New Zealand Supersonic

[red750]

 

 

Photos: Record-breaking supersonic jet reaches 66,000 feet in 118.6 seconds

 

Details and photos here

[Methusala]

"Greener" supersonic flight. Similar to developing a kinder poison?

[facthunter]

Rotting or Burning bodies put stored carbon back into the atmosphere.   Nev

[spacesailor]

" Kinder poison " .

Sounds like ' flouride ' , good for some teeth, but at health problems. 

spacesailor

[facthunter]

Does it have to be self raising?  Nev

[turboplanner]

RC Aircraft.

There's a film on a kid who built one about 40 years ago.

Scaling up is the problem.

[facthunter]

A Boeing sized Bumblebee won't fly.  Nev

[onetrack]

Yeah, I was wondering how many pax they were going to cram into a 16 foot supersonic rocket. I think Turbo's on the money, let's see the full-size version before we start crowing. Anyone can send a toy rocket into space.

 

Edited November 24 by onetrack

[spacesailor]

I think it's time, for the return of the " Dirigibles " . With the ' inert ' lighter than air gas, & Solar energy driving electric motors .

The larger they are , the more efficient they are.

Cost vs cost over jumbo jets , with far lower running. Cost .

spacesailor

 

[kgwilson]

There are a number of new airship designs under way around the globe including Australia. Great when there isn't much wind but they don't perform well in bad weather conditions.

[facthunter]

Too slow and difficult to  handle in winds. Hydrogen is  lighter than Helium which is harder to get..Nev

[spacesailor]

But that " safety " factor plays it's role .

spacesailor

[facthunter]

There's no getting ABOVE the weather in an airship.  No Jet engines either. Just pistons with big props flinging Ice at the rest of the Plane. Nev

[onetrack]

I can remember when Alan Bond owned an airship, and they drove it from Sydney to Perth (you can't really say it flies", I reckon - although the CAA controlled its movements!). I think it was a pretty slow trip! - it only did a bit over 90kmh.

I can remember sighting it floating past our mining lease just off the Coolgardie-Norseman Rd, 60kms N of Norseman, at a relatively low altitude. They were obviously using IFR to navigate, because they were basically following Hwy One!

 

My memory is a bit hazy, but I seem to recall the trip was done about the same time, or maybe a little earlier, as the 1988 Bi-Centennial Balloon Race, which ran from Perth to Sydney.

The Bond Airship was stationed in Sydney in 1987 and drew a lot of complaints about engine noise, invasion of privacy, and upsetting all the local dogs.

 

 

 

[rgmwa]

Ah, yes, Alan Bond. Shared a lift with him once when he had an office on the top floor of our building. Was also was fortunate enough to set up Australia II for display (and all the other exhibits including Jon Sander's yacht Parry Endeavour) at the WA Maritime Museum.  Interesting times, but well in the past now.

 

Edited November 24 by rgmwa

[Freizeitpilot]

A bit of thread drift here, but we should be a little more stringent with how Helium is utilised. It is a finite non-recoverable and non-renewable resource. Once released into the atmosphere, it keeps going and ultimately ends up in space.
Once we use up what’s left on Earth, which may occur in less than the next 100 years, it’s gone.

 

[johnm]

I'm thuck ............ where does helium live - is it encapsualted somehow ................. before being accessed ?

[turboplanner]

Bunnings.

Very good question, I'm hitting the books now.

[Freizeitpilot]

2 hours ago, johnm said:

I'm thuck ............ where does helium live - is it encapsualted somehow ................. before being accessed ?

Naturally occurring Uranium decays to Thorium and Helium.

Helium being very light and inert, migrates through the Earth’s crust, and is commonly associated with natural gas when it similarly becomes trapped in reservoirs. 
 

Does that help?

[facthunter]

It's safe as it doesn't combust but is heavier (More dense) than Hydrogen which is the simplest atom in existence. It's the basic source of the energy of the Sun.

 Hydrogen to Helium by Nuclear FUSION..  Nev

[Freizeitpilot]

Global Helium demand regularly exceeds supply.
If we were a little smarter in Oz, we would separate, recover and sell the Helium that is currently vented to the atmosphere from our LNG plants.

[spacesailor]

Perhaps the Chinese are ' just ' doing that .

With the world's cheapest LPG .

spacesailor 

 

[facthunter]

Earlier on the Germans had a bit of a monopoly on it..Nev