Wow!

Picture of the Week: “Flying ship” over Ashburn’s Beaverdam Reservoir

An unusual flying vehicle was photographed flying over the Beaverdam Reservoir in Ashburn on Thursday. And it turns out there’s a fascinating story behind this identified flying object.

It’s called a “flying ship” and it was a model prototype out for testing. It’s being produced and piloted by the folks at The Flying Ship Company.

The Leesburg-based firm is working developing actual flying boats, for lack of a better term.

These vehicles start out on the water, but then increase speed and actually take to the air — skimming over the water on a cushion of air.

The Flying Ship Company says the autonomous — or unmanned — vehicles are the future of shipping.

According to the company, they are 30-50 percent more energy efficient than planes and 10 times faster than boats.

Below, you can see a computer animated video of how they envision full-sized flying ships operating in the future.

The Flying Ship Company Concept (Full Length)
1 Comment
  1. Edward Louis Meade 3 years ago

    This is a wing in ground (WIG) vehicle. It’s nice to see somebody trying to advance the technology but the basic idea has been around for quite some time. German engineers created several versions in the ’60s and Russia had several full-size models that actually served with the Soviet Navy.in the 70s and 80s. Wigetworks in Singapore will sell you one about the size of a corporate jet right now.

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