Inflatable building success for Shropshire

Balloon adventurer, Per Lindstrand is behind the company that has produced the hanger for Goodyear's American airship base in California.

Staff have been test inflating the enormous structure in fields just outside Oswestry.

The hanger, which will house a Goodyear Zepplin at 'Blimp City' in Long Beach, California has been constructed from 73 miles of polyester at the Lindstrand Technologies factory in Oswestry.

It is nine stories high and longer than an American football field.

Mr Lindstrand said: "The building is 107 metres long, 32 metres wide and 25 metres high.

"If we laid the material out it would stretch from Oswestry to Chester and back."

Linstrand Technologies produces a wide range of inflatable structures such as hangars and shelters, storage and decontamination units as well as bespoke buildings and permanent roofs.

He added: "Air cell structures are advanced constructions made with two layers of material with fabric formers in between. They are self-supporting by means of air fans with no need for foundations, hardware or guy wires. Air cell structures can be used in practically any environment and are ideally suited to both military and civilian applications."

Lindstrand Technologies Ltd recently received an Award of Excellence for its Inflatable stand up Paddleboards project and Mr Lindstrand is one of the world’s foremost experts on inflatable structures and ballooning.

He set the world distance record in lighter-than-air travel when he and Richard Branson crossed the Pacific in a balloon and was the first man to fly a hot air balloon across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and to the edge of space.

His 1988 world altitude record flight to 20,000 metres lasted for 16 years.

His Oswestry factory makes not only inflatable buildings but also tethered ballons, aerostats, manned and unmanned airships, and gas balloons.

He recently announced he was to return to the hot air balloon making industry.