The Aereon 26

Princeton’s Aereon Corporation, an aircraft manufacturer, sought to create airships that were economically friendly while being useful and practical for transportation. This concept developed over time and, during the period of 1959-1965, the Aereon III was designed and built and “was the first rigid airship since the Zeppelins of the 1930’s.” Throughout the rest of the 1960s, Aereon’s Project TIGER performed numerous tests and experiments on the planes to test for a number of factors including stability, control, and aerodynamic performance, and ultimately dismantled Aereon III in favor for a deltoid hull shape or “dynairship.”

The Aereon 26 was built and field-tested in 1970 and flight-tested in 1971. It was a “least-cost, least-sized manned model to demonstrate aerodynamic feasibility, performance and handling qualities.” Despite being a success, the project was never funded. While the only prototype of the Aereon 26 is on display at the Air Victory Museum in Lumberton, New Jersey, the Aereon 26 lives on forever in John McPhee’s The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed. McPhee, a Princetonian, noted that, from above, these dynairships looked like “fat and tremendous pumpkin seed[s].”

Resources for Further Research:

1. Air Victory Museum in New Jersey
2. Aereon Corporation
3. The Dynairship (NASA Technical Reports Server)
4. The Rocky Road to Discovery by Lane Wallace (The Atlantic, 2011)
5. The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed by John McPhee from Princeton Public Library’s collection
6. Articles from the Papers of Princeton database:
   • People in the News (Town Topics, 1973)
   • Page 20 Advertisements Column 3 (…The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed, Town Topics, 1973)