhee in his book The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed (ISBN 0-374-51635-9). This aircraft has a special place in UFO and conspiracy lore, since enthusiasts have drawn parallels between the shape of this aircraft and some reported UFOs from around the same era.
Background
The AEREON Corporation, established in 1959, at first concentrated on the construction of a prototype three-hull hybrid airship, the AEREON III. Completed in 1965, the prototype was lost during taxiing tests the following year, without having flown.
Following the destruction of the AEREON III, the firm sought "a new and better solution." AEREON's Monroe Drew and John Fitzpatrick employed German physicist Jürgen Bock, formerly of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany, and the U.S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, to develop a list of parameters that would be fed into a computer at the General Electric Space Center, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in order to determine "the optimum configuration for enclosing maximum volume without too much penalty of drag." AEREON 26's deltoid configuration, "a shrewd and practical compromise between an airfoil and a sphere," was the result of these efforts.
Rubber-powered and gasoline-engined models of the configuration were flown and wind tunnel tests conducted before testing of the 26 itself began.

Description

Structure and form
According to a paper delivered to the Interagency Workshop on Lighter than Air Vehicles in 1974 by AEREON president William Miller, the 26's shape - dubbed an "aerobody" - was "a lifting-body [sic] of deltoid planform, elliptical cross-sections, and a fineness ratio of 4:5." Among the advantages claimed for this hull form were proximity of the aerodynamic center, center of buoyancy, and center of gravity and a minimal need for trim-control devices, thus facilitating the transportation of "a full range of tonnages at various speeds without major trim requirements."
In McPhee's words, the craft was "a triangle with a deep belly and a vaulting back" or a "delta" when seen from above and a "fat and tremendous pumpkin seed" from the side (hence "deltoid pumpkin seed").
The 26's structure was composed of aluminum tubes (salvaged from the wrecked AEREON III), joined using heli-arc welding and covered with aircraft cloth and aluminum sheet.
Propulsion
The 26 was powered by a single engine, mounted above the trailing edge and driving a pusher propeller. Although the 26 inherited the engine of the AEREON III - apparently a four-cylinder McCulloch of 92 horsepower (69 kW) - it appears to have had three different propellers over the course of the test program. After the aircraft experienced difficulty in getting out of ground effect, "a propeller of a different pitch" was fitted. This second propeller was a "virtually unique" example, made of lemonwood, that had been used by Igor Bensen in an unsuccessful attempt on the autogyro speed record. After further testing indicated the 26 to be underpowered, a third propeller was carved to order from yellow birch by Sensenich Propeller and fitted in time for the 26's second series of flight tests in 1971.
The engine's lifespan also had a significant influence on the program; it was "just a drone-aircraft engine, and an old one at that" and had already been used for 12 hours of its 25-hour design life.
Construction and assembly
The 26 was assembled (like its predecessor) by veteran U.S. Navy airship rigger Everett Linkenhoker. Initial construction was in two portions, in "a small shop near Lakehurst, New Jersey." The portions were then transported by road to Red Lion Airport, where they were joined together. The aircraft was initially housed in a timber-and-sheetrock box within a hangar at the airport, for reasons of secrecy. Initial taxiing tests were conducted at Red Lion, again under conditions of secrecy. Subsequently, the aircraft was transported by road to the National Aviation Facilities Experimental Center (NAFEC) near Atlantic City for flight testing.
Flying history
The 26 made its first flight, piloted by John Olcott (later president of the National Business Aviation Association), at NAFEC on September 7, 1970. However, as discussed above, it was initially unable to climb out of ground effect. By September 28, following the replacement of the propeller and the removal of some items, the 26 was capable of reaching an altitude of 50 feet (15 m) but appeared underpowered. The aircraft was returned to Red Lion before being hauled back to NAFEC on February 24, 1971, following the fitting of vortex generators and the third propeller.
Tests resumed at NAFEC on March 1, 1971. On this occasion, the 26 "went up and out of ground effect with no strain at all". In subsequent tests, it performed circuits of the field and a variety of other maneuvers before the engine's life expiry ended the test program.
The Aereon 26 currently resides at the Trenton-Robbinsville Airport (N87), "sit[ting] quietly in a hangar," with Miller "looking for a home (and philanthropic support)" for the aircraft.

