'Blimp on Steroids' Joins Hunt for Natural Resources

July 29, 2008 -- Peter Jess, president of SkyHook International, isn't sure what to call the new aircraft he recently contracted The Boeing Company to build.

Officially, the football-field-sized, blimp-shaped, helium-filled aircraft -- designed for short distances and heavy loads -- is called the Jess Heavy Lifter 40 (JHL-40).

The designer, SkyHook, and the manufacturer, Boeing, claim that the aircraft will have two-and-a-half times the carrying capacity (80,000 pounds) while using half the horsepower of the world's current heavy-lifting helicopter, the Russian-built MI-26.

Unofficially Jess called the JHL-40 a "blimp on steroids" during a recent press conference.

But that's not entirely accurate, he admits.

The JHL-40 is "heavier than a blimp but lighter than an airplane," said Jess. "It's an entirely new kind of aircraft."

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Transport Canada agree. According to Jess, both agencies will create a new kind of pilot license for the "neutrally buoyant" JHL-40.

All other aircraft are either positively or negatively buoyant, explained Jess. Blimps are positively buoyant, meaning that without additional ballast they would rise into the atmosphere.

Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are negatively buoyant; without power they fall to Earth.