A T&C AS 105 Mk II hot air airship at the 1996 Worlds in Italy.
Mk2 Gondola and 105,000 cu.ft. Mk2 envelope
With the thermal airship, the shape is maintained by a small pressurising motor while the heat is supplied in the same manner as a common or garden hot air balloon, via a large twin burner. Fuel for both motors and the heating is supplied from two 100 litre LPG tanks.
All AS-105 are certified under Civil Aviation Authority UK AN 17803
Length: 34 m Height: 13 m MAUW: 750 kg Fuel: LPG Fuel cap: 2 x 100 lt Endurance: 2 hr Envelope capacity. 105,000 cu.ft Max envelope temp: 120 degC Max envelope pressure: 14 mm/Hg Vertical rate of climb: 500 ft/min Service ceiling. 6000 ft Normal operational altitude minimum legal Structural cruise: 12 14 kt Vne: 15 kt Forward propulsion: Honda, 600 cc V-twin lquid cooled Seating capacity: 2 persons
AS-105 MkII Length overall: 34.0 m (111 ft 6.5 in) Max. diameter: 13.87 m (45 ft 6 in) Volume: 2,973.3 cu.m (105,000 cu ft) Max. speed: 37 km/h (23 mph) Endurance: 2 h 30 min
The circa 1885 Thunder and Colt Pressurized Thermal Airship instead of using helium for lift, uses low pressure (3 psi) hot air to provide static lift. The hot air is supplied by a hot air balloon burner located above the pilot’s head inside the hull. Directly beneath the burner is a modified 2 stroke engine that drives a small fan that provides constant pressure in order to provide rigidity to the hull. Behind the pilot is a 24 horsepower 3-cylinder 2 stroke German Konig radial engine that swings a 52″ pusher propeller A Certified Aircraft
The pilot climbs by raising the temperature inside the hull. He descends by allowing it to cool. There is a small amount (20%) of dynamic lift that increases with speed. Rudder only.
Colt made a name as a scrappy player in the industry, not to be underestimated. Perhaps because that image so resembled Thunder’s in the ’70s, the two companies merged in 1980. Thunder & Colt continued production of Colt balloons, bringing the marque’s ultimate output to 99 before production ceased.
Later in 1994, Airborne Group Plc (UK), and its various divisions, including Thunder & Colt Ltd., UK were placed into receivership. The hot air ballooning division, Thunder & Colt Ltd. (UK), was purchased in December 1994 by Cameron Balloons Ltd.
In 2011 T&C Balloons US, Inc. offers a complete line of sporting balloons from the one-man cloudhoppers, to the single and dual chariots, right up to the more traditional 77 and 90,000 cubic foot models. For 1995, the sport models were upgraded to include the Classic basket and the new adjustable Stratus double burners. T&C system prices are based on the following equipment: Series I (12-gore) envelope, Classic basket, adjustable double Stratus burners, two 15-gallon stainless steel tanks with jackets and straps and the Ball M55 instrument package. Our envelopes include a Nomex scoop, full Nomex protection in the throat, LongLife fabric in the parachute and top two panels and two paraclear inserts.
In 2011 T&C Balloons US, Inc. offers a complete range of ride balloons unequaled in their quality of construction and passenger comfort. The following sample system prices are based on the following equipment: A-type envelope (24 or 28-gore) with Nomex scoop and full Nomex throat, LongLife fabric in the parachute and top two panels with two paraclear inserts; double adjustable Status burners, two 15-gallon stainless steel tanks with jackets and straps, Ball M55 instruments and Classic T-partition baskets.
In 2011 Thunder & Colt offer a range of four different hot air airships. A standard two person gondola is suspended beneath either a chubby Mark 2 envelope or a slim line GD envelope. Each envelope design comes in a choice of sizes and has its own unique properties.
All T&C systems include your choice of color patterns, any full panel-any color at no extra charge. Other standard equipment includes a fire extinguisher, accessory bag and two strikers. Improvements to balloon and airship equipment are being made all the time.
Cloudhoppers are non-registered ultralight aircraft. Chariots and hot air airships are not US type-certified, but may be flown on British registration, as is the case with special shapes.
