Flying Around the World in under 80 Days
pinchito.es
pinchito.es
A new sailing record was set recently, which didn't _quite_ beat 40 days - it took them 40 days and almost 11 hours.
If you've ever seen a SailGP boat flying up out of the water on their hydrofoils and doing 100kmh - imagine a 32m long 26m wide ocean going trimaran doing the same thing in a non stop circumnavigation of the globe. I think they _averaged_ 27knots or 50kmh!
If you _haven't_ seen the SailGP boats and are curious, here's somewhere to start: https://youtu.be/BQWOoP-Iwn8
Also FYI the link to "Aves Æternæ" is broken.
You'll get about 1/15-th of the lithium+water mass as hydrogen. So if you want to replenish 1 m^3 of hydrogen at STP (or around 1/8-th of the gas bag volume), you'll need around 600 grams of reagents.
Lithium will then scavenge all the moisture from the gas inside the bag, releasing hydrogen in the process.
Though at high altitudes the winds are such that it would be less of an airship and more of a steerable balloon.
I have seen many high altitude airship studies trying to hover around, but none have been viable in the end. To go around the world it seems better to just float, as in the comment above: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46881679.
PCAAD: Too Microsoftie.
- Piloted Intelligent Circumnavigation Airship for Research and Development
- Prototype Integrated Control Autonomous Route Drone
- Programmable Intelligent Circumnavigation Aeronautical Remote Device
- Piloted Intelligent Craft: Autonomous Route, Data-driven
- Primary Intelligence Control And Route Determination
- Precision Integrated Circumnavigation And Remote Deployment
> Finally, can it be flown legally? Most of the trajectory can pass over the oceans, but skipping land completely would take too much of a detour, and likely be incompatible with prevailing winds. Although the political climate may be hostile, it is still legal to fly civil craft over other countries.
I mean, I imagine this being a mess, each country having it's own rules
- maybe it's legal but regulated
- does size matter?
- does it matter when you cross a border?
- do you have to announce?
- does it matter how high you fly it?
- are the International norms?
- are there regulatory bodies?
So no, it's not legal in many ways.
"Finally, what are the legal implications of flying an airship drone over foreign air spaces? This very complex area clearly requires in-depth study and careful consideration, and it lies completely out of my depth. The primary objective is just to avoid being shot down since I'm not planning to visit any foreign countries in person, so allow me to just touch over the main issues."