Common Production Shell

On  the  Green house mega store  link ,  the  5 mill  white  "over wintering  "  film  sounds good at  48  x 100 foot   per roll . Thats  enough for one complete envelope with little waste .  http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/overwintering-film-5mil-white/plastic-greenhouse-film 

Yah, or the same thing in 3 mil. If it is strong enough to work, it will be much lighter and way cheaper.

Does it make sense to make envelopes to an ordered diameter?

I don't think it will make much difference to make a 40' diameter balloon vs a 30' diameter balloon. There can be a standard size, but if someone want to order a custom diameter, I don't think that hurts anything. So long as a custom order comes with a deposit.

Yes it does Dude , and   quite a lot  of   CENTS ! !  . Some  may  want  a  cheep but  LARGE  inflatable  advertising  balloon .  This  could  accommodate  that  demand  quite nicely .   Compare  a   16 foot  polyurethane  ball balloon  made by  Southern  balloon works   for 1995.00  (less  graphics)   How  much  should  we  sell a 16 foot -er  for ?  Half that ?  Even  less ...???    And  they  supply  their own  banner  to  fly on it from  their own  graphics  people they normally deal  with . ( that's  a headache and  expense  we  dont want . )     

 This  is  exactly  what I'm planning  for  the 8  foot-er I have  built but  have not  finished yet .  I'm  going  to  laminate  the  PE film  with  aluminum  foil  and  glue  the  whole thing up  with  5200  marine  adhesive on  the  rim,   let it  cure  completely ,  then  snap  the polyfastener around it   and  use it for my  advertising  balloon for  Area 51 and as a longevity  test bed  .

 That is laminate  the Inside of the envelope .with foil .
If  this test  will float  for  a month  at least ,  with out topping off ,  I'd say  it  was  VERY successful test.
 Now,     What about  a common  website  for  sales  info  and  price, that leads  to  regional  builders   ( US )  so  that  we  may  all gain   from  the  involvement .  That  is , for those  who  want to  build . I  do .
  And it  can  be any size  the customer  wants  . From   small advertising  ships  to man carrying .
I do  plan  to  sell  some  at  Area 51 Branson anyway.     

I checked on the overwintering film. They said that it was PE, but that it isn't heat sealable. Does that make any sense? I thought all PE would be heat sealable.

Don't forget the PEVA I tested. It might be a good alternative to PE.

Hello Guys, as I posted previously, I build a R/C semi-rigid lenticular airship and I intend to use as internal envelope, a great tube of plastic metalized wound inside of the airship (in spiral) similar to a human intestine, because in that way, I have a pressure it just interns and a static lift balanced in whole airship, perhaps be better than if I used several sacks (begs ) with gas, if I use a long tube of very big diameter and of plastic metalized with just one welds, in one on the sides of the tube, the probability of leak of gas for the it welds it would be smaller, because it is had less it welds, he has less leak probability through it welds it. It is obviate, that if I find a long tube of film plastic metalized (polyester metalized) with 2 meters of width already ready without none it welds, it would be the ideal.

 What do you find of that?? 

 Hi Boldt!! I have been reading its posts and I saw that you wrote an address where to find the material, film plastic metalized for the internal cells of the airship, specifically below that post: (also, I know that Mylar® is a Mark) 

 

20 ' x 100 Ft. = conversion for the system metric 6,1 meters X 30,5 m.  

This note is for everybody of the forum, in the metric system the COMMA (,) it comes from the left for right in second place after the Point (. ) Example: 

One dollar in the metric system = $1,00. 

 

 Re: Off the Shelf Item List

by boldt, 20 April 2011 08:42 PM

Don't know how much helium would escape from this material, and don't know how to work with it but it gives the weight on the box cover (I bought it for ice rink material here in ) for about $85.00

Plastic Sheeting 6 MIL CLEAR 20' x 100 Ft. =  conversion for the system metric 6,1 meters X 30,5 m. Material?: 568-0075 2000 sq. ft. -  net weight 57.6 lbs.Polar Plastics Inc. Oakdale, MN 55128

Do I live in Brazil, in the South America  , and here we did use the metric system, therefore the films plastics are measured in (Micra) then, which the difference of (6 Mil Clear) for (6 Micra)?  

I would also like to know: 

 

1 - if that material is term-sealer? 

