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Perhaps the huge surface area could be turned to its advantage? If microwave rectennas could be incorporated into its upper surface, perhaps such a craft could
by stcredzero 8y ago
Perhaps the huge surface area could be turned to its advantage? If microwave rectennas could be incorporated into its upper surface, perhaps such a craft could be powered by beamed power from satellites? In the right climate, what about solar power? These would only be viable for operating in extremely remote areas where the logistics cost of moving fuel in becomes prohibitive. It's niche, but there is a market there.
- gerdesj 8y agoIt can stay in the air for five days already. Instead of beaming power a fast aircraft could overfly it and drop fuel onto it via a steerable parachute based drone.
- stcredzero 8y agoMy idea is to eliminate the physical logistics, not require fast aircraft logistics.
- Tade0 8y agoRegarding solar power it's currently hard to fulfill all of the requirements: - Monocrystalline solar panels would provide as much power as those engines when covering the craft's surface but they're too heavy to be put there. - Modern thin-film solar cells could be light enough, but would probably provide only enough power for cruising at low speed. I guess you could replace one of those engines with an electric motor, throw away 1/4 of the fuel tank and this way more or less break-even on weight saving a lot on fuel during the day.
- stcredzero 8y agoRegarding solar power it's currently hard to fulfill all of the requirements Which is why I mentioned beamed power. Perhaps thin-film solar panels could be used for range/endurance extension. Since these craft are more weight challenged than space challenged, perhaps hydrogen fuel cells could be used instead of batteries?
- philipkglass 8y agoThe extremely thin GaAs cells from Alta Devices are flexible and even higher efficiency than monocrystalline silicon cells, with excellent power to mass ratio. Multijunction inverted metamorphic cells are even higher efficiency and also offer excellent power-to-mass, over 1000 W/kg. They're probably still too expensive for a huge airship though. Even if it's a military airship.