Quote:
Originally Posted by Combwork
Or dirigible? Something the size of the Hindenburg or bigger using helium for lift. Skin covered with the lightest photovoltaic cells possible. By day they power electric motors and charge lightweight batteries, by night the batteries take over. There are some "lifting body" shapes that might though.
Possible? Zero running pollution; load carrying capacity would depend on size but it need not look like a floating cigar. What about something circular with a hole in the middle? Wing profile through 360 degrees, the hole in the middle lets the air blow clear after it's given lift. Could the machine be steered by altering the wing profile as it flew?
Just a thought.
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The Wright Brothers used wing warping on their early flyers but then you don't have a dirigible any more but a blimp. Not sure that a flying banger isn't the best shape though. You have the gas for lift and you need a form that affords directional stability. A disc or an annulus doesn't give you that.
The PV skin is an interesting idea. There's certainly a lot of surface area on the gas bag for that but does such a material exist or would you need to apply photovoltaic cells to a conventional skin?
John