Forum    Search    FAQ

Board index » Chat Forums » Political Opinions and Opinionated Posts




Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 17 posts ] 
 
Author Message
 Post Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 9:59 pm 
Gatekeeper of Niftiness
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:16 am
Posts: 9081
Location: Praise be to the sticky elastic bands of the Healing Gauze
By all means, show us what you've got. I like crazy. Hell, I'd even take downright insane so long as it's at least a little bit feasible.

Top 
   
 Post Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 2:41 am 
User avatar
Offline
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:49 am
Posts: 1335
Website: http://www.myspace.com/qcks
WLM: See the profile name.
Location: One step behind everyone else.
So... basically lighter then air gases can be used to effectively decrease aircraft weight. Airplanes have alot of void space in them, and that space is filled with regular air. If we displaced it with Helium, the aircraft would, effectively, be lighter. Most planes don't have enough void space though to make this a significant source of lift.

However, If we took a shape that was larger, that might not be true.

The Spruce Goose was a giant behemoth designed using old material (wood) with a huge amount of empty space in the wings. IF it was adapted so that the empty space could be filled with LTA gas, that empty space could be put to work passively generating lift for the air craft even when not in flight.
The Spruce Goose flew because it was a flying wing. They produce greater amounts of lift then a conventional air craft, but tend to be more unstable. The Instability is reduced through less then super sonic speeds.

If a hybrid craft could achieve even a marked percentage weight reduction, like 80% reduction in weight of the vehicle, flying larger loads becomes viable, especially if the vehicle is a blimp shaped like a plane.

So... then you run into mixing airplane and blimp designs to get the best of both worlds: high lift efficiency and high speed.

Top 
   
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
 
Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 17 posts ] 

Board index » Chat Forums » Political Opinions and Opinionated Posts


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

 
 

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: