New Type of Hot Air Blimp 152
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.
Re:Big Deal (Score:5, Insightful)
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?
Just a toy, not even a new one (Score:1, Insightful)
In other words, someone has built themselves a clever gadget, but it's barely been used at all, and is basically a cool plaything that for those with a spare hundred or two hundred grand, plenty of spare time, and open fields. This is any more newsworthy than my personal vehicle I use for getting around town is even though that is very different from anything you'll see on the street in terms of weight, design, engine, etc. View it at http://alptown.com/temp/Oregon.2006.VelokitAtNigh
Re:I've seen more practical aircraft (Score:5, Insightful)
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:Interesting source of lift (Score:3, Insightful)
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 lift 1.3 - 0.11=1.19 grams. So by heating the helium almost hot enough to melt nylon or burn paper, you'd get about a six percent improvement.
rj