Skyluxe is based on the design of the airship R100 by the great engineer Barnes Wallis and the Vickers-Armstrong company. As such it carries that ship's elegant profile but is longer than R100 with completely redesigned passenger accommodation. This includes the external gondola with the Air Deck. The Air Deck allows passengers to be open to the air as Skyluxe flies - a unique, if windy, experience.

Cerulean managed to cut a deal with the US Government and secure Helium to replace the very dangerous Hydrogen originally used in the R100. Helium doesn't have the same lifting power as Hydrogen, but hot Helium does. Skyluxe has its diesel engines inside the main envelope and all the exhaust from those engines is used to keep the passengers warm and heat the Helium. The diesels drive generators which power the ship's eight electric propulsion engines in four highly streamlined pods.

The ship has three classes of accommodation including the Skyluxe cabins. What these cabins lack in terms of floor space they more than make up for in the experience they offer. Passengers sleep in comfortable bunks suspended above the large windows of the ship. You can literally dream amongst the clouds.

The Great Airships represent a magnificent era of air travel. Their ability to silently hang in the air over the Earth remains a unique capability and provided a rare form of vantage point. But with that comes a range of technical challenges that ultimately proved too problematic. That is not say they are lost forever. They may even return to be deployed in the atmosphere of another planet.

For 3D modelling, download the Skyluxe blueprints (zip):