elongation and drag

[freebeard]

http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/04/airlander-10-largest-aircraft-airship-details-test-flight/

I don't know if you've followed the progression over the years, but the original 'deltoid pumpkinseed' (much like the 2013 CUER shape) progressed to a catamaran blimp configuration, the a trimaran; now the two outer hulls are enveloping the middle one.

Pneumatic walls inherently want to meet at a 120° angle. That's going to be low interference drag, right?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/04/airlander-10-largest-aircraft-airship-details-test-flight/

I don't know if you've followed the progression over the years, but the original 'deltoid pumpkinseed' (much like the 2013 CUER shape) progressed to a catamaran blimp configuration, the a trimaran; now the two outer hulls are enveloping the middle one.

Pneumatic walls inherently want to meet at a 120° angle. That's going to be low interference drag, right?

It looks like a number of designers are looking to produce dynamic lift by creating an airfoil-esque envelope


As far as the 120-degree intersections,I might expect someone like Goro Tamai to predict some drag due to hook-vortice interference drag in the absence of 'blending' the skins together; which might be prohibitively expensive and not warranted.Just guessing

[freebeard]

Northrup Grumman, Lockheed-Martin and Aeroscraft. The first two seem very similar.

Pneumatics require the bodies of rotation. Someone should update the Goodyear inflatable wing to the Prantl-D high aspect ratio wing and scale that up. With 3D printed micro-scale trussed beams and an acre of thin-foil solar cells.