Gondola Poll

I got a lot of unexpected results for the last gondola poll. I hadn't anticipated the demand for internal or boat based gondolas. 

The results are a little subject to interpretation since many opted to write in their own answer.

Trike gondola: 6.5
PPG gondola: 3.5
Internal gondola: 5
Boat or yacht: 2
House: 1
Traditional: 1

Should I re-poll this question with more answers?

I think it shows the difference in perception of what a "personal small airship" is.  You have the folks who want a classical blimp and those who think of the wire and tube ultralight. And then you have the slick high tech hybrid semi-LTA airfoils.

Re-poll. This time show pictures of examples of each off the net so that there is no confusion as to whats involved with each type.

Ok, I reposted it. But you can only see the images if you take the poll of their site. http://poll.fm/2l4pn

You did a great job setting the poll up.

I voted for a lawn chair because it's proven technology. ( I've seen some of my " potato, collard green and pork chop " relatives sitting in one ( load Tested)

Thanks, I hope it provides good info.

So 4 people voted "internal". Now who's going to design it?

1. Must have ventilation.
2. Must provide ground access.
3. Must have a method for seeing that the ship clears ground obstacles.
4. Must have connections from the gondola to the controls and control surfaces/actuators that are light.
..................

The way I am approaching it is for a delta shape with a rigid central frame that is wide enough at the front to accommodate the pilot and tapers just past the cockpit down to just be a sheer longitudinal bulkhead. The cross section is sort of hourglass shaped in that the two composite walls are curved inward and give a good "socket" to the envelopes on either side that form the "wings". 
So the cockpit is "internal" in that its all streamlined together but its not within the pressure envelope(s). Top side will have a small plexiglass teardrop dome canopy and the lower "floor" will be as much plexiglass as I can get away with. Control cables run down the spine and actuate the three surfaces (rudder and left/right elevons) with cranks all at the center.

Cranks?

Cranks, control arms, horns, etc
.

I though you were actuating a control surface with a crank,,,,,,,,my bad....

LOL, yeah I can see how the way I phrased it implied that sorry.

After the re-poll, the results are clear. People prefer an internal gondola by a pretty wide margin, (6 of 11 votes). The next closest was boat with 2 of 11 votes. Paragliger harness, trike, and lawn chair brought up the rear with 1 vote each. 

So there it is. We need to seriously consider internal gondolas, at least as a follow-up to the initial prototype/s. 

I was going to vote for internal gondola, too, but could not come up with a good visibility plan. Maybe clear panels on the gondola area would provide adequate visibility to the sides and below, but forward vision is a bit of  a problem. Maybe flying in a hang glider position would put the pilot's head low enough to see forward. Makes operating the controls a little troublesome, and you could get a neck cramp after a while.
  Making the gondola a clear blister would sort of be the boat version, puts the pilot in a recumbent position, more practical for control and looking about.

My thinking is to stuff the pilot as far forward as possible in an upright posture so that the a small dorsal canopy blister is at least parallel with the leading edge of the lenticular airfoil-ish shape.  This should give it at least airliner cockpit visibility.
Of course that means the rest of the bulk mass of the ship, motors, tanks/batteries, etc, has to be far aft to counterbalance it.  But if you are making the ship X length anyway, its not that much of an issue.

In regards to the poll...
I think people are answering in the mindset of the "Ideal", and are thinking either of a "pumpkin seed" smoothly streamliner, or a  Zeplin where the cab was incorporated into the shape of the lift bag.  Both of which I feel are beyond the scope of the CPS project.

If its a true LTA traditional "blimp", for under $10K with single pilot handling and modest dimensions. I think we need to think of a airship version of the Silverfox. Which I guess is the "lawnchair" option.

For the best chances of this to be a commercial success, it need to be as cheap to purchase, fabricate, assemble, and operate as possible.  It also needs to be stable, safe, even "idiot proof" to operate.

Wanting  is one thing ,  We have not  even   got  but  a few   models  flying  . I produced  2 of  them . The  round   balloon ,   and  a  balloon foil   cigar  with  a  AAA micro Jet RC power plant....remember that ?  .   Let  alone   a  Full scale   envelope , even  inflated with  air .  The  Gondola  choice  is  not   something   remotely   viable  yet .
 What  ever it  will be, It  will need to  fit and work  with the  envelope design  and perimeters.  Regulating lift  and  controlling  sink  are  the  biggest  hurtles  we need to  work on  And  as of now   the only  sure method  to  realize positive altitude control  is  for  the  envelope , or  some form of  deploy-able / controllable  wing  system , or  combination of both ,  to   generate  some form of aerodynamic lift ,  assisted by  its  gas lift  .  Heat  and cooling of  the lift gas are   totally dependant on  weather  conditions  and  can  vary a lot ,Ask  any  HAB pilot . Plus  the time lag   for   this  temp  change to take  effect  will  put you  at risk  unless it is   fairly  quick ,   and  that  would  take   the  BTU output of  a  HAB system  to  accomplish  that in  a  safe operational manner  .  And  that's  just  going  up . How long  to  come back  down ?  you  cant  just vent  some out like  you  can  with  HAB as a primary  method of control . A hybrid  may   work  but the   complexity and  expense  to  build  and operate   just  went way up . All things considered   Aerodynamic lift   is  free and  our only true constant,  Design for that and  Just  move  forward to  fly.  .
  So   the  envelope  design   is  going to  dictate  to a  very large  degree   what  and  where  the  gondola   is  and looks like . If  we  want a  truly successful  Airship,  The  envelope with 50 / 50  aerodynamic / gas lift   is  where we need to  focus  now..               

Now that you have some models built, perhaps you could put a detachable gondola on your cigar model to test drag and control effects before and after.