White Dwarf (airship)

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White Dwarf , in German white dwarf , is a muscle-powered impact airship from 1984.

history

The airship was built around 1984 by Bill Watson and others for the comedians Gallagher and had a pedal drive. It can only accommodate the pilot. The ship was used by Gallagher for a show.

Bryan L. Allen drove the airship a distance of 93.36 km (58 miles) on February 12, 1985 to set an FAI record for impact airships ( "FAI World for Duration, Class B Airships, BA-1 through BA- 10 " ). White Dwarf also set the FAI world record over all impact airship classes for the longest journey of an impact airship with 8 hours, 50 minutes and 12 seconds. It exists for airships that are smaller than 1600 m³ (as of 2005).

After the record run, the airship was 14 years behind Bill Watson's childhood home. On September 30, 2000, it was reassembled in Madras / Oregon (USA) and filled with lifting gas . It rose again on October 3rd.

After a few small engines with model airplane propellers were attached, the small airship could be moved at around 16  km / h . At full throttle and with pedal assistance, even 24 km / h (15 mph) were possible, but the hull became unstable and the ship automatically braked again.

Technical specifications

  • Year of construction: 1985
  • Designed and built by: Bill Watson
  • Client: "Gallagher, the comedian"

Dimensions

  • Hull length: 14.62 m (48 ft)
  • largest diameter: 5.18 m (17 ft)
  • Volume: 176 m³ (6200 cft)
  • Total height: 8.23 ​​m (27 ft)

Crowds

  • Empty weight: 63.5 kg (140 lbs)
  • permissible pilot weight: 40.8–113.4 kg (90–250 lbs)
  • maximum take-off weight: 177 kg (390 lbs)

Flight performance

  • Top speed: 19 km / h (12 mph)
  • Average cruising speed: 9.6-11.3 km / h (6-7 mph)

construction

  • Shell : helium-filled, polyurethane - coated nylon shell
  • Pressure inside the envelope: 1.4 mbar overpressure (0.02 lbs / sq.in.) (No ballonets )
  • Hull: open aluminum framework (2024 T3 and 7075 T6 aluminum ), loaded up to 4 g and attached to the hull with 24 Dacron- coated Kevlar ropes
  • Ballast : two water ballast tanks with a capacity of up to 27.2 kg (60 lbs) that could be emptied by the pilot to control the buoyancy
  • Gas Valves: A 3-inch (76.2 mm) valve on the pilot's seat can be opened by the pilot to vent gas. It opens automatically when the gas pressure is 10 mbar (4 inches of water).
  • Control surfaces: large mylar (?) Covered foam polystyrene and spruce oars
  • Drive: Pedal drive with approx. 4.5 kg (10 lbs) thrust through a 4: 1 transmission and a plastic chain gear on a two-blade pusher propeller made of spruce wood and foam polystyrene. The propeller can be swiveled for up and down steering
  • One helium filling costs about $ 1000

See also

Web links