Airship RC

C

ckinnell

New Member
Jul 4, 2009
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Rugby Warwickshire UK
Hi all,

Has any one here, or know of any one, who has made a working RC airship, helium for safe use, and, got it to fly as the proto type?????; any points or advice on getting started would be of use to me at present.


Regards and thanks.


ckinnell...:wave::thumb:
 
Depending on how fancy you want to get - they have Indoor RC blimps that are offered from time to time with the little throw away RCs around Christmas in stores and what not.

Most of them are little more than a mylar balloon with a pair of electric motors on either side. 2 channel control sort of like driving a tank - each channel controls one of the motors.

http://www.rctoys.com/Merchant2/mer...egory_Code=RC-BLIMPS&Offset=&SortBy=best-desc

Years ago, I knew a guy who was building a Zepplin from scratch that he intended on flying. I don't know if he ever finished it, but it was a constant challenge to keep the weight low enough in order to maintain flight.
 
I've seen a rather large rc blimp in a shopping mall once. Fun.
I looked at a few models, but either they where expensive or just for indoor use...
Especially large ones for outdoor use need a extreme amount of helium, so they where to pricey for regular use... I settled with quadrocopters and planes ;-)

Back then I looked at http://www.boysstuff.co.uk/images/prod_zoom_center/micro_rc_blimp_centre_500_46323.jpg but never bought it.
Seems to be sold out everywhere? Any one knows where to get one?


//EDIT I just know plantraco still sells the larger ones (still just for indoor use)
http://www.microflight.com/Online-Catalog/Ready-to-Fly-Airplanes/MicroBlimp-RTF-Set
 
I sketched out a rigid design once using sturdy board (foam sandwiched in paper) for the internal frame. It's easy to work with and gives a strong yet springy frame. Mylar for both the external skin and the gasbag(s). Figured it would have to be about 12 feet long to get a decent payload. Airships don't scale down well. Made a few small non-floating prototypes, lost interest when I couldn't find a sponsor. Helium is pricey!
 
You could build a cheap <$100 Quadrocopter
Flighttimes are limited to 15, possible 30 minutes though.
You could even build a fake "Blimp-o-copter" ;-)
blimpocopter.PNG

Not very aerodynamic, but depending on the size and distance of the rotors it would fly, hehe ;-) :mrgreen:
Batteries cost $10 depending on the size, and a charge is cheaper.

Different people build a quad with a "decal"
http://www.ngw.ch/site/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=510
 
Buy a cheap toy from megatech or what not and get something that may work..for a bit at least. Otherwise your building a 20-30 footer with special gas bags because heliumn molecules are much smaller than standard air molecules and leak like crazy! Which is why birthday balloons dont last long. My idea has been to but several larger celebrations types...6-8 foot diameters and use them with a form of netting and a old sailing ship model with RC for a steamounk style you see all over the net. If i can get the paper model ship and rc gear light enough. Fill with standard party pack helium that you can buy from any balloon/party shop. Its not cheap. Thats all i can think of except a 25 foot Hindenburg that will cost you 200-300 dollars to fill each time....lasting all of maybe 3 days before its all leaked out! There was a great web site that dealt with all this from a really scientific point of view, airshipmodelers.com....unfortunately it got spammed and hacked to death and the owner gave up...Rcgroups has a RC blimp sub forum. They go into detail as well! Hope this helps!
mds
 
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