Thunder & Colt was bought by Cameron Balloons in 1995. At that time, the T&C factory in Shropshire was not profitable and production was moved to the Cameron factory in Bristol. T&C now operates as a separate division with its own sales and engineering staff, promotion, and model range. Despite the change in ownership, Thunder & Colt continues to lead a separate existence as an independent balloon manufacturer and has kept producing some of the finest hot air vehicles on the market.
Thunder & Colt was the first company to build a pressurized Hot Air Airship. From the very beginning their designs were well thought out. The four designs currently available are the AS-105 Mk II (105,000 cu. ft.), AS-120 Mk II (120,000 cu. ft.) and the AS-80 GD and AS-105 GD which were developed by GEFA-FLUG in Germany. (“GD” stands for “German Design”.) Thunder & Colt also developed the largest hot air airship in the world, the AS-261, to drop an observation platform in the canopy of tropical rainforests. In 1993 the ship was fitted with a larger replacement envelope manufactured by Lindstrand Balloons and has since been known as the AS-300. The main advantage of Thunder & Colt’s airship line is that all models feature internal catenary curtains for load suspension like real helium airships. This improves the aerodynamic shape and stability of the envelope.
At the 1996 Hot Air Airship World Championships in Aosta, Italy, the first three places were won by Thunder & Colt airships with the fourth place being held by a GEFA-FLUG AS 80 GD which features a standard T&C gondola and is also built at the T&C factory in Bristol, England.
T&C also produced the GA-42 non-rigid helium airship which was capable of carrying two people and featured state of the art fly by wire controls. The rights to the GA-42 design were acquired by the American Blimp Corporation when T&C was acquired by Cameron in 1995.
In 1928 Thunderbird Aircraft Inc was contracted by a Lt C A Burrows of the California National Guard for use in “scouting new passenger and air mail routes,” but it is unclear whether this was a state or personal order. A seven place cabin monoplane, there is no record of the plane being constructed.
Engine: P&W Wasp Max speed: 145 mph Cruise: 120 mph
Thunderbird Aircraft was established to build and develop the Thunderbird biplane, designed by Theodore A. Woolsey, and first flown in June 1926. The production W-14 was a three-seat open-cockpit biplane powered by a Curtiss OX-5 engine.
Design of the Thunderbird W-14 family was begun in 1926 by the W-F-W Aircraft Corporation (formed by Theodore Woolsey, Jack Frye and Paul Whittier).
The Thunderbird W-14 was an unequal span single bay biplane with wings of rectangular plan out to rounded tips, built around twin wooden spars and fabric-covered. Both upper and lower wings were set with 3° of dihedral and had externally interconnected ailerons. Outward-leaning N-form interplane struts joined the wings, set with 20 in (510 mm) of stagger, and the upper wing was mounted over the fuselage on outward-leaning cabane struts with an inverted V from the forward spar and a single strut from the rear spar on each side.
The prototype’s OX-5 water-cooled engine was cleanly cowled, with its 43 US gal (36 imp gal; 160 L) fuel tank immediately behind it and its radiator centrally positioned on the upper wing underside. There were two open cockpits in tandem. The forward one seated either two passengers side-by-side or a trainee pilot, positioned largely under the upper wing. The pilot sat, sightly raised, in the rear cockpit. The stagger and a gentle cut-out enhanced the field of view from both cockpits. Behind the engine the fuselage was a trapezoidal section girder structure of welded steel tubes, tapering rearwards and with a rounded decking behind the cockpits.
The Thunderbird had a conventional tail with a semi-circular plan tailplane mounted on top of the fuselage, wire-braced to the fin. It carried rounded elevators separated by a gap for rudder movement. The fin was also rounded, with a large unbalanced rudder of semi-elliptical profile.
Its original fixed, conventional landing gear was a standard single axle design with pairs of legs and trailing drag struts. There were no brakes and the early tailskid could not be steered.
