2 ms·
Presumably the generated water will be released immediately rather than being condensed to a holding tank, since weight is the enemy of all aircraft (c.f. airli
by thombat 7y ago
Presumably the generated water will be released immediately rather than being condensed to a holding tank, since weight is the enemy of all aircraft (c.f. airliners, which jettison condensate and "grey water" from sinks but hold the foul water from toilets). So there will be a continuous low-volume release of steam/warm water some hundreds of metres above the ground - in dry conditions it doesn't seem likely it will even reach the ground.
- mannykannot 7y agoeesmith is right; the amount of water is utterly negligible in this context. As it happens, however, the helium airships USS Akron and USS Macon had large condensers to recover the water from the exhaust, to reduce the amount of helium needed to be vented to compensate for the reduction in fuel weight. They can be seen as vertical stripes above the propellers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Akron#/media/File:USS_Akron_in_flight,_nov_1931.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Akron#/media/File:USS_Akro... Venting hydrogen is not nearly as expensive a proposition as venting helium. Nevertheless, the Graf Zeppelin was fueled by blau gas, which has a density almost the same as air, to avoid the issue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blau_gas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blau_gas
- DrScump 7y agoFun fact: the original hangar at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale was built for the U.S.S. Macon.
- thombat 7y agoInteresting! I guess that's cheaper/lighter than compressing the helium back to storage tanks. I remember reading that one of the "new Zeppelin" firms planned to rotate the propulsion thrusters to create a downwards thrust when berthing, I think also to reduce problems with excess buoyancy when handling cargo.