• Tractors and Blimp: Tractors are close while a blimp is far. There are photos of Airlander 10's first flight in 2017 with tractors and blimps. Only when Airlander is close to the ground do you realize its massive size. It's been compared to a "flying buttock".
• 2017 Flight: On Wednesday evening in 2017, Airlander 10 completed its first flight since crashing nine months ago. It took off at 5:28 pm, flew for almost three hours, and landed at 8:15 pm. The new auxiliary landing system with giant airbags worked perfectly. The flight was to practice takeoff and landing and collect data. Airlander 10 is now in a three-phase flight test program and can't ascend beyond 4,000 feet or travel more than 15 miles from its Bedfordshire hangar initially.
• 2016 Test Flights: Photos from 2016 test flights show Airlander 10 taking off from Cardington Airfield, drifting over a nearby road with onlookers, an overhead shot inside the hangar, close-up details of the cockpit module and engines, and inflated airbags.
• 2017 Airbag Installation: In 2017, Airlander 10 was outfitted with two giant and undignified airbags placed on either side of the cockpit to prevent crushing during heavy landings. They are 3 meters long when fully engorged and are manually deployed by the pilot. Hybrid Air Vehicles also unveiled the Mobile Mooring Mast (MMM), a cute tracked vehicle to push and pull the airship.
• 2017 Repairs and Resumption: After almost six months, Airlander 10 was repaired and will continue its flight test program. In August, it crashed but the crew escaped unscathed. The flight deck had to be reinstalled. There will be a period of training and testing before it takes flight again.
• 2017 Second Crash: On August 24, Airlander 10's second test flight ended with a nosedive into the ground. The cockpit was damaged but the crew is safe. The flight lasted 100 minutes and completed planned tasks. HAV will investigate to find out what went wrong.
• 2017 First UK Flight: On August 18, Airlander 10 successfully took off on its maiden UK flight. It pottered around Cardington Airfield for 20 minutes at speeds up to 35 knots and landed safely. All test objectives were met and the next step is more test flights.
• Original Story (2016): Airlander 10 is the world's largest and longest aircraft, preparing to leave its hangar at Cardington Airfield. It was named Martha Gwyn by the duke of Kent and is in the final stages of testing. It's a 92-meter blimp with four propellers and a tiny cockpit capsule. It was originally developed for the US Army but the project didn't work out. Now, with government and EU grants and crowdsourced funding, it's almost ready for its second flight in the UK. Only the test pilot and key personnel are allowed on the blimp due to EASA regulations.