Barnes Wallis[note 2] had been involved in the airship project in its early stages but withdrew due to problems with his design for a very large non-rigid.

"[2] According to a paper delivered by Munk to a Royal Aeronautical Society symposium in 1975, dealing primarily with the Shell project, AD was at this time "pursuing the development potential" for "non-rigid, advanced technology airships in the half to ten ton payload range" for "general freight, surveying and airborne jeep" applications.

These airships were to embody many of the innovative features eventually seen in the AD500 and Skyship 500/600, including vectored thrust and the use of modern materials such as Kevlar.

[9] In May 1976 article, it was reported that Multi-Modal Transport Analysis (an associate firm to AD: the one covering marketing, the other technical matters – in total "a dozen people working full-time"[citation needed] on the project), had signed contracts with the Venezuelan company Aerovision for the construction and delivery in 1977 of an initial airship, with a further 21 ("of similar design to the first ship, but...vary in payload and therefore size") to be delivered over ten years.

[15] During the approximately two-and-a-half years the Thermo-Skyships team spent at AI, it proposed several abortive designs, for non-lenticular rigid airships.

Four 500s were later upgraded to 500HL standards by mating the 500 gondola to a 600 envelope in order to increase lift for heavy payloads or hot and high applications.

In July 1980, AI announced "ambitious plans" to begin construction of a freight-carrying rigid, designated the Skyship R40, in early 1982.

Unlike the R40/R130, which was to have had a traditional rigid structure, the R150 was intended to be a metal-clad airship, with a thin metal shell stabilised by an internal pressure of around 2 kilopascals (0.29 psi).

[25] However, FedEx shelved its airship plans in late 1981[26] and Redcoat went into voluntary liquidation in mid-1982 due to cash flow problems.

The City of Youngstown sold Lansdowne Airport to American Skyship Industries, Inc. for US$1 – the sale being contingent on construction of manufacturing facilities on the site.

This sale of Lansdowne airport was met with some local opposition, concerns ranging from airship safety to a large hangar obstructing the view or being an eyesore.

[31] Internal disagreements and failure to raise the required private financing lead to Scoville's departure from the company he had co-founded.

Construction of the prototype ANR [clarification needed] was commenced, but envelope problems delayed its completion, and AAC went into liquidation during the early 1990s recession.

In all, ten Skyship 600s were built: two at Cardington; three at Weeksville, near Elizabeth City, North Carolina; one at Sydney; two in Japan; and one at Lakehurst, New Jersey.

The sightseeing operations begun with the 500 were expanded to take in a number of additional cities worldwide, including Paris, Toronto, Montreal, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, San Francisco and Zurich, as well as London.

[37] In February 1985, the United States Navy (USN) issued a request for proposal for a radar-carrying Battle Surveillance Airship System (BSAS).

[42] Congress later authorised funding to continue the ODM's development,[43] and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency inherited the programme from the Navy.

The 1000 was a half-linear-scale model of the 5000, having a modified Skyship 600 gondola but a larger (10,000 cubic metres (350,000 cu ft)) envelope and an empennage resembling the "X" form planned for the 5000, rather than the cruciform one of the 600.

[45][46] Other features included fly-by-light controls, an envelope material that eliminated the need for routine hangaring and a ground-handling technique that required a comparatively small crew of eight.

[47] However, the ship, which was assembled at WAI's Weeksville facility in North Carolina,[48] did not fly until 26 June 1991,[49] by which time AI had collapsed and Westinghouse had taken full control of the programme.

From an early stage of the programme, AI contemplated a civil version of the 5000, variously reported as accommodating between 140 and 300 passengers, for applications including both luxury shuttle services and conventional scheduled flights.

[53] However, share trading in AI's Isle of Man–based holding company was suspended in August 1990, and administrative receivers were appointed in September.

[54] Slingsby acquired the marketing and intellectual property rights to the civil versions of the 500, 500HL and 600—except in North America, where Airship International was the appointed agent—as well as work in progress, plant and fixed assets and UK, U.S., and Japanese type certificates.

[57] On 2 August 1995, a fire, apparently started accidentally during welding work, destroyed the Weeksville hangar and its contents, including the sole Sentinel 1000 and the mock-up of the 5000's gondola.

[62][63][64] The SkyKitten, a 1/6 linear scale model of a SkyCat design, was built and flown by ATG in the United Kingdom at Cardington.

The assets of the SkyCat group were acquired by a new firm, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), set up by British investors in 2007.

Airlander 10 completed design certification testing before being written off [69] when it came loose from its moorings in a high wind on 18 November 2017 at Cardington Airfield.