After the test program

Results of the program
Addressing the Interagency Workshop on Lighter than Air Vehicles in 1974, William Miller said the test program indicated that performance was as had been predicted, the 26's stability and control and handling qualities were "good," the aircraft was "docile and acceptable ... within the limited scope of the tests," and the concept had been shown to be feasible, with the program potentially forming a basis for "realistic studies of much larger such aircraft."

Proposed further developments

Dynairships
The aircraft was intended as a forerunner of much larger craft that - unlike the 26 itself - would contain helium; these designs were dubbed "Dynairships." One proposal, the AEREON 340, was to have been 340 feet (100 m) long, with a wingspan of 256 feet (78 m) and total lift of 400,000 pounds (180,000 kg). Powered by four 5,500 horsepower (4,100 kW) Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprop engines, it was claimed to be capable of carrying intermodal containers or semi-trailers, operating slightly heavier than air. A patent for "[a] cargo-carrying air ship [sic] compris[ing] a gas-filled, low aspect ratio deltoid wing" was granted in 1969; according to this patent, "extremely large ships, having lengths in excess of 1,000 feet (300 m)" and capable of economically transporting "large payloads, ranging up to 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) or more" over long distances, were feasible.
In 1974, Miller described three "hypothetical Dynairships":
- A "small patrol aircraft" 50 feet (15 m) long, with a gross weight of 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg);
- A "medium-size cargo aircraft" 200 feet (61 m) long, with a gross weight of 270 long tons (270 t);
- A "logistic carrier" 1,000 feet (300 m) long, with a gross weight of 4,200 long tons (4,300 t).
Heavier-than-air
Versions of the configuration that would, like the 26, have lacked lifting gas and operated heavier-than-air at all times were also proposed. These included "a kind of flying camper for general aviation" and "a bigger model for the regional airline industry." A variant with a V/STOL capability, using blown flaps, was patented in 1979. Another heavier-than-air variant, later known as the Aereon WASP, is described in a 1990 patent. This "airborne surveillance antenna platform" with "long endurance and high altitude flight capability" was to carry a radar antenna comprising "planar or linear phased arrays arranged to scan in a continuous pattern in all azimuthal directions" within its deltoid hull.
Current status
William Miller was looking to donate the Aereon 26 to a museum since at least 2011. As of 2019 it has been added to the Air Victory Museum permanent collection and is on public display in Lumberton, New Jersey.

Specifications
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1976-77

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) (excluding air data boom)
Wingspan: 22 ft 3+3⁄4 in (6.80 m) (over anhedral surfaces)
Height: 7 ft 3+3⁄4 in (2.23 m)
Aspect ratio: 1.23:1
Gross weight: 1,200 lb (544 kg) (operating weight)
Powerplant: 1 × McCulloch flat-four, 90 hp (67 kW)
Propellers: 4-bladed Sensenich
Performance
Never exceed speed: 127 mph (204 km/h, 110 kn)
Take-off run: 800 ft (240 m)

AEREON III

AEREON III
Role - Hybrid fixed wing aircraft/lighter-than-air craft.
National origin - United States of America
Manufacturer - AEREON Corporation
Number built - 1

The AEREON III was an experimental hybrid airship of rigid construction built by the AEREON Corporation in the early 1960s. Of unconventional design, the airship featured three gas envelopes attached side-by-side, with the connecting structures shaped as airfoils to create extra lift as the craft moved forward. Intended as a small prototype craft that would precede the development of much larger hybrid airships, the AEREON III was constructed between 1959 and 1965 but was destroyed during taxiing tests in 1966 and scrapped without having flown. It was "the first rigid airship to be built since Graf Zeppelin II".
Background
The AEREON Corporation had been founded in 1959 by Presbyterian minister and U.S. Naval Reserve chaplain turned airship enthusiast Monroe Drew and Navy airship veteran Lieutenant Commander John Fitzpatrick. The organization was named in honor of Solomon Andrews's 1863 airship Aereon, a three-hulled craft - like AEREON III - that could make forward progress without an engine by alternately dropping ballast and valving hydrogen. (Aereon II was Andrews's second airship, a single-hulled craft.)
AEREON III was designed by Fitzpatrick and constructed between 1959 and 1965 at Mercer County Airport in Trenton, New Jersey. The construction work was carried out by Everett Linkenhoker, an airship rigger hired on the recommendation of Aereon's consultant, the distinguished airship aviator and retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Charles Rosendahl.
Future versions of the airship were envisaged as being up to 1,000 feet (300 m) long, possibly with nuclear propulsion. Even "thousand-foot automated Aereons moving in connected trains through the lower atmosphere" were foreseen by some of those involved.

