Lockheed SRA (Small Rigid Airship)

[Antonio]

Small Rigid Airship. Pic taken from a Spanish clone of Popular Mechanics, 1984. No info available.

 

[LowObservable]

Fascinating... it looks at first sight like a trade-show model shot, but I'd never heard of this one.

 

[sublight]

This is from a paper written by Lockheed on the "small rigid airship". The opening paragraph was written by Roy Gibbens of Lockheed....

Has anybody seen this paper?

 

[Orionblamblam]

http://www.netwrx1.com/skunk-works/v05.n199

Can I draw your attention to a Lockheed proposal for a Small Rigid Airship (SRA) going back to 1984.In the introduction to the paper they state "Engineers are no longer restricted to use the classical "Cigar" shapes of the past...Because we can form these new materials to more desirable aerodynamic shapes,we can now develop the small rigid airship to be a practical vehicle."

It goes on to say "These new SRAs will look more like 'Lifting Body Vehicles than Blimps".

The purpose of the paper was not to propose any particular design for the SRA but to discuss it's feasibility. The 'Starship' in their paper is around 160 feet long and 45 feet high.It was to be filled with Helium and hot air.

The abstact was written by Roy Gibbens of Lockheed.

 

[sublight]

http://www.netwrx1.com/skunk-works/v05.n199

Can I draw your attention to a Lockheed proposal for a Small Rigid Airship (SRA) going back to 1984.In the introduction to the paper they state "Engineers are no longer restricted to use the classical "Cigar" shapes of the past...Because we can form these new materials to more desirable aerodynamic shapes,we can now develop the small rigid airship to be a practical vehicle."

It goes on to say "These new SRAs will look more like 'Lifting Body Vehicles than Blimps".

The purpose of the paper was not to propose any particular design for the SRA but to discuss it's feasibility. The 'Starship' in their paper is around 160 feet long and 45 feet high.It was to be filled with Helium and hot air.

The abstact was written by Roy Gibbens of Lockheed.

Saw that already. Sure would like to see the paper in question.....

 

[sublight_]

Guess we wont be hearing more about this.....

Roy P. Gibbens died the 24th February 2013.
He was a retired Lockheed engineer and member of the AIAA Lighter-than-Air Systems Technical Committee for 10 years and Chair from 2000-2001.

 

[quellish]

http://www.netwrx1.com/skunk-works/v05.n199

Can I draw your attention to a Lockheed proposal for a Small Rigid Airship (SRA) going back to 1984.In the introduction to the paper they state "Engineers are no longer restricted to use the classical "Cigar" shapes of the past...Because we can form these new materials to more desirable aerodynamic shapes,we can now develop the small rigid airship to be a practical vehicle."

It goes on to say "These new SRAs will look more like 'Lifting Body Vehicles than Blimps".

The purpose of the paper was not to propose any particular design for the SRA but to discuss it's feasibility. The 'Starship' in their paper is around 160 feet long and 45 feet high.It was to be filled with Helium and hot air.

The abstact was written by Roy Gibbens of Lockheed.

Saw that already. Sure would like to see the paper in question.....

"The cycloidal propeller for twenty first century airships"

AIAA Aerospace Research Central

"Improvements in Airship Control Using Vertical Axis Propellers"

AIAA Aerospace Research Central

"Construction and flying a radio controlled lighter than aircraft powered by cycloidal propellers"

A01 - Construction and flying a radio controlled lighter than aircraft powered by cycloidal propellers | The Airship Association

www.airship-association.org

"Roy P. Gibbens: Small Rigid Airships as an Alternative to Non-Rigid Blimp Type Ships."

Library List - Summary Version

 

[SueB22]

Interesting comments. I am the daughter of Roy Gibbens, and currently sifting through old papers and photographs. I came across the Lockheed Starship photos and google led me here. I’m happy to share docs with anyone interested- but looks like some of it online. He actually had a model of the starship hanging in his office. He was forever a designer and promoter of the use of airships.

 

[flateric]

...

 

[quellish]

Interesting comments. I am the daughter of Roy Gibbens, and currently sifting through old papers and photographs. I came across the Lockheed Starship photos and google led me here. I’m happy to share docs with anyone interested- but looks like some of it online. He actually had a model of the starship hanging in his office. He was forever a designer and promoter of the use of airships.

Anything you can contribute would be greatly appreciated! As far as I know we have only small fragments of your father's work on the small rigid airship concept.

 

[plobner]

Interesting comments. I am the daughter of Roy Gibbens, and currently sifting through old papers and photographs. I came across the Lockheed Starship photos and google led me here. I’m happy to share docs with anyone interested- but looks like some of it online. He actually had a model of the starship hanging in his office. He was forever a designer and promoter of the use of airships.

Anything you can contribute would be greatly appreciated! As far as I know we have only small fragments of your father's work on the small rigid airship concept.

Hi, Sue,
I am the author of an article on Lockheed Martin rigid hybrid airships which is posted online here: https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Lockheed-Martin-rigid-hybrid-airships-converted.pdf

That article includes a section on the small rigid airship (SRA) Starship. I also have a new, partially drafted article on Roy Gibbens' cycloidal propeller airship, which he tested as a sub-scale model. The article remains "partially drafted" because I have been unable to find more source material to help fill in the many blanks.

I have more then 240 airship articles posted as part of my Modern Airships - Parts 1, 2 and 3 series of posts. Part 1 is here: https://lynceans.org/all-posts/modern-airships-part-1/

If you are willing to share information on your father's airship projects, I will incorporate the new material in updated or new articles that I will post online as part of the Modern Airships series. All of these articles are copyright free and available for download as pdf files.

Best regards,
Pete Lobner
PL31416@cox.net

 

[SueB22]

Hi Pete, Wow! What an extensive collection articles! I got sidetracked with "life" - new grand baby and all that...I will be getting back to sifting through his papers and things soon. (He kept everything - and often duplicates...but not always in an organized fashion!) I will share what I come across hopefully in the next month. Thanks so much for your interest.
Sue Henderson

 

[Prophet141]

Hi Pete, Wow! What an extensive collection articles! I got sidetracked with "life" - new grand baby and all that...I will be getting back to sifting through his papers and things soon. (He kept everything - and often duplicates...but not always in an organized fashion!) I will share what I come across hopefully in the next month. Thanks so much for your interest.
Sue Henderson

Would you mind sharing it here as well? I've been fascinated by hybrid airships for a good period of time now and it's always nice to see something new. Thanks!

 

[SueB22]

Well, I have a few items to share from my dad - Roy Gibbens' presentations and research on rigid airships and cycloidal propellers. I realized that some of the documents I have are from AIAA conferences and are copyrighted, so did not upload those. There are also some photos of the cycloidal propeller development he did. Also, if you go to YouTube and search: Cycloidal Propeller Airship (you may have to include Gibbens) you will find his demonstration video. It was uploaded by BlueMagicMedia.
Alright, hope these are helpful, or at least interesting. I have gained a new appreciation for all of his interest in promoting the use of Airships. Hopefully one day they will be a reality in our lives.

 

[Prophet141]

Great images, but some of them don't seem to have loaded properly? Thanks anyway!

 

[plobner]

Check out, "Lockheed Corp. – Starship hybrid thermal small rigid airship (SRA)," here:

https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Lockheed_Starship-SRA.pdf

and also

"Roy P. Gibbens – AirLighter and cycloidal propellers,: here:

https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Gibbens-Assoc_AirLighter-Cy-Prop.pdf

I am grateful to Roy Gibbens' daughter, Sue Henderson, for generously providing access to his files.

 

[publiusr]

Too many endings, not enough beginnings