The Heliocopter

I'm a genius.

We should combine Zeppelin technology with helicopter technology. It would be awesome.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
I'm a genius.

We should combine Zeppelin technology with helicopter technology. It would be awesome.

So is it a Zeppelinopter or a helizeppelin? Maybe helizep for short?

Originally posted by sonhouse
So is it a Zeppelinopter or a helizeppelin? Maybe helizep for short?

Heliocopter from helium and helicopter.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
I'm a genius.

We should combine Zeppelin technology with helicopter technology. It would be awesome.

They tried that once. It failed.

You are not the first one with that idea. It's not you who are a genous.

Actually. 'Zeppelines' are very capabale to carry heavy loads where no other can.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
They tried that once. It failed.

You are not the first one with that idea. It's not you who are a genous.

Actually. 'Zeppelines' are very capabale to carry heavy loads where no other can.

Just don't use hydrogen as the lifting gas....

What is the name of the real heliocopter? Zeppelins don't count.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
What is the name of the real heliocopter? Zeppelins don't count.

helicopter

Originally posted by wolfgang59
helicopter

There's no helium to help a helicopter float numbnuts.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
What is the name of the real heliocopter? Zeppelins don't count.

I seem to recall it was something like blimp-copter at least at the proposal stage.

Originally posted by avalanchethecat
I seem to recall it was something like blimp-copter at least at the proposal stage.

blimptopter?

Originally posted by avalanchethecat
I seem to recall it was something like blimp-copter at least at the proposal stage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyHook_JHL-40

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyHook_JHL-40

The other two machines listed at the bottom didn't do so well, one killed the pilot, the other went belly up for lack of funding. We will see if this new one gets off the ground. It does lift 4 times the weight of a Sikorsky sky crane, so we will see, eh.

The biggest danger to LTA aircraft like blimps and zepps I think is wind (assuming they're smart enough to use He and not H2). I wonder if the rotors are strong enough to carry the ship itself if it has to jettison He because of storm conditions?

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
The biggest danger to LTA aircraft like blimps and zepps I think is wind (assuming they're smart enough to use He and not H2). I wonder if the rotors are strong enough to carry the ship itself if it has to jettison He because of storm conditions?

I thought one of the ideas was the rotors meant you don't have to download your helium, where the helium has only enough lifting power to hold the ship up and the real
lifting power is in the engines and rotors. The rotors are what enables it to buck winds.

You're right of course. My point was this:

All the cool LTA ships post Hindenberg e.g. USS Akron were destroyed in windy conditions I believe. If one of these gets caught without a load in stormy conditions, can it jettison the He and fly back to base on the rotors alone?

How much does it weigh unloaded?