Re: Reprints of Classic Early Space Fiction

Pat Flannery wrote:

Yeah...and although having a airship that had vacuum tanks
rather that gas cells would make the lifting power of hydrogen
or helium look minor by comparison....

Actually, this isn't the case.

Hydrogen has 93% of the lifting capacity of a vacuum. Helium has
86% of the lifting capacity of a vacuum.

Jim Davis

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Armored Airships Challenge
    ... Aircraft machine guns ... > lifting capacity than with helium or hydrogen. ... The lifting capcity of vacuum isn't as much greater as you might think. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.science)
  • Re: Reprints of Classic Early Space Fiction
    ... Hydrogen has 93% of the lifting capacity of a vacuum. ... airship to go, the more room the lifting gas needs to be able to expand in, and the less gas can be put into it initially. ... So you never could get the theoretical full lifting power of the gas-filled airship unless you were content to cruise along at only a few hundred feet altitude. ...
    (sci.space.history)