The Future of Aviation

[billvon 3,109]

>How the gonna make the balloon?

Plastic. But you only have to make it once!

(BTW side note - helium comes from oil wells too)

[turtlespeed 226]

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it's only a matter of time and advancing technology before water cracking can be done cheaply and easily. At that point we'll have the cleanest and most plentiful fuel source in the universe... make it from water, and the exhaust is water. It's really a no-brainer.

cracking water takes more energy then u'll get burning it's products. physics a bitch ;)

Anti matter

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[MikeJD 0]

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>How the gonna make the balloon?

Plastic. But you only have to make it once!

(BTW side note - helium comes from oil wells too)

And of course if you're only going to inflate the balloon once, you're still going to need power to winch it down to the passengers, or get the passengers up to it.

Now here are a couple of (possibly stupid) questions:
- If a helium balloon is perfectly sealed so that none of the gas can escape, will it maintain the same lifting power indefinitely?
- If you were to design a tethered helium balloon so that it had just barely enough 'buoyancy' to lift the required number of passengers, would you save energy overall because it was easier to haul down for boarding - at the expense of a very long ascent time?

[Inspired 0]

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>How the gonna make the balloon?

Plastic. But you only have to make it once!

(BTW side note - helium comes from oil wells too)

And of course if you're only going to inflate the balloon once, you're still going to need power to winch it down to the passengers, or get the passengers up to it.

Now here are a couple of (possibly stupid) questions:
- If a helium balloon is perfectly sealed so that none of the gas can escape, will it maintain the same lifting power indefinitely?
- If you were to design a tethered helium balloon so that it had just barely enough 'buoyancy' to lift the required number of passengers, would you save energy overall because it was easier to haul down for boarding - at the expense of a very long ascent time?

Why would you ever bring the balloon down? Just ride the tether up and down, kind of like the space elevator idea.

[erdnarob 1]

You forget mastering gravitational waves or particles. Not for today but... when we will know the intimate nature of the gravitation, new very efficient technologies will arise...without any pollution. I have this dream....!!!!?

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[airtwardo 7]

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>How the gonna make the balloon?

Plastic. But you only have to make it once!

(BTW side note - helium comes from oil wells too)

And of course if you're only going to inflate the balloon once, you're still going to need power to winch it down to the passengers, or get the passengers up to it.

Now here are a couple of (possibly stupid) questions:
- If a helium balloon is perfectly sealed so that none of the gas can escape, will it maintain the same lifting power indefinitely?
- If you were to design a tethered helium balloon so that it had just barely enough 'buoyancy' to lift the required number of passengers, would you save energy overall because it was easier to haul down for boarding - at the expense of a very long ascent time?

How about two balloons tethered to each other through a pulley system, as one goes up it pulls the other down...ya could greatly reduce the energy needed to control them.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~