Advocates see Thompson as a place to test airships’ cold-weather performance

A University of Manitoba professor has worked for more than 20 years trying to prove the viability of lighter-than-air vehicles as cargo-delivering workhorses in Northern Manitoba and other regions where there are remote communities with limited transportation options.

Ian Graham ~ Thompson Citizen / Nickel Belt News

A local cold-weather testing booster and a long-time Manitoba advocate for airships believe that Thompson could serve as a base for measuring how lighter-then-air vehicles cope with extreme winter weather.

Barry Prentice of the University of Manitoba, who has been advocating for research into the use of airships as cargo delivery vehicles for the past two decades, hosted a Zoom presentation last week that attracted attendees such as federal government officials, people involved in Thompson economic development and an executive from one of a handful of airship companies that have said they are close to having vehicles ready for flight testing, the Winnipeg Free Press reported July 30.

“Without a cold-weather testing facility there is no future for an airship operating in the North,” Prentice told the Free Press. “It is not something that would be nice to have, it is something that the industry will need to have.”

Read original full article by Ian Graham:
https://www.thompsoncitizen.net/local-news/advocates-see-thompson-as-a-place-to-test-airships-cold-weather-performance-5650026