About test rig - 1

Last semester I did the first test rig. It was a RC helicopter tethered with helium balloons. The test was about the efficiency of the combined lift system. A water bottle is attached to measure the weight change affecting the lift.

This system is proven to work with Zeppelin-NT the German zeppelin that is still in operation today.
http://www.zeppelinflug.de/seiten/E/default.htm

PS. This service can be hired for marriage proposals......contect me for detail

Week2 Day1

Made this on Sunday, it's a "flying wish lantern". Same principle as a hot air balloon.

It didn't work as I expected. Reason being the size was small, the whole thing was too heavy to lift on hot air, and the shape is a little off too. Now I understand why the real one has a larger top and a smaller openning, it is to trap hot air inside. The one I made was straight so the hot air keeps tipping the lantern upside down. The paper I used was a bit too heavy, it needed paper that is very light for example tissue paper or a very thin plastic bag (plastic bag might not be able to with stand the heat).

Overall, I found this test pointless.

Day4

http://www.flightlearnings.com/airfoil-design-part-1/176/
Learning the basics about airfoild

Day 3

The first step for me is to design and build a test rig to test if the flying blimp is going to work. Gona try to head down to the hobby shop and get some mateirals hopfully some one there can help me a little...

Today I was trying to build a mock up wire frame and cover it with paper to test the aerodynamics, but turns out the wires can't be solder. Need to find proper material!

The road so far (Part3)....

I have decided to go with Concept 3 which has the most potential to become a new type of transporter instead of a upgrade or redesign.

This vehicle might not work (isn't suppose to?) since it is a concept for the future. Viewers, keep in mind that this is a visionary design :) so some part just have to wait for technology to catch up XD.

The theory behind Concept 3 is it utilizes all kind of natural force (that is the reason I like it so much) and they support each other. The whole vehicle is like a glider utilizing gravity and aero-dynamic lift to fly, the airship technology comes in to make the aircraft lighter for longer flying distance and also help it to take off. The only problem with gliders is they need a runway and a force to start with (or it can run off a clift) so I added a hydrogen fuelcell powered turbine engine to give it a kick!(For those of you still think hydrogen is dangerous for the airship, it is flammable but it's not the cause of the desasters. Most of the airships went down because of their size and difficulty in controlling in weather conditions.)

The road so far (part 2) .....

These are the 3 concept directions.

This is a concept drived from traditional airships. It has enough volume to carry hydrogen to lift about 3-4 people (a family) The airship has a large surface area, so it will glide like a kite. For propulsion the airship can change it’s density by lowering thehydrogen level, so when it’s heavy gravity will pull it down hense giving it momentum. This momentum will be utilized to drive the airship forward.

This concept is a hybrid of ground vehicle and air transport. A light weight ground vehicle is privately owned by the user and work the same way as an electric car. But if you like to travel long distance or don’t want to get cought in traffic, you can order an air transport survice. There are free airships floating around the city, and you can find a docking area for the airship to pick you up. The airship will pick up the car by mounting themselves to the specially designed wheels. This will be a charged survice.

This concept is the most compact, suited the design schematic the most.  The idea is to create a single person transport “POD” which is compact and easy to use. The vehicle is a hybrid of different systems, it uses hydrogen fuel cell powered turbine engine for thrust and aid lift, the wings are foldable and inflateble with hydrogen to utilize buoyancy to lift the vehicle. The large wing span and aerodynamic shape allows the vehicle to glide in the sky, the turbine thruster will only act as an aid for longer and faster flight. The package of the vhicle should be simple for light weight purpose. 

The road so far....

It's coming to the second and last part of my post graduate study. (1 more semester to go and I am finally done with studying XD)

The project is going well up till now, it has its difficult moments but I am happy to say I managed to pull it off.

Things I have done:
Initial research about the problem, technology and user aspects
Initial concepts showing 3 different concept directions (see part 2)