EARTH SHIP CRASH LANDS IN UXBRIDGE




By JORDAN H. GREEN
  
 The world came a falling upon Uxbridge this 
week -- literally.
  An experimental airship made an emergency
landing in a field at the Sixth Concession, south of
Sandford Road on Friday.
  "We flew it from Newmarket, but had to take it
down," said Hokan Colting, president of 21 
Century Airships, the company which built the
craft. "We had a problem with the cooling system."
  The airship, which looks like a globe of the world,
has four engines and carries a crew of two.
  Colting said that despite the engine trouble, the
blimp didn't crash.
  "It wasn't a crash. A balloon or airship can land
with mechanical problems," Colting said. "It 
landed safely, compared to heavier vehicles like
planes and helicopters which may have been 
described as a crash."
  The airship developed engine trouble while over
Uxbridge.
  "After we developed engine problems, we called
our crew and they followed us on the ground,"
said Colting. "Normally, you go back to the field
you came from, but we couldn't do that."
  What sort of welcoming committee did the globe-
shaped blimp get when it landed?
  "People around were quite excited," said Colting.
"They were incredibly friendly, they assisted us, 
asking lots of questions. They came out with food
and water, drinks and lots of food."
  Unlike an airplane or a helicopter which lands 
fully under pilot control, an airship hovers between
10 and 15 kilometers above the ground, while a 
ground crew of 20 to 30 people pull on landing 
ropes to lower and anchor the ship to the ground.
  The experimental part of this airship is its 
design, which is being tested so that a ground
crew isn't needed to land.
  Regular airships are cigar-shaped, while this
experimental ship is round.
  "Because our shape is so unique, we have a lot
of interest from large corporations," said Colting.
"Unfortunately, not from Canadian companies."
  Colting's company flew one of its round ships
at last year's Olympic Games in Atlanta and 
another smaller ship during the World Series 
in 1995.
  The one-of-a-kind designed ship is worth a 
pretty penny -- the ship that landed in Uxbridge
is valued at about $1.5 million. It has more than
$100,000 worth of electronic equipment on it, 
from radar to radios.
  It took three days to deflate the ship and pack 
all of its parts onto trucks for transport back to 
the company's headquarters in Newmarket.