2 ms·

Nanotubes wouldn't really help much either I'm afraid. Hydrogen is 7% the mass of air, so even with a vacuum the best you can do is 7% more lifting power. Our o

• TylerE 7y ago
  That's true, but vacuum has one big advantage: You can generate it in flight, whereas with lifting gas if you have to vent it you're NEVER getting it back. Besides, even at just 7%, if the Hindenburg had been "filled" with vacuum instead of hydrogen, that would have been an additional 37,000lbs of payload capacity, which would have almost tripled it's lift capability (21,000lbs as flown). Additionally, helium, which is probably the only gas the public will accept, is almost double the density of hydrogen, and we have a limited supply of it.