Design, Characterization and Operations of Lighter-than-Air Flying Vehicles

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few years, the market of lighter-than-air (LTA) flying vehicles has evolved rapidly, attracting, once more in the history of aviation, the interest of investors and boosting the need for a dedicated research effort.

Correspondingly, we hope that gathering excellent contributions in the field of LTA technology may help in the creation of a wider and more accessible knowledge base, which would be indispensable for facing the numerous challenges that LTA flying vehicles still pose at a technical level.

This Special Issue—the third on this topic—is open to contributions in the field of LTA technology, especially along the following three directions.

Firstly, the design of the LTA flying vehicles, both preliminary and detailed, which today often incorporates novel propulsion and energy harvesting systems, and entails the adoption of new materials. Accordingly, results from prototypes and experimental characterization campaigns (e.g., wind tunnel data) are very relevant at the current stage of technological development.

Secondly, the modeling of the dynamics and control of lighter-than-air flying vehicles. The dynamics of airships are largely different from that of aircrafts, and their aerodynamic characterization is oftentimes still provided through analytical or semi-empirical models of limited validity. Furthermore, the control of airships is typically perceived as the most significant issue in successfully flying this type of machine, especially when autonomous flight is of interest. Therefore, studies along these lines, carried out either at a virtual level on simulation/numerical models or in the field, are felt to be of great relevance.

Thirdly, the operation of LTA flying vehicles. The study of missions based on LTA flying vehicles, possibly flying in an integrated fashion with other platforms within a regulated airspace, the economics of LTA manufacture and flight operations, as well as the assessment of the ground infrastructure and logistics required for supporting LTA operations, are topics of the greatest relevance to clearly outline the most promising and economically viable applications of LTA technology, potentially helping in effectively steering further investments and research.

Prof. Dr. Carlo E. D. Riboldi
Guest Editor

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