Goodyear Inflatoplane
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Goodyear Inflatoplane
1–10 of 73 posts
Re: Goodyear Inflatoplane
#2I've always wanted one of these - they seem like an awesome way to explore the world. I once fantasized about getting a couple of them dropped in some remote location, spend a few days or weeks hiking out there, and then flying back.
Wonder what a modern variant would look like?
Re: Goodyear Inflatoplane
#3I wonder how much it could be impoved if this project was revisited today with modern materials and manufacturing techniques.
Re: Goodyear Inflatoplane
#4I think there are lots of possibilities for inflatable vehicles which cannot be deflated.
For example, make a flimsy structure out of thin steel foil, then pressurize it to give it far more strength than it would otherwise have.
Same as the strength of a coke can.
Except with steel as the tensile material, you can probably use pressures up around 1000 psi, making the whole structure have an amazing strength to weight ratio.
Re: Goodyear Inflatoplane
#5Also discussed in 2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21249801
Re: Goodyear Inflatoplane
#6People knew how to name things back then.
Re: Goodyear Inflatoplane
#7People knew how to name things back then.
Nothing will ever top shark repellent bat spray
Re: Goodyear Inflatoplane
#8I think there are lots of possibilities for inflatable vehicles which cannot be deflated . For example, make a flimsy structure out of thin steel foil, then pressurize it to give it far more strength than it would otherwise have. Same as the strength of a coke can. Except with steel as the tensile material, you can probably use pressures up around 1000 psi, making the whole structure have an amazing strength to weigh…
> Except with steel as the tensile material, you can probably use pressures up around 1000 psi, making the whole structure have an amazing strength to weight ratio.
Congratulations, you have created a bomb.
Re: Goodyear Inflatoplane
#9Mustard did a video on this.
Nebula (subscription required): https://nebula.tv/videos/mustard-escape-in-an-inflatable-air...
Re: Goodyear Inflatoplane
#10I think there are lots of possibilities for inflatable vehicles which cannot be deflated . For example, make a flimsy structure out of thin steel foil, then pressurize it to give it far more strength than it would otherwise have. Same as the strength of a coke can. Except with steel as the tensile material, you can probably use pressures up around 1000 psi, making the whole structure have an amazing strength to weigh…
> Except with steel as the tensile material, you can probably use pressures up around 1000 psi, making the whole structure have an amazing strength to weight ratio. Congratulations, you have created a bomb.
You certainly need to think about that in the design. But by rolling a 'texture' into the sheets the structure is made from, you can make sure that any hole can't 'rip' bigger, and therefore fails slowly rather than rapidly.
You also need pressure regulator valves in case of fire.
And you might want to make the whole thing double or triple skinned so the highest pressures can be deeper inside where they are less likely to get punctured/less vulnerable to corrosion damage/crash damage.