Lighter-than-air Technology Documents

The following lighter-than-air technology documents are available for purchase in .pdf format. This list also contains several links to documents published on other websites.

  1. Book, Chapter 7 (Structures) of “Airship Technology”, Cambridge University Press, UK, 1999, ISBN 0-521-43074-7. 2nd edition 2012 with SkyLifter input.
  2. Report, “StratRaft – a Stratospheric LTA Aircraft”, Original: 3 Nov 2002, Rev B: 15 July 2016, 20 pages.
  3. Seminar Document, “High Altitude Airship (HAA) Design and Handling Aspects”, 27 August 2003. Mainly about former large airship handling and mooring methods. Originally given in S Korea over 2 days (5 & 6 November 2002) to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). Later, revised and extended for general publication: 123 pages.
  4. Article, “New Classic Style Airships Proposal – Luffship Reasoning”, the Journal of the Airship Association, UK, No 140, June 2003. Original article: 1997. Rev D, 2 Jun 2015, 18 pages.
  5. Paper, “AeroRaft – The Alternative Aircraft for Heavy Lift Transport or Crane Use”, AIAA ATIO Tech Forum, Denver, USA, No: AIAA-2003-6754, Nov 2003. Updated 4 Dec 2017, 14 pages.
  6. Article, “AeroRaft – A Brief Insight”, the Journal of the Airship Association, UK, No 142, Dec 2003. Original article: 6 pages. Presentation material: 19 pages.
  7. Paper, “Heavy Lift Aircraft – More than one way to skin a cat!” AERALL, France, Jan 2004, Updated 9 May 2015, 42 pages.
  8. Paper, “Lighter-Than-Air High Altitude Feasibility Study”, 9 May 2004 (published on HAPCOS), 21 pages (requires login).
  9. Article, “CargoLifter – a response (to the article ‘If I had my time again’, by Dr Carl von Gablenz)”, the Journal of the Airship Association, UK, No 144, June 2004, 5 pages.
  10. Paper, “The CargoLifter CL 75 AirCrane”, the Airship Association’s 5th International Airship Convention & Exhibition, Oxford, UK, 19 – 22 August 2004. Paper: 71 pages. Amended 9 May 2015. Presentation material: 79 pages.
  11. Outline Proposal, “Small Manned Airship Development”, 14 Nov 2004 (not published). Proposal: 53 pages. Presentation, “Airship 3000”, Nov 2004, (not published) 56 pages.
  12. Presentation, “StratRaft – A Brief Outline”, Nov 2005, (not published), 15 pages.
  13. Paper, “Aspects to consider for a Lighter-than-air High Altitude Platform Development in Europe”, 27 Nov 2005 (published on HAPCOS), 18 pages (requires login).
  14. Article, “New Method of Airship Construction”, the Journal of the Airship Association, UK, No 150, Dec 2005, Revision 6 June 2015, 4 pages.
  15. Leaflet, “10 Ton Payload Dirigible Balloon Concept – AeroLug”, revision 12 June 2015, 3 pages.
  16. Report, “LTA Aircraft for Heavy Lift Logistics Operations”, 19 Aug 2007 For BAe Systems (not openly published) Updated 16 May 2015, 13 pages.
  17. Paper, “Lighter-than-air (LTA) Aircraft Undercarriages – The Author’s Experience”, AIAA ATIO, Belfast, N Ireland, UK, No: AIAA-2007-7700, Sept 2007, Updated 11 May 2015, 21 pages.
  18. Lecture, “Lighter-than-air (LTA) Aircraft Technology”, Airships to the Arctic IV Symposium, Winnipeg, Canada, Oct 2007, Revision: 30 May 2015, 46 pages.
  19. Reports, on both the AIAA ATIO, Belfast, LTA and Airships to the Arctic IV conferences, published in the Journal of the Airship Association, UK, No 158, Dec 2007.
  20. Article, “Rigid, Semi-rigid or Non-rigid?” with addendum: “Need for Rigid Airships Today – Correspondence between Editor and Charles Luffman”, the Journal of the Airship Association, UK, No 160, June 2008. Revision: 5 June 2015, 7 pages.
  21. Article A1, “Buoyancy and the Real Reason for Filling Airships With Gas”, Airship Heritage Trust journal No 55, Autumn 2008. Revised: 3 June 2014, published in the Airship Association journal, No 184, Summer 2014. Amended 9 May 2015, 3 pages.
  22. Article, “A Dissertation on how Non-rigid Airships Ascend and Descend”, the Journal of the Airship Association, UK, No 164, June 2009. Amended: 10 May 2015, 17 pages.
  23. Article, “AeroRaft or the like: A Serious Heavy Lift Aerial Crane & Transport Aircraft Design – Why hasn’t it been done before?” 16 January 2010. Amended 6 Dec 2017, 4 pages.
  24. Briefing, “An introduction to Luffship Projects for SkyLifter”, originally just “SkyLifter Project”, published in the Journal of the Airship Association, UK, No 169, Sept 2010. Revision: 7 Dec 2017, 14 pages.
  25. Report, “LTA Aircraft Certification”, an explanation of airworthiness authority certification requirements. 15 Sept 2010 (Not published) Rev A, 28 March 2016, 4 pages.
  26. Paper, “Luffship Logistics and Carbon Footprint”. 24 July 2011, Updated 9 May 2015, 5 pages.
  27. Exposition, “Lenticular Airships”. 11 April 2012. Amended 2 Dec 2017, 15 pages.
  28. Report, “Setup Steps for a New LTA Aircraft Company to Develop & Operate Large Luffships”. 16 May 2012 (Not openly published). Revised 29 May 2015, 14 pages.
  29. Report, “LS-L150 SkyHoister Remote Site Aerial Crane Concept of Operations”. 19 May 2012 (Not openly published). Revised 27 June 2015, 4 pages.
