Massive Pathfinder 1 airship spotted over San Francisco in scheduled test

A massive airship developed by LTA Research was spotted flying over San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge last week. The aircraft, known as Pathfinder 1, is being touted as the world's largest. It's 406.5 feet long and 66 feet wide. In comparison, the Goodyear Blimps (a fleet of three zeppelins) are 246 feet long. But the Pathfinder is also not a blimp, but rather an airship due to its framework of carbon fiber, titanium, and aluminum. It has an FAA safety factor of 1.9, meaning it is engineered to handle nearly double its limit load (its own weight, plus its carrying capacity). The FAA recommends a rating of at least 1.5. The Pathfinder is driven by 12 electric motors and 13 helium bags to provide lift and buoyancy. The FAA issued it a special airworthiness certificate in 2023, which enabled flight testing at Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) in Mountain View, California. In May, Pathfinder 1 completed its first successful maneuvers over the San Francisco Bay. Pathfinder 1, registered as N125LT, departed from Moffit just before 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 18 for what LTA described as a scheduled test flight, according to the San Francisco Standard. These flight tests are to demonstrate the Pathfinder's safety and reliability in different weather conditions, heights, and different lengths of flights, according to the company. LTA says Pathfinder 1's eventual goal is to enable versatile, sustainable transport, including cargo delivery, humanitarian aid to remote or disaster-stricken areas, and other missions difficult or impossible for conventional aircraft or ground transport. The November flight over San Francisco marks another step in a broader testing program designed to prove the viability of such airships.