Re:Solar Impulse lands in California after Pacific crossing
by thescriptkiddie on Sunday April 24, 2016 @12:18PM
(#11560183)
I'd like to propose that both you and Retric are more-or-less right, if not for exactly the right reasons. Your post gets down to the real issue right at the end: the actual limiting factor for a craft like solar impulse is the strength of the wings, and the best way to get around that is to use a lifting-body rigid airship.
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Re:Solar Impulse lands in California after Pacific crossing
by dogma1138 on Sunday April 24, 2016 @12:46PM
(#11560307)
That's why i said blimps are the way to go.
Lifting body also has it's limit, at the end solar just can't provide enough thrust for heavy lifting, if the lifting it self is done through other means such as buoyancy then it's not an issue as solar can provide enough thrust for actually going forward as well as power the compressors to control the buoyancy of the craft.
Anything that will be dependent on aerodynamic lift alone literally won't be getting of the ground with any significant payload.