  30. Article, “Argument for Development of an LTA Aerial-Crane”. 27 May 2012, Updated 16 Aug 2018, 8 pages.
  31. Dissertation, “Buoyancy and Load Exchange for Heavy Lift Airships”. 15 June 2012 (not openly published). Amended 14 Dec 2017, 19 pages.
  32. Article, “The Gloster Story – A tale of two airships that were one”, 2013. Airship Heritage Trust journal No 70 (Autumn edition), Amended 21 Dec 2017, 7 pages.
  33. Report, “Development Stages and Organisation Evolution for Lenticular Luffships that Someday may provide Serious Aerial Crane Services”, 28 July 2013 (not openly published), revised 25 June 2015, 14 pages.
  34. Article A2, “More on Buoyancy – Aerostatics”. 6 June 2014. Published in Airship Association journal, No 185, Autumn 2014. Amended 9 May 2015, 3 pages.
  35. Article A3, “Yet more on Buoyancy (Aerostatics)” – Altitude Effects. 12 June 2014. Published in Airship Association journal, No 186, Winter 2014/15. Amended 9 May 2015, 3 pages.
  36. Article A4, “Even more on Buoyancy (Aerostatics) – Pressure and Temperature Effects”. 16 June 2014. Published in Airship Association journal, No 187, Spring 2015. Amended 9 May 2015, 3 pages.
  37. Article A5, “Still more on Buoyancy – Aerostatic Control”. 23 June 2014. Published in Airship Association journal, No 188, Summer 2015.
  38. Article A6, “Further Buoyancy Matters – Compression & Heat”. 2 July 2014. Published in Airship Association journal, No 188, Summer 2015.
  39. Article A7, “The Concluding Buoyancy Saga – Control”. 6 July 2014. Published in Airship Association journal, No 189, Winter 2015.
  40. Letter, “The Airship Industry Today”, original: 24 July 2014, amended 13 June 2015, 2 pages.
  41. Paper, “Load Exchange – An explanation and things to consider for LTA aircraft”.
    1 Apr 2015. Amended 8 Dec 2017, 8 pages.
  42. Leaflet, “LS-L2 Omni-directional Micro Airship”. 4 May 2015, Updated 16 Aug 2018 2 pages.
  43. Leaflet, “LS-L20 Small Omni-directional Airship”. 22 Apr 2015, Updated 16 Aug 2018, 2 pages.
  44. Leaflet, “LS-L25 Normal Category Omni-directional Airship”. 22 Apr 2015, Updated 16 Aug 2018, 2 pages.
  45. Leaflet, “LS-L50 Commuter Category Transport Airship”. 4 May 2015, Updated 16 Aug 2018, 2 pages.
  46. Leaflet, “LS-L100_Roving Transport Category Heavy-Lift Aerial-Crane”. 4 May 2015, updated 16 Aug 2018, 5 pages.
  47. Report, “SkyRover Development”, was “Lenticular Luffships”. A document explaining the Mk 1 SkyRover and its reasoning, 8 Feb 2016, Updated 6 Jan 2018, 17 pages.
  48. Report, “Patrol Luffships”. A document explaining the need for such LTA aircraft to fulfil long endurance duties. 29 Feb 2016, Updated 6 Jan 2018, 9 pages.
  49. Report, “Luff-tent”, a small light inflatable tent. 23 Mar 2016. Updated 19 Dec 2017, 5 pages.
  50. Report, “LTA Aircraft Definitions”. A document providing an explanation of terminology used in the industry. 28 March 2016. Rev D, 1 Dec 2017, 14 pages.
  51. Leaflet, “LS-L5 an LTA Drone”. 6 July 2016, Updated 16 Aug 2018, 2 pages.
  52. Article, “Pilots for Lenticular Luffship Drones”. 24 July 2016. Rev C, 26 Jan 2018, 3 pages.
  53. Report, “Lenticular Luffship Strategy – for new airship types”. 5 Aug 2016, 8 pages.
  54. Presentation, “Applied Lighter-than-air (LTA) Solutions Industry 4.0 Process Innovations and New Buoyant Aircraft”. 11 Nov 2016. Updated 30 Jul 2018, 60 pages.
  55. Paper, “A Serious Aerial Crane with Transport Ability”. 17 Aug 2017, 8 pages.
  56. Leaflet, “LS-LT15 V1 – An Explanation” 8 Sep 2017, Updated 5 Aug 2018, 3 pages.
  57. Leaflet, “Strategy for Aerial-Crane Airships – New Omni-directional Airship Developments”. 25 Sep 2017. Updated 6 Aug 2018, 2 pages.
  58. Article, “Magic or Professionalism?” 11 Nov 2017, 2 pages.
  59. Info, “Cycloidal Propellers”. 12 Jan 2018. Updated 15 Aug 2018, 1 page.
  60. Report, “luffships.co.uk/ – for Applied LTA Solutions”, 8 Feb 2018, 3 Pages
  61. Report, “Patrol Airship Concept Evaluation (PACE) Trials in 1983”. 10 Feb 2018, 3 Pages.
  62. Presentation, “LS-L20 / L25 – Omni-directional (O-D) Airship sustained, low altitude Earth Observation”. 28 Jul 2018, 12 pages.
  63. Report, “Business Proposal – for LS-LT15 V1 and V2 Aerostats”, 28 Jul 2018. Revised 4 Aug 2018, 6 pages.
  64. Presentation, “LTA Drone Technology”, 30 Jul 2018, 27 Pages.
  65. Paper, “A Serious Aerial Crane with Transport Ability”, 9 Oct 2018, 9 Pages.
  66. Report, “Luffships Ltd”, 11 Oct 2018, 3 Pages.
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11 Oct 2018