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A comment on Silent and Simple Ion Engine Powers a Plane with No Moving Parts. Parent comment

Re:Silent and Simple Ion Engine Powers a Plane with No Movin... by shostack on Thursday November 22, 2018 @01:52AM (#18508343)
The sooner we get back to the age of dirigibles the better.

Personally, I'm a little surprised we don't have them in the Bay Area. With our traffic and (mostly) year round nice weather, and great solar energy potential it seems like it could be a win.

But then again I don't know much about the technology or it's limitations.

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Re:Silent and Simple Ion Engine Powers a Plane with No Movin... by yogaboll on Saturday November 24, 2018 @02:00PM (#18523451)
It's limited by the fact that you need a very large volume of lighter-than-air gas to lift a human. The theoretical maximum lift capability of 1 m^3 of hydrogen is just about 1.1 kg so you will need a really big airship to carry a passenger.
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