Comment on Horror

rational_lib@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• IndustryStandard@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  The boat already floats. What is the point of making it lighter?

  If it should fly then get a Zepplin

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• AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Any amount of water contact introduces a fair amount of drag. There may be an ideal point somewhere in the middle, but I think if you take this to it’s natural conclusion you get a zeppelin.

  I did a little bit of math and I think that to lift the payload capacity (including fuel and crew) of a modern day Panama canal ship you would need about a tenth of the peak U.S. helium reserve (a cube about half a kilometer long on each edge, about 1.3x longer than the long dimension of the ship)

  I don’t think you’d get the best fuel efficiency going upwind lol

  Anything smaller would come with proportionally less downsides and at least proportionally less benefits. I doubt it could ever be a net positive in any useful metric.

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  • humanspiral@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Hydrogen for sure. Partial lift for a boat has a lot of applications. Much more cargo than an airship, with no complications in flying empty. A fairly flat triangular “balloon” can be used as a solar platform, a sail, and be put in neutral wind mode down to the deck.

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• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  attach giant balloons to ships

  Image

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• Trainguyrom@reddthat.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Sounds like you’re vaguely describing a ground effect vehicle, basically a plane which coasts along the water. They’re more efficient than actually flying due to exploiting the ground effect on the lift surfaces, but ultimately it’s closer to a plane than a boat

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