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Thursday 10 May 2012

Airship Industries Cardington

Welcome, today we are off up the A600 once again, to look at the advertising colour schemes to be seen on the Airship Industries Skyship 500 Airship. The Canon A1 is loaded with film so lets fire up the Austin Metro and burn some rubber in the direction of Cardington.


We start with a take off shot of  Skyship 500 G-BIHN in Fuji Colours, it can be clearly seen that as mentioned in a previous blog that the green stripes around the nose are not symetric.


Dwarfed inside the R101's No1 shed (which you easily park 4 skyships side by side) is Skyship500             G-BIHN. with a B&Q/Comet/Woolworths Banner. Rather than paint the envelopes it was cheaper and easier to paint a banner which was tied to the envelope and could be changed in a few hours inside a hangar, or a day abseiling down the envelope outside.


The only time 3 Airships ever flew at the same time at Cardington. We see Skyship600 G-SKSD leading Skyship 500 G-BIHN in Swan Lager colours with Skyship 600 G-SKSC bringing up the rear. G-SKSD spent most of its life in No1 Hangar under a net as an envelope floating above a detached gondola, till it was assembled for this one flight for a C of A then deflated and shipped to Australia for the Alan Bond airship operation around Sydney.



Skyship 500 G-BIHN , departing for the London Marathon to advertise NOVO bars a short lived rival to snickers  which the few people that bought it didn't like the flavour.


Seen  from an unusual angle, wearing the final Airship Industries livery Skyship 500 G-BIHN photographed from Skyship 600 G-SKSC.  Note the registration is also carried on top of the envelope.


A banner used for one day only. Skyship 500 G-BIHN getting airborne enroute to the centre of the known universe, Milton Keynes, for filming a special for BBC's Tomorrows World, where the airship interior was used as a "high tech" control room  to direct the presenters around various high tech  industries located in MK.

And so as the Austin Metro rattles its way into the sunset down the A600, we say goodbye to Roger and Reggie till next time.






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