Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments
Search

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Slashdot Log In

Log In

Create Account  |  Retrieve Password

New Type of Hot Air Blimp

Posted by kdawson on Mon Dec 18, 2006 02:43 PM
from the still-waiting-for-the-rocket-car dept.
Toys Science
An anonymous reader writes to let un know about a story up on the Experimental Aircraft Association site about a new kind of blimp. From the article: "Alberto, whose name pays homage to Brazilian aviation pioneer, Alberto Santos-Dumont, is 102 feet long with a 70-foot diameter and uses hot air rather than helium for lift. Its innovative foldable frame (much like an giant umbrella) creates structural support of its hot-air envelope, and it has a fly-by-wire vectored thrust steering system. Alberto is a hybrid; a hot-air balloon with aluminum ribs that looks more like a blimp, but with a tail propeller that gives it directional control." The home site of the blimp's developers has a timeline, photos, and a video of the blimp in flight.
+ -
story

Related Stories

[+] Technology: The Age of the Airship Returns? 315 comments
Popular in Victorian and Steampunk fantasies, airships and zeppelins evoke a certain elegance that most modern travelers don't associate with the airplane. Some companies are capitalizing on that idea, and a need to move cargo by air in an era of ever-increasing fuel costs, to re-re-introduce commercial zeppelins. Popular Mechanics notes four notable airship designs, all with specific design purposes. One craft in particular, the Aeroscraft ML866, is being funded by the US government's DARPA group. It looks to combine the best elements of the helicopter and the zeppelin. "The Aeroscraft ML866's potentially revolutionary Control of Static Heaviness system compresses and decompresses helium in the 210-ft.-long envelope, changing this proposed sky yacht's buoyancy during takeoff and landings, Aeros says. It hopes to end the program with a test flight demonstrating the system. "
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

New Type of Hot Air Blimp 50 Comments More /

 Full
 Abbreviated
 Hidden
More
Loading... please wait.

  • Cool! (Score:3, Funny)

    by zymurgyboy (532799) <zymurgyboy@@@yahoo...com> on Monday December 18 2006, @02:48PM (#17290544)
    So RMS learned to fly?
    • > So RMS learned to fly?

      "God as my witness, I honestly thought RMS could fly."
      - Steve Ballmer

  • joe: Where do you keep getting this stuff!!!

  • Another piece in the puzzle (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ingolfke (515826) on Monday December 18 2006, @02:52PM (#17290606) Journal
    This blimp isn't just a step forward for aviation, it's a major step forward in the development and construction of a viable space elevator. One of the primary problems that has plagued the space elevator proponents is the identification of a cost effective means of transporting the carbon nanotube teather from the Earth's surface to a proper orbit. This blimp and advances in carbon nanotubes could signal the beginning of cheap space transport for all mankind.

    Mark this day on your calendar folks.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by truthsearch (249536)
      How can a blimp with a propeller ever leave the atmosphere?
    • i thought that it worked the other way around, dropping the tether from the top. (don't know a lot about space elevators)
      • Well, we had to get up to the top to drop that carbon nanotube teather... so this blimp can do it.
        • But as another post has already pointed out this blimp wont get you out of the atmosphere. So where is the top of the space elevator going to be? I don't think this thing will get you very high at all. Weather balloons will only get you to 40km or so (according to wikipedia). I can't even imagine all the things that would prevent getting this craft that high, It's not a sealed envelope so the air inside the envelope will thin as the craft rises I imagine this would decrease your lifting potential. To conti
          • Aggghhhhh... that's the sound of my space elevator dream crashing to the ground in a massive carbon nanotube wreck.
          • Just to add to that, the center of a space elevator would be at over 40000km (Geosynchronous orbit). So even 40km is a few orders of magnitude off.
          • Blimps can carry huge loads if you make them large enough. A large unmanned blimp could be used as a high-efficiency first stage -- just fire the Saturn rocket up through it after the blimp reaches max altitude, saving that first few vertical miles worth of rocket fuel.
      • Carbon nanotubes combined with a nanobot skin could protect mere mortals from the radiation.
      • No, we agreed that you encase the personnel car with water to shield from the radiation. And you fill the water with sharks with laser beams as an extra defense mechanism. That was the consensus that was reached.
        • And you fill the water with sharks with laser beams as an extra defense mechanism.

                But won't all that radiation cause the sharks to mutate, so then we'll end up with the entire crew of the elevator devoured by mutant air breathing laser sharks?

  • I've seen more practical aircraft (Score:3, Interesting)

    by fullphaser (939696) on Monday December 18 2006, @02:55PM (#17290642) Homepage
    The fact is the booger is huge, there is no excusing this fact. Add this to the whole who the hell has that much space to store a blimp factor and the next who the hell will police the skies (as tickets get much harder to hand over when being able to pull over becomes a non option. The entire article is filled with it issues (namely size and practicality) that would make a helicopter although more expensive millions of times more practical. This is something like why drive your car to work when you can use this perfectly awesome toy wagon with new wheel design.
    • First off, before you dismiss blimps you should be informed that in the 4th century the Koreans used blimps to successfully invade and conquer Japan. The technology may be old but it's very effective.

