3 ms·
There are two huge downsides to LTA flight: leaks, and drag. Leaking lift gas is expensive & difficult to prevent. Also explodey! (if H2). Airships have to ha
by jpm_sd 10y ago
There are two huge downsides to LTA flight: leaks, and drag.
Leaking lift gas is expensive & difficult to prevent. Also explodey! (if H2).
Airships have to have enormous volumes to float. Therefore they have a lot of drag compared to their payload capacity (Vs. heavier-than-air-craft). So they aren't very good at dealing with wind in an efficient manner.
- aaron695 10y ago> Leaking lift gas is expensive & difficult to prevent. Also explodey! (if H2). Expensive OR very cheap and explodey. (Gasoline is also explodey)
- gozur88 10y agoHelium is comparatively expensive, but you don't expend it as part of normal flight and it doesn't migrate very quickly through modern materials. A bigger problem than loss is fouling - you have to pump out the helium and purify it every so often (I think Zeppelin does it every six months).
- aaron695 10y agoHydrogen is close to free. ~$2 per 10kgs of lift if my internet calculations are correct. But I guess if helium isn't lost at a great rate, it might be a cheap part of the whole setup.