Perhaps a touchy subject this, so bear with me.
Does anyone here know much about the airship industry in the UK in the 1980’s? My very good friend and ex-nextdoor neighbour Pat Monk went to the Isle of Man to design airships for a company which I think was called Wren Skyships. At that time there was another rival company (the title of which I don’t remember) that had a chief designer also of the name Monk co-incedentally. (Might have been Roger Monk, not sure).
Pat put his heart and soul into the designs, he really felt that a new era was about to be born for airships. He used to come home to NZ often with stories and photos of prototypes, etc. Always full of hope. He also put a lot into the attempt to sell them.
The problem was he discovered the boss, who’d been a close friend of his throughout, was embezzling the company and it all collapsed. It was very sad for him, especially since Pat’s daughter had married the boss’s son, making things very awkward when they had their bust up. Anyway, so Wren Skyships folded, but what became of the rival/s? Are airships still being made anywhere in the UK? Are any of the prototypes in museums or anything?
Did the rival company find a good market for them? Were these the Goodyear blimps and other such airships you see at sporting events for camera crews?
I do know Pat had been doing deals in the Middle East to sell them for transporting oil, and also had the NZ Government interested for trans-Cook Strait crossings.
I’d like to learn more if anyone out there knows more about that industry. Has it all been forgotten these days?
By: Spey111 - 22nd November 2005 at 21:12
G-BIHN taken at Bournemouth (Hurn) in approx. 1988.
According to the CAA G-INFO site it was deregistered 31/01/1991.
By: 92fis - 22nd November 2005 at 20:45
Is this still about, seen at Mildenhall mid Eightys.
The gondola for G-BIHN was in storage at old warden last i heard of.
By: Bruggen 130 - 22nd November 2005 at 14:26
Is this still about, seen at Mildenhall mid Eightys.
By: Dave Homewood - 22nd November 2005 at 11:12
Where are these airships now? Still in use somewhere? Imagine what a great Gold Pass grandstand an airship would make at an airshow.
Are there any airships from any period preserved in museums anywhere?
By: zoot horn rollo - 22nd November 2005 at 10:57
Frequently forgotten is the fact that the MOD used an Airship Industries airship for a number of years in the mid 90’s. ZH762 flew out of Boscombe Down for trials there and at Middle Wallop. The envelope had to be replaced at one point and the damaged gondola that sat outside at Lasham for a couple of years was moved there and couple be found near the RWTS hangar.
By: Dave Homewood - 21st November 2005 at 23:56
Thanks very much for those, they’re very interesting
By: Consul - 21st November 2005 at 23:43
Dave,
At last I’ve found some of the slides that I took of the Airship Industries machines G-SKSC & G-BIHN when they were at Cardington in October 1986. At that time one was operating sight-seeing flights, but I believe corporate clients took up most of the opportunities. As a comparison I’ve also included a shot of Goodyear blimp N2A (the same company did not construct that of course). I was fortunate to be allowed on the roof of a Birmingham skyscraper in 1972 to take the Goodyear shot – health and safety would probably prevent such an opportunity these days!
By: Newforest - 5th November 2005 at 20:13
The Zeppelin company are indeed in business at Friedrichshafen where the original company was based. I was at the GA show there in April this year and although one of their craft was in the hangar the “flier” was away on a contract in Munich. There seemed to be an air of optimism about the place particularly for using them as TV platforms.
I hope this helps but if you are really keen I know the German mob do trips over the Bodensee which could be really good fun.
And here is the proof although I have not yet flown in it 🙂
By: Dave Homewood - 5th November 2005 at 20:04
Thanks chaps, So is that Alan Bond the same as the Australian criminal?
I’m confused, was Airship Industries the company rivalling Wren Skyships? Or was it one and the same? It rings a bell as being the opposition Pat used to talk about. I note that it too had Isle of Man connections. Probably the tax-haven status helped such industry.
By: zoot horn rollo - 5th November 2005 at 19:55
I worked for National Power in their sales and marketing team in 1989 and we hired one to fly potential customers around G-SKSC. It was grounded for part of the time due to high winds but it flew over London for a few days and I flew in it over Gloucester.
I remember quiziing the crew about the prototype and they said that it was the first time that any of the passengers had ever shown any real interest or knowledge in the craft.
For a while the fibre glass cabin of one in Korean Olympic marks sat outside at Lasham before moving to Boscombe Down probably in support of the military ZH762.
It all went downhill for AI and eventually the company was sold to Alan Bond who then sold it on.
By: ozplane - 5th November 2005 at 18:02
The Zeppelin company are indeed in business at Friedrichshafen where the original company was based. I was at the GA show there in April this year and although one of their craft was in the hangar the “flier” was away on a contract in Munich. There seemed to be an air of optimism about the place particularly for using them as TV platforms.
Not such good news of the Skyship(?) group at Cardington. They built several fliers including one which featured in a James Bond movie and “crashing” on the Golden Gate bridge. They were working on a decent sized contract for the US Navy who have been keen on airships, of course, for many years. However the local BBC news had an item on them about 12 months ago saying they were once again heading for the receivers. I haven’t seen one flying since then so I guess the prediction was correct. I hope this helps but if you are really keen I know the German mob do trips over the Bodensee which could be really good fun.
By: ZRX61 - 5th November 2005 at 17:04
someone I used to work with went to work with a German outfit that were developing them… not sure how far they got or if they’re still in business.. cant be bothered to google at the moment.. 😉
Zeppelin? There was an article in PM about 2 years ago that there were back in the blimp biz.
By: Consul - 5th November 2005 at 10:54
Dave,
If you view the attached and look at former maufacturers (at the bottom of the list) I think the entry for Airship Industries will supply the answer. Their airships were often to be seen at Cardington – I do have some slides of a couple of them together there I can’t recall the date. So far as I know they did not make any of the Goodyear blimps. One of their craft was displayed at Farnborough on at least one occasion. I thought the company failed not long after one of their test pilots died in a non-airship related accident but my memory may be playing tricks.
http://spot.colorado.edu/~dziadeck/airship/manufacturers.htm
By: Guzzineil - 5th November 2005 at 09:43
someone I used to work with went to work with a German outfit that were developing them… not sure how far they got or if they’re still in business.. cant be bothered to google at the moment.. 😉
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November 5, 2005 at 8:18 am