2 - which the maximum width and the length of the leaf?  

3 - is that material sold in roll? 

4 - which the thickness? 

5 - which the “gramatura”? (which the weight for square meter) the measure can be in yard done square (square yard) I make the conversion. 

6 - which the sites that sells that material in rolls and in small amount? (3 or 4 Kg at the most). 

 

Regards, 
Guibs. Speak! (Gibbs)  

Actually the metric system is indifferent to the notation it is written in. Its just a standard for measurement.  What you are referring to is linguistic conventions.  For your language (Portuguese?) the coma is used as a first place separator. But its not in English and other languages. Most people have the agility of mind to make the conversion.

Your idea is interesting. It would be convenient and ease fabrication if you have a source of seamless tube plastic film.  The down side is that it greatly increases the surface area of your lift bags/envelop.  Good for intestines, not very good for retaining a permeable gas. This also increases the weight of your fabrication.

Seams are not a bad thing. In plastic films, good fusion or chemical (glue) bonds are stronger than the surrounding material. It is gettting that "good" seam that is the hard and tedious part.

You should ask the supplier those questions. We would be guessing.

Hello! My name is Alex, I Am a new to the group but not to the LTA world. (This is my first post) I love the idea of developing a LSA LTA machine. Even better if is modular. I have many resources as I been in aviation for almost 20 years. As a former owner of Airships Express, I also have many years flying LTA UAV’s professionally. I am located in Jacksonville FL area and I will be willing to help design, build and fly the LSA LTA machine. I am a commercial pilot and license A&P, have the tools and the support from the local EAA chapter to make this happen. If anyone is interested on a meetings of the minds to put the ideas on paper, please let me know. I read some of the forums topics about various plastic films to use as an envelope. What is the plan to fuse/joint the plastic to obtain the desired shape? BTW I have a source that can do this for us in any scale. Are the designs so far are using a straight lifting gas? Or will it have a secondary air bag as the certify airships do? How about the airframe? Rigid? Semi or non rigid? Single or twin engine? One or two seats? Sorry If some of this questions have been discussed, but I haven’t had the chance to read all the entries yet. I am glad that I found this group, I am looking forward to contribute and grow the LTA community. Cheers! Alex

Glad to have you on the forum, Alex. 

Our most basic goal is an ultralight airship kit based on a "party balloon" shaped envelope. I have built a prototype envelope, but I have not yet test inflated it. A test inflation will occur very soon. I am moving this weekend, and I will be in a better position to work on the airship.

We look forward to any ideas you have. If you have a pet idea for a small airship, feel free to start a thread and share it with us.

Hi  Alex
  If you can  sign up  to  the forum   so  we can contact you  by PM .

I did, I am gourmetaviator. Thanks!

It's like you're on a miisson to save me time and money!

  Welcome, Alex, I'm MikeK. I've been quiet for a while, haven't had much to say recently. I had to move my shop recently, all my models and thermoforming equipment had to be tossed. I plan to start over when I move North, maybe next year.
  I learned a lot from my experiments, have made subtle changes to my design. I'm working on a thermoplastic monocoque ship. I've found the seams to be a challenge, I'm looking for pop rivets suitable for plastic or a hand-held sewing machine. My construction will be very similar to the ZMC 2,(see avatar) which was 'stitched' together by a special machine.
 Feel free to offer ideas or questions, we have some good talent lurking in this forum.
  MikeK.

take a look at this for designing a multi cell bladder efficiently:

hay what about using agricultural hay / silage / bale bag stretch wrap tube plastic like this:

http://www.farmbagsupply.com/makingsilage.htm

Silage Bags and Grain Bags:

Used for storage of silage or high moisture grain; these feed storage bags are black on the inside and white on the outside to protect feedstuffs from the sun's rays. It is heavy enough to last all year long in hot and cold environments. Available in diameters of 8 to 12 feet and lengths of 100 to 300 feet.

And check out the tie down system they use in the agri industry:

Grif clips:

Can be used to tie down bale bonnets or secure any other plastic film when grommets are not present.

Bale Bonnet-Grif Clip

Silage Bags are a very thick mill plastic and heavy . However they could work IF the perm rate to helium loss wasn't to much . And the weight wasn't too much. requiring a HUGE envelope just to lift its own weight .