ANAC approves airship manufactured in Brazil

Issuance of Type Certificate for the Airship ADB-3-3, from Airship do Brasil, certifies the aircraft project in the country

The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) issued the Type Certificate for the Airship ADB-3-3, from Airship do Brasil, on December 22. The ADB-3-3 is a non-rigid envelope airship ("blimp") derived from a US project (model 138S), which was acquired by Airship do Brasil and transferred to the company in 2018. The aircraft operates with one engine and a 3,908 m3 (138,000 cu.ft) envelope and has a seating capacity of six.

Due to obsolescence of materials and some recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States, production of the 138S model has been discontinued. The ADB-3-3 meets the NTSB recommendations and modernizes the aircraft design. All outdated materials were eliminated, which brought the airship to the state-of-the-art as far as avionics systems are concerned.

Certification process

ANAC received from Airship do Brasil the application for certification of the ADB-3-3 model in 2018. From the request, the processes associated with the certification of the model were initiated, with the performance of documentary evaluations, analysis of engineering data, monitoring of the prototype manufacturing, verifications of conformity with the design, and performance of ground and flight tests, necessary to demonstrate compliance with the applicable requirements.

The certification process counted on the participation of several professionals from the Agency, including technicians, engineers from various specialties and pilots.