Preamble:  Over the past 10 years, the ice road network in Manitoba has gone from 55 to 60 days of usage to 20 days or less in some years.[1]

Manitoba and Ontario build 5,000 kilometres of ice roads each year. The costs of converting this ice road network into all-weather gravel roads is approximately $2.5 billion with an annual maintenance cost of $50 million. This is significantly more than the cost of building ice roads for Manitoba and Ontario which is less than $20 million annually.

Airplanes could also be used to supply remote communities but in addition to their high operating costs, landing strips would have to be improved to accommodate larger aircraft. This idea is so easily dismissed that no estimates of using cargo airplanes to replace ice roads exist.

Thompson is ideally situated to serve as a freight distribution centre to remote northern Manitoba and Nunavut communities but can only serve some remote Manitoba communities for a short period of time through the winter road network.   

Resolution: That the Government of Manitoba consult with the University of Manitoba Transport Institute to investigate and promote the use of airships as a  year-round means of freight transportation to service northern Manitoba and Nunavut, and that it target the year 2009 to conduct a ‘test run’ between Thompson and at least one remote community.

Resolution Report:  

The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce produces Resolution reports as part of its commitment to be accountable to its members. The reports are updated as matters unfold and have three components:

MCC Advocacy: Specific activities the MCC has done to help make this Resolution a reality. 

Developments:  Events (e.g. government action, media coverage) that relate to Resolution. 

Current Status: The MCC’s current plans to help make this Resolution a reality. 

Advice, comments, and information sharing are welcome; simply enter a reply at the bottom of this post.

MCC Advocacy: 

April 16, May 6 and May 7, 2009: The 2009-2010 Resolutions were posted on the MCC website, listed as part of a comprehensive Report on AGM 2009 and then notice of this story was circulated through the MCC e-Omnibus which is sent to all MCC members, Media and Government.

May 19, 2009: Resolution books were sent to every MLA and every Member of Parliament that hails from Manitoba. The following had this Resolution specifically drawn to their attention with a detailed letter setting out the background to this issue, Government initiatives (where applicable), and an argument for the Resolution:

• The Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation  
• The Deputy Minister of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs

May 22, 2009: Contacted ISO Polar in relation to this issue.

ISO Polar was founded in March 2005 as a not-for-profit airship research institute to undertake economic and engineering studies, coordinate demonstrations, facilitate certification tests and other activities that are in the public interest.

You can access ISO Polar’s website here. You can access the website for the 2009 “Airships to the Arctic” Symposium here. 

August 5, 2009: This Resolution was highlighted in an MCC E-Update which was sent to 2,500 individuals including MCC members, Media and Government. 

Developments:

April 21, 2009:  The U.K. newspaper The Guardian contained this piece entitled “In praise of … airships”:

Anyone who tries to praise airships (as the Guardian’s George Monbiot did last year) has to confront a bundle of historical prejudices – half-remembered black-and-white images of the skeleton of Britain’s crashed R101 in France, and the Nazis’ Hindenburg bursting into flames as it tried to dock in New Jersey. Since then, with a few small exceptions, airships have been swept from the skies by jet aircraft. It is time for a comeback. They will never match planes for speed. But they are ideally suited to long-distance, low-carbon air transport, especially for cargo – less polluting than planes or ships. Britain could be a leader at producing them, too, if the industry could secure enough backing to develop prototypes from test models now being built. One company, Hybrid Air Vehicles, based in Cardington (which is where the R101 was once built), says it is ready to build an aircraft that could carry 200 tonnes of cargo for 3,200 nautical miles, at four times the speed of a typical modern cargo ship. The firm is searching for the €50m it needs to put a demonstration model in the skies. Airship technology has come a long way since the 1930s: no more combustible hydrogen (although helium has less lift), and, in the proposed SkyCat design, a docking system evolved from a hovercraft that would get rid of the need for mooring winches and cables. Will it work? The way to find out is to build one. This is the sort of high-skilled, green industry Britain needs to develop. The chancellor should lend a hand tomorrow.

July 8, 2009: The “What’s Happening at the U of M” section of the University of Manitoba website featured an article entitled “Eye to the sky.” The article explored the history of airships and the work of Barry Prentice. The article is available here.     

July 28, 2009: A news release entitled “Boeing Completes Major Design Milestone for SkyHook Heavy Lift Vehicle” advised as follows:

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and SkyHook International Inc. today announced that the design of the SkyHook Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV) has reached the configuration freeze milestone, meaning the aircraft’s overall performance and layout have been established. 

Boeing and SkyHook have worked on the SkyHook HLV’s structural and systems design and its concept of operations since July 2008, resulting in the following improvements: 

- the addition of a three-piece tail for enhanced maneuverability

- integration of lifting and thrusting propulsion systems

- improved aerodynamics for increased payload capacity and range. 

“Boeing’s Advanced Rotorcraft Systems team and our industry partner, SkyHook International Inc., are extremely pleased with the progress on the engineering of the aircraft,” said Kenneth Laubsch, SkyHook program manager for Boeing. “We all sense that we are part of something revolutionary in the advancement of this extraordinary technology, and the aerospace industry in general.”

The next major program milestone will be Detailed Design in 2011, which centers on the design, analysis and specification of all hardware, software and related aircraft and ground support systems interfaces.