      The tickets would be easy to hand out if you equipped all of the blimps with an IR device like you find on most cell phones and laptops these days. Just beam the ticket over.

      Although the size is certainly a problem today, advances in carbon nanotubes, nanobots, and organic construction materials could mean sm

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by 2short (466733)
        "you should be informed that in the 4th century the Koreans used blimps to successfully invade and conquer Japan."

        You should be informed that you are making shit up.
        • Look man... you stick to your books and I'll stick with my gut and we'll see who comes out on top :)

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Dunbal (464142)
        in the 4th century the Koreans used blimps to successfully invade and conquer Japan

        Yeah, and the vikings flew across to the Americas in blimps in the year 200 AC, oh and forget about crossing the Bering strait on winter - the indigenous peoples of the Americas came from China in, you guessed it - blimps of course... Oh and remember, the great pyramids were actually docking towers for the blimps - there was a lot of transatlantic blimp traffic 5000 years ago. This explains the similarit
        • Yeah, but would I get an IR-Ticket for my giant penis shaped balloon?

          I hope not... but if you did it could be an article on Your Rights Online. Everyone should have the freedom to own a big penis shaped blimp.

    • Re:I've seen more practical aircraft (Score:5, Insightful)

      by magarity (164372) on Monday December 18 2006, @03:08PM (#17290846)
      The fact is the booger is huge, there is no excusing this fact.
       
      Are you kidding? It's only 100 feet long. The Hindenburg was over 800. You, and everyone else complaining about 'practicality' have missed the point of these craft in the modern age: they're cruise ships in the sky. They are leisurely travel for people on leisure time. Just like people take cruise ships on vacation instead of jets to get from one island to another, except these things are cruise ships that can go from London to New York to Las Vegas. Hopefully the 100 foot toy size is a proof of concept. You need an 800 foot job to economically carry enough passengers and have nice enough accomodations.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Deadstick (535032)
      who the hell has that much space to store a blimp

      You do, if you have a two-car garage and one car. It's collapsible, and the lifting gas is expendable (as opposed to helium which is very expensive: helium ballons have to be kept full or emptied with expensive compressors).

      who the hell will police the skies

      The FAA. It's an aircraft, and they know precisely how to give you a ticket, thank you.

      rj

  • PBS Nova episode on Alberto Santos-Dumont (Score:3, Informative)

    by musicon (724240) on Monday December 18 2006, @02:57PM (#17290668) Homepage
    FYI, there was a recent episode of Nova [pbs.org] on PBS all about Alberto Santos-Dumont.

  • Interesting source of lift (Score:4, Informative)

    by markov_chain (202465) on Monday December 18 2006, @02:58PM (#17290680) Homepage
    Seeing how helium is actually quite expensive (paid $70 for 300 cu ft. at a local welding supply if memory serves) it's interesting that this contraption uses hot air. I wonder what the economics of hot air look like; i.e. cost of fuel to maintain lift, etc.
    • The first thing I thought was to use hot HELIUM. I mean, why not? Surely hot Helium will have even more lifting power than regular helium.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Deadstick (535032)
        Surely hot Helium will have even more lifting power than regular helium.

        Not bloody much. The lifting power of a balloon/blimp depends on the difference in density between the gas inside and the air outside. At standard sea-level temperature and pressure:

        One liter of air weighs 1.3 grams.

        One liter of helium weighs 0.18 grams.

        Therefore, by Archimedes's Principle, a one-liter helium balloon will lift 1.3 - 0.18=1.12 grams.

        One liter of helium at 200 degrees C (392 F) would weigh 0.11 grams, and it would

    • If they use black fabric they may not require fuel (Score:5, Informative)

      by Colin Smith (2679) on Monday December 18 2006, @03:11PM (#17290906)
      There are solar heated hot air balloons...

      e.g.
      http://perso.orange.fr/ballonsolaire/en-index.htm [orange.fr]

    • I've got a hot air balloon, and spend about $10-$20/hr in propane. Factors such as weight, outside temperature, and condition of the fabric make a big different in fuel consumption. Airships will run a bit higher in cost than balloons because of the added weight, added cooling by passing through the air rather than moving with it, and the non-optimal shape of the blimp compared to a balloon.
  • "Calling Sky Captain. Come in, Sky Captain."

    Can't wait. This kind of reminds me of that Dr. Who epside with the alternate universe with lots of blimps & dirigibles.

    That thing needs a better colour scheme, though. It's not dark and moody enough.

    I wonder it they'll ever reenable the docking tower at the top of the Empire State Building?

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by smooth wombat (796938)
      I wonder it they'll ever reenable the docking tower at the top of the Empire State Building?