Description

Configuration
The AEREON III comprised three rigid hulls, each 83 feet (25 m) in length and 17 feet 6 inches (5.33 m) in maximum diameter, connected by truss members. The connecting structures between the hulls were faired in an airfoil section, and the aircraft as a whole functioned as an airfoil with an aspect ratio of 0.74. The design was intended to "maximize the dynamic lifting forces acting on the airship hull and to take the fullest advantage of these forces in flight." Each hull contained six gas cells, for a total lifting gas volume of 40,000 cubic feet (1,100 m3). There were ventral fins with rudders at the aft ends of the outer two hulls and elevons on the trailing edges of the connecting structures. The two-seat cockpit was located in the nose of the central hull.
Structure and materials
The hulls had a Zeppelin-type structure comprising seven 20-sided main rings, three intermediate rings between each pair of main rings, and wire bracing; however, the structural members were of Duralumin tubing, rather than the built-up girders of earlier rigids. The structure was described as "half as heavy and twice as strong as the structural material in the ill-fated Hindenburg." The hulls were enclosed by a double-layer outer cover, comprising an outer Tedlar layer and an inner layer of ripstop nylon treated with dope. The gas cells were also made of Tedlar. The fins were of sheet Duralumin on frames of the same material, joined primarily with epoxy resin rather than by riveting.
Landing gear
The airship had a tricycle undercarriage with a non-steerable nosewheel beneath the central hull and steerable (via a connection with the rudders) wheels at the tips of the ventral fins at the aft ends of the outer hulls. The nosewheel functioned as an "internal mooring mast," with a telescopic strut that allowed the ship's angle of attack to be varied while moored (e.g. nose down to hug the ground or nose up in preparation for takeoff) and a tie-down fitting at its lower end.
Propulsion
The AEREON III was powered by a single engine located at the aft end of the central hull. This engine was reported in 1962 as being a Solar Titan gas turbine of 80 horsepower (60 kW), but the engine eventually installed was described as a "four-cylinder McCullough" (sic - presumably McCulloch). The engine drove a 21 feet (6.4 m) diameter, two-bladed pusher propeller (actually a helicopter rotor rotating in the vertical plane). The location of the propeller at the aft end of the hull was stated to assist in boundary layer control and its cyclic pitch feature to facilitate low-speed control. AEREON patented this propulsion and control system in 1966. However, the propeller required shortening before trials commenced because of its "greatly excessive vibration."
Buoyancy control
Five propane burners in each hull enabled the helium to be heated to increase lift; the ship would be about 400 pounds (180 kg) heavy (i.e. weight greater than static lift) with the gas cells 83 percent filled with helium, but heating the gas would increase the static lift by 800 pounds (360 kg). The helium could also be cooled by admitting air through vents in the noses of the hulls, with the assistance of blowers. The double-layer outer cover, mentioned above, facilitated thermal insulation of the gas cells. AEREON also patented the pressurization and buoyancy-control system, in 1965. One source states that the AEREON III's buoyancy-control capabilities would allow it to fly using "gravity propulsion" - without the assistance of an engine - along the lines of Solomon Andrews's original Aereon but substituting helium heating for Andrews's dropping of ballast and helium cooling for his valving of hydrogen. However, Fitzpatrick is quoted elsewhere as "deplor[ing] such exaggerations."
Destruction
On April 15, 1966, the AEREON III was taxiing on a runway at Mercer County Airport in a 15 knots (28 km/h) crosswind when it failed to slow down, tried to turn at the end of the runway, and tilted over onto two wheels. One of the pilots jumped from the cockpit, and the airship then turned flat on its back. The second pilot then jumped straight down from the inverted cockpit, and the airship overturned a second time. According to John McPhee's book The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed, the remains of the AEREON III were "virtually bulldozed back into the hangar, arriving more or less in flakes." However, another source states that reconstruction into a new, larger AEREON IIIB was contemplated. This craft would have been 100 feet (30 m) long and 75 feet (23 m) in span, with a "metal-clad, partially delta" shape. According to this source, the damaged AEREON III was eventually broken up "sometime in 1967."
The AEREON III was succeeded by the AEREON 26, which had an entirely different, deltoid shape. The new aircraft inherited its predecessor's McCulloch engine, along with aluminum tubing from the structure of AEREON III and several of its instruments. One of the nosecones from AEREON III is reportedly in the Lighter-than-Air Society's collection in Akron, Ohio.