American Blimp A-170

The Holden Airship (nicknamed "the Holdenberg" by Australian news media) was a promotional gimmick operated by Holden (GM Holden Ltd), an Australian car manufacturer. The lightship was painted in the distinctive red and white livery of Holden and is flown at various outdoor events, such as Tertiary Open Day in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, on 25 August 2007 (see picture).

In late September 2007, The Holden Airship was decommissioned and shipped back to the US in preparation for its next international contract.

A modified A-170 is operated by the United States Navy as an advanced flying laboratory, designated MZ-3A.[2]

Data from [3]

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Capacity: 9 adults plus pilot (crew 17)
• Length: 178 ft 2 in (54.3 m)
• Diameter: 45 ft 11 in (14 m) envelope
• Height: 55 ft 1 in (16.8 m) including gondola
• Volume: 170,297,400 cu ft (4,822,285 m³)
• Useful lift: 12,311 lb (5,584 kg)
• Lifting agent:' Helium
• Gondola length: 8 m (26 ft 3 in)
• Gondola width: 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)
• Gondola height: 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
• Cabin length: 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in)
• Cabin width: 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
• Cabin height: 2 m (6 ft 7 in)
• Lightsign length: 21.3 m (69 ft 11 in)
• Lightsign height: 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
• Lightsign Diagonal: 914 in (23,200 mm)
• Lightsign Illumination: 369,600 LEDs + Internal illumination from two 1kW lights for night operation.
• Powerplant: 2 × Lycoming IO-360-B1G6 4-cyl. air-cooled horizontally opposed piston engines, 180 hp (130 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 45 kn (52 mph, 84 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 40 kn (46 mph, 74 km/h)
• Range: 220 nmi (250 mi, 400 km)
• Rate of climb: 1,394 ft/min (7.08 m/s)