Will It Ever Fly?

[Tommygun]

It's called the Sunrise Thermal Airship. It is a hot air balloon that uses the sun and a Fresnel lens to heat the air.

Will it ever fly, probable not, but it has some nice ideas......and it's cool looking.

http://gearpatrol.com/2012/01/14/design-spotlight-sunrise-thermal-airship/

Edited November 9, 2014 by Tommygun

[KerikBalm]

Looks pretty cool, I see no obvious reason it wouldn't work

[Tommygun]

I'm wondering if it can really get enough solar heat for lift and to power two Stirling engines.

Round balloons can also be harder to control, that's why blimps are usually long.

Some of their designs do have big tails which will help some, but Stirling engines like these don't strike me as powerful.

To me it looks like it will struggle to fly and turn in the wind.

[zekes]

if it looks cool = it must work

[NASAFanboy]

if it looks cool = it must work

But what defines "cool"?

To me, the ISV Venture Star looks cool, but to someone else, it's a ugly mass of fuel tanks, trusses, and radiators.

[worir4]

Any thing that flies is cool to me.