Franco-Canadian company Flying Whales will employ Hexcel’s HexTow carbon fibre materials to create the pultruded tubes that will comprise the skeleton of the latest LCA60T airship.

The LCA60T is envisaged as a rigid airship for transporting heavy loads, with a carrying capacity of 60 tons. Designed to meet the needs of renewable wood resource exploitation in hard-to-reach areas it features unique hovering loading and unloading characteristics.

It will provide solutions to numerous logistical problems in the point-to-point transport of heavy or bulky loads with a very low environmental footprint.

Over the past two years, Flying Whales and Hexcel have made significant progress in developing a comprehensive range of composite materials based on HexTow, which offer an optimised balance between cost-efficiency and superior mechanical properties, such as high tensile strength and modulus.

“Hexcel has developed materials such as prepregs, carbon fibres, fabrics and adhesives to meet the requirements of Flying Whales and overcome technical constraints for this project,” said Hexcel EMEA president Thierry Merlot at the recent Paris Air Show. “Our composites are lighter and stronger than any other comparable material, enabling cleaner, more efficient and more sustainable air mobility.”

“The expertise of Hexcel in composite raw materials and the company’s ability to develop and qualify aerospace products and to provide the most adapted solutions have been crucial in bringing the LCA60T airship to life,” added Flying Whales CEO Vincent Guibout. “This airship represents a significant leap forward in developing sustainable cargo transport, and we are excited to see the positive impact it will have on improving logistics in remote areas. By leveraging strong and light-weight composite materials, we are committed to creating an airship with minimal environmental impact.”

www.flying-whales.com

www.hexcel.com