      Having just taken my parents to the Empire State Building in late September, I can tell you that whomever thought of the idea of offloading people across a small platform, at that height, in the wind that was there on the day I went, really, really, REALLY, needs to get themselves on some meds.

      Fortunately, the idea was scrapped [glasssteelandstone.com] (second paragraph) long ago for the very reasons I just mentioned.

      • whomever thought of the idea of offloading people across a small platform, at that height, in the wind

              Hey, that's peanuts compared to crossing the Atlantic under a balloon full of explosive hydrogen gas...
    • No the docking ring at the empire state building is just a bad idea. The up current of wind that goes along the building is enough to make docking harder and actually holding a blimp their dangerous. Tower's like that get things like snow or rain "falling" up.

      In order to get it to work one would need some sort of deflector dish's to block the up flow. They will need more power too.

      note: some sarcasm may be present in the above statement.
    • Heck to that if we are calling in the Sky Captian, I want Sportacus [wikipedia.org] and the Iron Vulture! [wikipedia.org]!
  • I always zeppelins to make a come-back. It looks like they are currently used only for sightseeing and surveying, though.

    I don't suppose this new hot-air balloon can compete. It really does look like a cross between a blimp and balloon, though.
  • This would make the perfect album cover! Someone resurrect John Bonham and get the band back together.

  • Man! That's a lot of blimps!

  • Cheap Fuel (Score:3, Funny)

    by cdr_data (916869) on Monday December 18 2006, @03:20PM (#17291026)
    This will be the ultimate way to get around Washington DC. Plenty of free fuel....
  • Whatever happened to commuter blimps? IIRC, There was a proposal 20 years ago to have commuter blimps travel between San Jose and San Francisco (50 miles) that would take an hour each way. I guess the air went out of the proposal since it wasn't any faster or cost effective than taking the train or car.
  • Airship nomenclature defined these:

    Type A - Rigid
    Type B - Limp (hence the nickname "blimp")

    This has a rigid frame inside so it cannot be a blimp.
  • Richard Branson is attempting to circumvent the world for the e^(pi*i)th time.... Only this time, running off of a hybrid fuel of hot air and smug [southparkstudios.com]

    • Re:Big Deal (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Jarjarthejedi (996957) <bookreader13.cox@net> on Monday December 18 2006, @02:50PM (#17290576) Journal
      Just because you don't want to fly slowly at treetop level doesn't mean others don't want to, there's more to life than blasting from city to city always rushing...

      Just because something is enormous unfolded doesn't mean it will be when it is folded...oh you have an umbrella? Where are you going to store that!? It would take up your whole closet!

      Their patent is for hot-air ballons with internal frames which is much more new and innovative than 90% of patents out there (I'm looking at the company who's suing Nintendo for the trigger on the wii)

      Stop being a hater for a single second and think about this, this thing is completely new. It's simple to fly, easier than hot-air balloons or blimps. Just think of the uses, replace a couple tour buses with this thing and you get the same maneuverability, better views, and little to no traffic on your tour. What other vehicle can do that?
    • I'm an apartment dweller so about the parking situation...

      If you live in a penthouse, then this blimp would clearly be useful
    • Acrophobia here too. Although airplanes don't bother me at all. Maybe I'd go up in one of those things if they put fiberglass walls around the seats.

    • Re:well (Score:4, Informative)

      by Nefarious Wheel (628136) <nefariouswheel@nospam.gmail.com> on Monday December 18 2006, @03:57PM (#17291600) Journal
      ...but it seems better than being in a balloon with no real control ...

      A term of some use here is "dirigible", i.e. "something that can be directed". Term for lighter-than-air airships of the past was dirigible balloon, shortened to "dirigible" in common use.

      As a young lad I read Doc Smith's stories (before learning that) and had this terrible image of his dirigible torpedoes being these explosive little balloons running around in outer space...

      Oh, and the term "blimp", like "jeep", was a military term shortened in general use -- originally it was a "Type B-Limp Balloon"

      There, I have just elocuted you.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Grey Dragon (13628)
        blimp: a term coined in 1915 as a friendly synonym for a pressure airship. The word is said to have mimicked the sound made when a man snapped his thumb on the airship's gas-filled envelope. It is not derived from the description of an apocryphal type of World War I British airship, the "Balloon, Type B, limp." There was never a "Type B" nor a designation "limp" applied to a British airship before, during or after WW I. The term most likely originated with Lieutenant (later Air Commodore) A. D. Cunningham o

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by The_Wilschon (782534)
        Well, in response to both you and the poster who disagreed with your etymology of "blimp", I went out looking for more information, since nobody bothered to cite any sources. The Discouraging Word [thediscouragingword.com] ran a bit on the etymology of "blimp" a while back, which can be found about halfway down the linked page (sorry, there's no anchor there), under the heading "Shortt, Cunningham, and the bothersome matter of blimp". This posting pulls together a number of sources: the New Yorker, the Oxford English Dictionary, "

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2009 Geeknet, Inc.