Michael S. Lorrey wrote:
> I have a question for you two. I assume you are going at it from the angle of one big
> bag. What about some sort of foam or honeycombed type structure, with lots of really
> really small chambers?
I just did the simple pressure vessel calculations with idealized
assumptions, in which the thickness of the vessel increases
linearly with the diameter and the surface area of course increases
as the square, so the total mass of the sphere stays about the
same ratio as the air it displaces, which is to say, heavier than.
If there are other tricks like Ken's that can be done, my onerous
nay-saying might not apply. I convinced myself that filling a
sphere with helium really is the best way to make an airship. {8-] spike
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