“The SkyHook HLV technology is like nothing that has ever existed. We anticipate that the operational capability of this aircraft will allow SkyHook’s customers to radically change the way they resupply and operate in remote regions, especially the north,” said Rob Mayfield, director of SkyHook. “In the oil and gas industry, there are significant pressures on cost, speed, safety, and environmental impact, and the SkyHook HLV represents solutions to each of these challenges in various applications.”

SkyHook is designed to carry 80,000-pound (40-ton) sling loads up to 200 nautical miles without refueling — a capability that is not currently available, but is desired by several industries, including oil exploration and mining operations in the Canadian Arctic and Alaska, as well as companies operating in remote locations in South America, Europe and Africa.

Boeing is designing and will fabricate a production SkyHook HLV prototype at its Rotorcraft Systems facility in Ridley Park, Pa. The new aircraft will enter commercial service after it is certified by Transport Canada and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The first SkyHook HLV aircraft is scheduled to fly in 2014.

SkyHook International Inc. is a privately owned company located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.

August 6, 2009: Gizmag featured an article entitled “Solar blimp: Projet Sol’r to take on the English Channel” by Paul Ridden.

The article is about a group of French students getting ready to fly across the English Channel in the world’s first solar powered airship.  Apparently, the website will periodically update the progress of the team of French students. The article can be accessed here.

October 3, 2009:  The Winnipeg Free Press featured an Op-Ed piece by Barry Prentice entitled “These pigs will fly: U.S. army’s need for airships could transform the North, be a boon to Winnipeg.”  The article is available here. 

November 1, 2009: The November/December 2009 issue of Heavy Lift & Project Forwarding International featured an article entitled “The start of the airship era?” 

The article provided an update on the state of the airship industry including:

• the Boeing-SkyHook project – aimed at northern oil exploration, wind turbines, and the Mackenzie Valley pipeline construction, and planned for a 2014 launch and
• the Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) – to be contracted with the US military in December, and operating over Kandahar, Afghanistan within 18 months.

You can read the article in full here.

To get more updates from Heavy Lift & Project Forwarding International visit its website here.

November 23, 2009: Received a letter from the Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation [MIT] on this issue, stating as follows:

The use of airships, for example, is an issue MIT is following with interest. New technology developments in the aviation sector have renewed interest in the potential of airships as a viable 21^st century transportation mode. Given Manitoba’s vast geographic spread and climatic challenges, it is an emerging field we will monitor and consider in our efforts to enhance transportation in rural and northern regions.

January 15, 2010: An article in the Interlake Spectator by Heather Robbins entitled “Industry eyes St. Laurent for development: RM could be home to airship hangar pending council approval” touched on this issued. 

The article included the following: 

St. Laurent has been presented with the opportunity to become part of an emerging industry.

Blair Sherwood, president of Environmental Logistics Corp., spoke to the St. Laurent Community Development Corporation Nov. 16 about the possibility of building an airship hangar in the RM.

“I think it went over fairly well,” said Sherwood. “I’m awaiting a letter of support from the council and CDC so I can go to the next step. Once we have that, we can seriously look at different investment options for major investors. Without local written support, we’ll have to look at other locations.”

….

The project’s construction could begin as early as 2011-2012. 

Click here to access the full article.

February 3, 2010: Fast Company features an article entitled “Blimp My Ride: Luxury Eco-Zeppelin Does London to NYC in 37 Unforgettable Hours.” 

The article includes the following: 

This is a dreamy concept from designers Seymourpowell that’s intended to whisk 100 passengers across the Atlantic with a whiff of the same sort of luxury that those Zeppelin-fliers used to experience way back in the last Century. Except that the Aircruise is actually a 21st Century vehicle, semi-rigid and filled with hydrogen, with some boost from solar heating to lift it to its maximum 12,000 foot ceiling. It’s also powered by Large Polymer Electrolyte Membrane hydrogen-power fuel cells for in-flight electricity and drinking water. 

Click here for the full article which includes a picture and a video.

March 19, 2010: Fast Company Magazine has an article entitled “DARPA’s Smart Blimp: Mysterious, Hovering Future of Battlefield Surveillance” by Kit Eaton. 

The article states:

In the future DARPA’s ISIS blimp may be hovering above the horizon near to conflict zones, feeding real time radar data to troops and smart weapons from on high. True to its name, it’s also a little more magical than the Goodyear blimp as it’s almost totally automated.

In fact, the Integrated Sensor Is the Structure has almost nothing in common with the Goodyear aircraft apart from its shape and helium-filling. It’s designed to take off from a permanent ground base in the U.S. and fly automatically to any point on Earth within 10 days, where it’ll hover in the stratosphere (over six miles up.) At this height it’s safe from most ground-based missile attacks and even pretty safe if an enemy aircraft tries to take it out with an air-to-air missile. It can beetle about at 60 knots to be repositioned for better surveillance opportunities, and even sprint away at 100 knots if a threat is imminent.

 See the rest of the article at http://www.fastcompany.com/1589776/isis-airborne-radar-defense-surveillance-unmanned-airship-blimp.

April: This month’s issue of Atlantic Magazine featured an article by Lane Wallace entitled “Dirigible Dreams: Is one of aviation’s most enduring technological hopes about to become a reality?” 

The article states in part:

“So if the technology is there, why haven’t we seen advanced airships and hybrids taking to the skies? In part, politics—it’s hard to displace existing technology that has entrenched camps of support. And no need has been great enough to justify the expense of development and to overcome those political hurdles—until now.”

You can access the article here.

Final Report: