Staff Writer
LIMESTONE – An aviation company at the Loring Commerce Centre plans to test fly this summer a larger version of a dirigible, or unmanned aircraft, that is under development, according to company and commerce officials. County residents may have seen a blimp floating overhead in the Limestone area last summer when Telford Aviation Services test flew a version of the Skybus for the general contractor Science Application International Corporation.
Telford, which has offices in Bangor and is occupying the arch hangar at the Loring Commerce Centre, has received a new contract to test a larger version of the unmanned aircraft, according to Carl Flora, president of the Loring Development Authority.
If the current testing phase is successful, the defensive airship could be produced for the U.S. military at Loring, Flora said.
The new Skybus is 2.5 times larger than the first prototype, according to Steve Ouellette, Skybus site manager and unmanned vehicle test pilot. The increased size will allow the aircraft to carry payloads of up to 700 pounds, Ouellette explained.
The older model was 90 feet long and 25 feet in diameter, while the newer airship will measure 130 feet in length and 35 feet around. The initial version could fly 4,500 feet high, while the latest one allows flight up to 10,000 feet, Ouellette said.
The Skybus, which is powered by gasoline, can travel up to 60 miles an hour. It is controlled from the ground much like a radio-controlled model airplane, Ouellette explained.
According to a statement issued last year by SAIC, the Skybus, was granted a Federal Aviation Administration Experimental Airworthiness Certificate for Unmanned Airships. The aircraft can be used to carry sensors used for a variety of security and intelligence operations including border patrol, port security, survivor search, wildlife management and sports event monitoring, according to the company statement.
Loring’s location is an ideal place, with its isolation and low population, for unmanned aircraft testing, Ouellette said.
Flora told the LDA Board of Directors earlier this month that the agency has been approached by several unmanned aircraft developers, including L-3 Communications, who would like to test a fixed-wing vehicle this summer.
L-3 Communications is the sixth largest defense contractor in the country with more than 60,000 employees, according to the company’s Website.
Flora said that the LDA is working with private and federal officials to help Loring become a center for unmanned aircraft testing and development.
“It’s an evolving process,” Flora said to the LDA board. “We’ll keep you posted.”
