From: Horkheimer (hork_at_execpc.com)
Date: 04/09/98
Message-ID: <352D13CE.E39A9A4C@execpc.com> Date: Thu, 09 Apr 1998 13:30:39 -0500 From: Horkheimer <hork_at_execpc.com> Subject: Re: Been kinda quiet, lately...
Hello,
>
>
I have noticed that all the lists seem to be slowing down a little bit.
> Question for the list:
> Are there any practical limits to how much an airship can lift?
> I noticed in a recent ballooning attempt, that their 195' diameter
> helium gas bag was going to lift a 13.5 ton (27,000 lb) gondola.
I believe some balloon can get up to 490 ft in diameter, but I am not that
familiar with ballooning.
> I'd been thinking that an autonomous house (like the one outlined
> in my paper at: http://www.sculptors.com/~salsbury/Articles/house.paper )
> would be incredibly cool to have dangling from a balloon/airship, and spend
> perhaps 6 months living at an altitude of 5-6 miles up. (Pressurized cabin,
> of course.)
Why would you want to live that high up, if you don't like flying, it would be
difficult to enjoy sitting in a pressurized cabin, your whole life basically.
> I think it would be possible to make a house considerably lighter
> than 13.5 tons, and thus need an even smaller bag for it
Definitely, there are a lot of ways of cutting weight on a house. I am
guessing you are a Buckminster Fuller fan, so I would suggest you look up how
much his Dymaxion houses weighed.
> But what
> materials can last for a long/indefinite time in that ultraviolet light?
> And be strong enough not to suffer the mishaps that many balloon attempts
> seem to have? Would silk do the trick? Mylar? Reinforced nylon tent fabric?
> (ripstop nylon or something similar?)
With all the talk and efforts of a round the world flight, there was an old
article in the New York times that interviewed one of the representives of the
balloon efforts, probably Richard Branson, who felt once they achieved this
record flights and they build on it more successes they may offer balloons, for
honeymooners and tourists, who want to fly around the world and pay big bucks
for it. Materials and fuel are the key, to these flights.
Sincerely,
Don Horkheimer