Locations for constructing UL dirigible

http://www.flyinggators.com/

is an UL, LSA, airfield outside Orlando FL that has some sheds for rent. check'em out

This is the type of situation we want. Just an airstrip and a shed to keep materials. We can use the airship's propulsion generator to run power tools if we find ourselves in a farmers field away from an electrical outlet. It's easy.

Orlando has a big airport so any member will find it easy to fly in and rent a car to the construction site. It's easy.

Ps there can be many sites like this in the forum, we don't have to put all our eggs in the orlando basket. It's easy.

All it takes is a few members with a commitment to build. It's easy.

Yeah I think we will almost have to go and build our ships individually.  Will need to find friends, people interested in your own local that want to spend some time putting together a ship.

Cause I can't hop down to Florida every couple of weekends to put a few hours into construction.  Mind as well build it locally and spend more time on it.

I did put together a model last weekend and found out I had to change a few things on my ship, but now its just about finalized to build the second improved model, that should make it to the flying phase.  Going to order some materials next.

Good Luck Nav, but don't forget even the Wright Bros did wind tunnel testing before flying....

<<Yeah I think we will almost have to go and build our ships individually>>>  Yep, that looks right. It seems the way it has to be until someone comes up with a flying, or at least flyable, airship. It's hard to commit labor to ideas which may not fly.

 After someone builds a great testbed, I know that I, for one, will want to donate my labor just to be part of upgrading that design into the status of a prototype personal dirigible. And going up in it would be nice too. So, it does seem like the "collaboration build" is a ways off from here. But it will happen, I am still expecting.

Here  are some  common  numbers  to get an idea of the space required  for your build. A 24 foot  dia  sphere holds 7238 cubic foot  of gas  and lifts 455 pounds.  I think  this is  a good target number. Max  Airframe  @ 254 lb's (FAR 103 legal)   and max pilot  weight  201 lbs. Lighter air frame  = more payload.     
   The  7238 cubic foot  can  be  whatever shape you seek.  But that is how much  area  it will take just  for the  inflated airship.  This does not include  work space.  
 I am  assuming  that  the  airship can be  broke down  and  easy to transport.  So in that  respect  your actual " work shop"  needs to  be  only as big  as the longest one piece member.  But ,The more it  brakes down, the  more complex  and heavy  it will become. 
   In most of our  locations  I assume  we have a yard big enough  to  set up  an  assembly  area, ether  out in the open , or  some how  cheaply   hang tarps with  ropes,   over the work   with the use of  trees  and or existing structures. Or  Plant some poles  and  use ropes and come-a-longs to tension  the  ridge  and rafters that  are made of rope. When you tension the ridge rope  , the  rafter ropes  tension too, because they  run over the ridge rope. and are tied to the  eve ropes . You may need to guy off the poles  against the direction of pull with  ground augers. ,  and rolled visqueen OR even better,  Aluminum faced Tyvek  for the cover  . 20  X 100 foot rolls  are common.   One roll could produce ruffly a 40  X 50 foot clear span floor area   roof, how ever tall  you  need it to be.  I would use a  steep pitch,  Reinforce Grommet areas by folding many times  and use quality duct tape on the visqueen OR Teyek  , use bungees for  keeping it  pulled  tight against the   ropes  so  water will run off  well no matter the  temp changes  that cause  expanding and shrinking . Being  that the  airship  will  generally be taller than  wide , a steep pitch  even to the point of an  A frame  could be used . (depends on your  ship.)   
 But this would be a  cheep way (less than  500.oo)   to  have  a temporary  assembly  area  at home provided you have enough yard.

I live in Phenix City, AL. There is a small airport nearby in Opelika, AL. There is also a nearby (half empty) retail center where we might be able to rent a large working area. There is a large grassy area there were events are held. We might could use that area to tether test.  

Bahamas, plenty of water for crash landing.  Nice siteseeing as well, um bulletproof vest and helmet advised, need to recalculate lift weight...

The biggest requirement is enough "loft" space for working with the gores. You do not want to try to put one together on grass or other bumpy surface.  That is just asking for misaligned seams and leaky or weak joints.  You will need more room than just the dimensions of the finished envelope because you'll need to be able to open up a nearly complete bag and support it while attaching seams and otherwise working with it.

  Don't forget the need for a big door. A hangar is best, we would only need it for a little while, to do construction. Then hopefully we could fold our ships up and take them home. A lenticular that would coil up like the sunscreens do would be the cat's meow. Suspension lines to the gondola can caribiner to the poly fastener mounts. The whole package should fit into a 'pod' for easy shipping home, or slide into the back of a pickup truck.
  If we use ready-made gondolas, fine, they will be already flight-rated. All we have to come up with are the rotating turntable, which can be our proprietary product.
  If the rotating gondola proves to be too wild and unmanageable, it can be eliminated. It will make the ship sluggish to maneuver, though. I like the idea of a nimble ship, unusual for airships.

A adjustable drag brake [ friction wheel or disk brake... wont have to be a steel disk ether ] should be incorperated into the turn table to prevent free wheeling. Testing my Rc trike balloon proved this out as i did put one on it.
The poly fastener could prove to be of even more value by providing a way to build a large but transportable tube and plastic quanset hanger.

Seven years ago I designed a large hanger based on the slitted pipe seam I had come up with as a means of connecting gore panels in series like a quanset hanger, however, with arch trusses above and vertical walls on the sides, all made from 4 inch tubing, guy wires and plastic sheeting like what would be used on the ship itself.   It would be cheap to build and easy to assemble compared to the traditional metal hangars.  Cables would be needed to brace it in the wind.  This is why I am looking for a valley with trees on either side to act as a wind break for the hangar and ship.   It would be advisable to have an inflatable bumper around the opening to absorb impacts.   For small, simple ships, a PE drop cloth to drape over it would save a lot of helium, even more if you could wrap it around to the bottom with a draw string.   It is possible that helium trapped under the PE tarp could be recovered, or drawn off if it is pure enough and reused to fill the spaces between the lifting bags.
     The lenticular saucer design with the turntable gondola design sounds like it will handle like a hovercraft, able to spin into another direction while still traveling in the first direction.   I don't know if it will be more maneuverable  if it cannot bank like a plane or regular blimp, but I can see that it will respond quicker.   My concern about the turn table is that you only have one bolt in the center holding your weight.   If a pipe were welded through it, say, two inches in diameter by a mig welder, I would trust that.   I believe that it may have to be custom built by a good welder and designer.   Otherwise your life would be hanging by a thread....threaded bolt,....so to speak.

Yes and those aren't called "Jesus pins" for nothing.