Article Posted on : - Mar 03, 2010

Locomoskayner under construction at Volga region. Photo Locomosky.ru

NEW DELHI (BNS): A five year program to produce "flying saucers" - a bizarre hybrid of a helicopter and an aerostat is approved by the government of Ulianovsk Region in the Volga area, a media report said.

The aerostatic disk-shaped aircraft Locomoskayner (LA) is used for airborne geographical prospecting with load-carrying capacity up to 1000 kg. It is piloted by the air crew, consisting of 2-8 persons.

The cruise speed of the vehicle is 95 km/h with 4 crew members onboard. The vehicle can be airborne more than 100 hours by fueling it once.

According to RIA Novosti, the company presented a stand model of the thermoballasted aerostatic aircraft in MAKS-2009 air show. The prototype flying saucer was seven meters (23 feet) in diameter and was able to transport 20 kg (44.4 lbs) of cargo.

The company, however, plans to produce aircraft with a cargo-carrying capacity of up to 600 metric tons or a passenger capacity of up to 11,000 people.

LA is operated by means of 8 electric motors, and is a robotized drone, which is capable of 2-hour monitoring of an emergency local set-up. On board there is a platform, which can bear up to 20 kilos of different monitoring and controlling equipment.

LocomoSky has already started to build a production facility site in an industrial zone in the area, it said.