The Thunderbird made its first flight 11 July 1926. By the autumn of 1927 numerous modifications had been made in preparation for production. These included laminated, rather than solid, wing spars, Warren girder ribs and a steel, rather than wire, cross-braced fuselage. A new, split axle undercarriage was introduced, with axles hinged from the central fuselage underside and equipped with rubber-chord shock absorbers. The tailskid was now steerable.
Designed by Ted Woolsey, the open cockpit biplane series was first flown on 11 July 1926 (piloted by Jack Frye).
As production started W_F_W was re-organised as the Aero Corporation of California with investment from Walter Hamilton (Frye & Woolsey, Monte Edwards, Walter Hamilton, Paul Richter). With the break-up of the partnership Woolsey arranged new investment to take over the business, which became Thunderbird Aircraft Inc. of 900 N Allen St, Glendale, CA.
OX-5 powered Thunderbird alongside a Bailey C-7-R powered aircraft
Production Thunderbirds offered several other engines, all more powerful than the Curtiss (for $3,350). The least powerful was the 95 hp (71 kW) Dayton Bear which originally powered an iceboat.
Bailey C-7-R powered Thunderbird W-14
The Bailey CR-7 Bull’s Eye was a 120 hp (89 kW) 7-ctlinder radial engine as was the 150 hp (110 kW) Axelson (Floco) B as W-14-F. The elderly, heavy 140 hp (100 kW) Hispano E water-cooled V-8 engine (for $3,750) increased speeds of the W-14-H by 15 mph (24 km/h; 13 kn) and the climb rate by 12% but needed a 60 US gal (50 imp gal; 230 l) fuel tank to maintain the W-O-14’s range. All but the first were certified to power the W-14.
One was registered N7201as a W-14 (no suffix) with a 130hp Hallett engine,
Between 40 and 50 production Thunderbirds (ATC 2-141) were built between 1927 and 1929. There were several agencies across the south-western states and it was popular with small flying clubs in the Los Angeles area. Some were used in the Philippines until the Japanese invasion. Others were exported to Canada. In 1929, however, the onset of the depression and a management dispute ended the company even though they had an outstanding order for 50 from a single buyer.
Known registrations: N5243, N5404, N5457, N5588, N5770, N5830, N5969, N6502, N6573, N6589, et al.
Because the early advertisements for the Thunderbird said only that its maximum speed was over 100 mph, some journals suggested that the 95 mph cruising speed was in fact the maximum. To refute this, a standard Thunderbird with a three-year-old OX-5 engine, previously used by an aero club, was entered for the November 1927 Santa Anna air meet for aircraft with under 100 hp engines, where it won a trophy by completing a triangular course at an average speed of 114 mph (183 km/h; 99 kn). A few days later on 21 November 1927, at the National Guard field in Los Angeles Clint Burrows, the company test pilot, flew four flights each in opposite directions at an average speed of 119.4 mph (192.2 km/h; 103.8 kn). The aircraft was then sold to an air-taxi company for use between Los Angeles and Tucson.
One standard W-14, NX9830, was bought by Roscoe Turner and modified by the addition of a 50 ft (15 m) diameter parachute held in the wing centre-section to be deployed to save the aircraft and those aboard in an emergency.
Only one Thunderbird remains airworthy, a W-O-14. It was restored by Denny Trone and flew from Brodhead, Wisconsin. After his death in a 2008 flying accident it was donated to the Eagles Mere Air Museum along with other old aircraft he had restored. Ogden lists it as a General Aircraft Company Thunderbird W-14.
1926: W-F-W Aircraft Corp (Theodore Woolsey-Jack Frye-Paul Whittier), Los Angeles CA. USA
1926: Aero Corp of California (Frye & Woolsey, Monte Edwards, Walter Hamilton, Paul Richter), 106 St & Western Ave. Los Angeles CA. USA
The Thunderbird Aircraft Company was established in November 1927 at Glendale, California, to build and develop the Thunderbird biplane, designed by Theodore A. Woolsey, and first flown in June 1926. The production W-14 was a three-seat open-cockpit biplane powered by a Curtiss OX-5 engine.
1928: Thunderbird Aircraft Inc, 900 N Allen St, Glendale CA. USA
