Unique Balloon Request | Portal Ship Requests | Forum

This Balloon Meets size requirements for Exodus for balloons.  In a dock platform construction the "landing Gear" would be in a "folded up" position.  I am not yet ready to activate it, but I wanted to get an opinion on its sky-worthiness.  It is not a conventional balloon design, but given that the ship it docks with is not conventional either, I needed something unique.  From my calculations, the balloons are large enough to assist in flight, with the help of the "propulsion engines" on each boom arm.  The engines receive fuel through a series of pipes, connected to a tank in the lower part of the fuselage.  This should provide sufficient lift for takeoff, and can be scaled back to maintain elevation and land.  The balloons reduce the thrust requirement for liftoff, allowing for reduced fuel consumption during flight.  Assuming that a block corresponds to a meter, the size of the tank area should give the craft an effective range of a little passed Exodus from its starting position.  This is based on approximations in the efficiency of fuel burn, maximum pitch angle of the 4 booms of 22 degrees, and assumptions that the actual width of the fuel tank walls are actually no greater than 6cm, as the would on a real high altitude craft.  These also take into account the parabolic path of the craft as it rises to its cruising altitude of 180 meters above see level, and the necessity to fly around certain terrain obstacles.  The final assumption is that the balloons are filled with pressurized hydrogen gas, which, though flammable, is lighter than helium gas, and is more capable of offsetting the weight of the fuselage.  As Hydrogen gas decomposes in the presence of regular air, the balloons are sealed from the outside, and pressurized by tanks in each boom.  These tanks can be pressurized as needed from ports near the bases of each boom.  The calculations were perform by my dear friend, who is a recent graduate of NC State University, USA, in Physics and Computer engineering, who is preparing to enter grad school for aero-physics, with a focus in rocketry.

All this to say, I think it meets the technical constraints, but I wanted to make sure it also met the aesthetic constraints.

The map link is found here.

Images below: