The SkyHook JHL-40 was a proposed
hybrid airship
A hybrid airship is a powered aircraft that obtains some of its lift as a lighter-than-air (LTA) airship and some from lift (force), aerodynamic lift as a Aircraft#Heavier-than-air – aerodynes, heavier-than-air aerodyne.
A ''dynastat'' is a hy ...
/
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
. On July 9, 2008,
Boeing
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
announced that it had teamed up with
SkyHook International, a
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
company, to develop this aircraft.
No further press releases appear after 2009 and Skyhook International has abandoned its domain name registration since 2010 as shown by the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
.
According to company spokespeople, the aircraft would combine the best features of a blimp and a helicopter, and would be capable of carrying a 40
ton
Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean:
* the '' long ton'', which is
* the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...
load up to without refueling. At long, it would classify as the largest helicopter in the world, and would be capable of flying up to without a load.
The craft would use
helium
Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...
to provide enough lift to
carry its own weight, and would use four
helicopter rotor
On a helicopter, the main rotor or rotor system is the combination of several rotary wings (rotor blades) with a control system, that generates the aerodynamic lift (force), lift force that supports the weight of the helicopter, and the thrust ...
s to lift the load and to propel the aircraft.
By using both helium and helicopter rotors, the aircraft can avoid having to jettison helium after unloading.
In comparison, the
CH-47 Chinook
The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a Military transport helicopter, heav ...
helicopter can carry a load the same distance, but can only lift a maximum of 10 tons.
SkyHook claimed that the aircraft will provide environmental benefits over traditional methods of delivering heavy loads, as it would require less fuel than a helicopter and will not require building big roads for construction equipment.
The JHL-40, or Jess Heavy Lifter, is named after Pete Jess, the
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
and
Chief operating officer
A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...
of SkyHook International, the company that owns the patent for the aircraft.
The planned aircraft has yet to be certified by
Transport Canada
Transport Canada () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...
and the
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Currently the aircraft's overall performance and layout have been established. The next major program milestone, never reached, was to be Detailed Design in 2011, which would have centered on the design, analysis and specification of all hardware, software and related aircraft and ground support systems interfaces. Boeing planned to design and fabricate a production SkyHook HLV prototype at its Rotorcraft Systems facility in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. The new aircraft will enter commercial service after it is certified by Transport Canada and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The first SkyHook HLV aircraft was scheduled to fly in 2014. On September 13, 2010 however, Financial Times Deutschland revealed that development was halted until an infusion of 100 million dollar in public funding would be available.
See also
References
{{reflist
External links
Boeing news release
Airships
Quadrotors
Boeing aircraft
Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States