Hyperblimp Advantages

Hyperblimps work well for several reasons. Unlike heavier-than-air (HTA) vehicles, no energy is needed to hold these airships up. Imagine the difference between adding energy to keep a rock suspended in the air, versus filling a balloon with helium and allowing it to float in the air by itself. Hyperblimps float in the air–they are the same density as air, or light-as-air (though commonly referred to as “lighter than air,” or LTA), and thus don’t demand a continual input of energy to stay aloft. Watch fish in an aquarium and you can readily grasp the similarities with LTA vehicles.

Also, by going to remote control, huge amounts of weight—and thus lifting gas, volume, and drag–are eliminated, yet many of the usual goals of flight can be met–carrying cargo or using a transmitting camera to view, monitor, or photograph from the air–with relatively little cost. Throw in advances in materials since the 1930’s, and the possibilities for decreasing an airship’s volume and drag are greatly expanded. Lightweight, powerful motors, lithium polymer batteries, paper-thin solar panels and stronger materials with better helium retention allow for airships to be built with a small fraction of the weight that used to be required.

Taken together, these changes allow the Hyperblimp to “slip through the air” rather than pushing it aside—reducing drag and energy input to a bare minimum.