The Allplane Podcast #132: Airships w/ Michael Kendrick, Mark Dorey & James Dexter (Straightline Aviation)

About this episode

The episode discusses the potential resurgence of airships and features experts from Straightline Aviation.

Is the airship ready for a big comeback? This is not some sort of retro-futurist sci-fi scenario, since there are a handful of companies working to develop a new generation modern-day iteration of this iconic type of aircraft. But, in fact, airships and, more generally, lighter than air aircraft never fully went away. The US Navy, for example, operated blimps until 1962 (and experimented with them again in the 2000s). Airships have also been used for advertising purposes and, for some time, even Richard Branson’s Virgin Group had an airship division. Our guests today know all this very well because they experienced it first hand. In fact, I doubt there are many other people in the world right now with the sort of experience and knowledge about how to operate an airship. Mike Kendrick, Mark Dorey and James Dexter boast decades of combined experience managing airships and they are now the management team of Straighline Aviation, a British startup that aims to become the world’s top airship operator. If there is a technological advance that has prompted this renewed interest in the airship category, it is the development of the Air Cushion Landing System (ACLS), which enables…

People in this episode

Guests: Michael Kendrick, Mark Dorey, James Dexter

Topics covered

• airships
• aviation technology
• transportation
• business
• innovation

Keywords

• airship
• aviation
• technology
• transportation
• advertising
• innovation
• Straightline Aviation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Straightline Aviation, Lockheed Martin, AT² Aerospace, Virgin Group

Places: US

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