LEXINGTON TWP. — A helium-filled airship that its backers say can provide both security and retail advertising will be under production within a couple of years at a private airfield outside Alliance.

Ohio Airships is leasing a piece of the Barber Aircraft facility on Union Avenue NE to build the Dynalifter, an airship that resembles a small blimp with wings.

During the next year and a half, Ohio Airships’ principals plan to set up a production hangar, line up investors and build the first ship, said Brian Martin, a Canton resident who is a principal in the small private company.

“We will be seeking at that point larger investment from venture capitalists or private investors. We have varying sizes of Dynalifters on the drawing table. The first one is just to prove the concept.”

Much of the airship’s mechanics were designed by Robert Rist, the other Ohio Airships principal who lives in Portage County.

“A lot of the parts will be made in other places and brought here,” said Rist, who holds an associate’s degree from Sparton School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Okla. “Once we get into the major assembly line, then we will hire people.

“This is kind of like putting a building together. You will build the structure, then add the helium cells, then add the skin.”

Rist and Martin, a Mount Union College graduate whose background is in marketing, plan to make money by leasing space on the Dynalifter for retail advertising. But the money-making possibilities, say Rist and Martin, don’t end there.

“After we operate them in the cities for advertising, we will sell these aircraft to anyone who wants to buy these vehicles for exploring,” Martin said.

The two business partners also want to allow law enforcement officers to ride in the airship gondola. They say that will give police a bird’s-eye view of activity on the ground and along shorelines.

“Coca-Cola will pay us to float it in front of all those eyes,” Rist said. “We are going to get paid while letting that policeman fly free.”

Rist and Martin plan to produce a smaller version of the Dynalifter called the Patroller first. Larger models, the Explorer and Freighter, are planned for the future. The Freighter, according to Rist, will be “an international cargo carrier.”

Rist estimated the cost of a Patroller at about $150,000 to $200,000.

The airship’s skin will be cloth. Inside will be multiple helium cells. The Patroller’s structure will be aluminum, and plastic and fiberglass composites.

A fuel-powered motor will be mounted on each of the Patroller’s two wings. The ship will be 120 feet long and 20 feet in diameter at its widest point.

Rist and Martin met while they were employed at Mount Union College’s information technology department. After coming up with the idea to create Ohio Airships, they searched for an airfield.

When he was first approached, Barber Aircraft owner Forrest Barber acknowledged, “I did not quite understand.”

But now, “I think it is a very good concept. It is needed worldwide; to have a hybrid airship to haul loads.”

He has devoted about 2 1/2 acres to the project with an initial lease of one year. The lease is renewable.

Before Ohio Airships starts marketing the Dynalifters, the project needs Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Federal aviation officials will be concerned with “safety first,” said Elizabeth Cory of the FAA’s Chicago regional office. “Basically, we want to make sure it is safe to fly, not only for the people in it, but for people on the ground.”

Among the items FAA officials will check are whether the Dynalifter’s covering, or skin, can withstand stress.

The advantage of the Dynalifter, according to Rist, is that the airship can hover longer than a conventional helicopter.

And they’re “cheaper to operate,” Rist said. “The Dynalifters can stay up for six to eight hours. You can’t keep a helicopter up there all day.”

Ohio Airships was incorporated in 1999. Although Rist says he has the federal patent for the Dynalifter’s design, he acknowledges a Los Angeles-area engineer was instrumental in making it reality.

The California design engineer, Daniel Raymer, was hired to come up with the conceptual design for the aircraft. Raymer formerly worked for Lockheed Martin.

You can reach Repository writer Malcolm Hall at (330) 580-8305 or e-mail:

malcolm.hall@cantonrep.com