Zephyr 2.0 Hybrid Airship inspired by a sailboat lifted by an aerodynamic Hydrogen filled sail.

So take the design of a lifting body aircraft such as the M2-F2/ HL-10 connect a hyrdrogen filled balloon encased in a semi rigid aerodynamic canopy that looks like a sail. Cover the canopy in lightweight flexible solar panels where optimal. Enlarge the body of the aircraft as to fit minimal lightweight living space like a 24ft sailboat. Equip the aircraft with 2 ducted electric fans on the ends of short wings between the canopy and the lifting body and Voila!?! The Zephyr 2.0.....I hope :) The lifting body design allows the aircraft I hope to be both amphibious and operable without a tether and mooring mast. The Hydrogen filled semi rigid sail only supports enough of the weight where lift is only achieved through thrust from the propellers and the lifting properties of the body and snub wings between the sail and body.
This idea is essentially a meld of the Renault Eco2 airship the Zep'lin [link] the Aeolus airship [link] and the lifting body prototypes [link]
Ok what do ya think?

http://inhabitat.com/awesome-aeolus-airship-by-christopher-ottersbach/

Welcome to the forum!

That Zep'lin video was pretty cool. I liked the extendable wing. The volume looked a little small to me. 

I don't think your links came if you want to post them again.

Is your concept similar to this? http://www.tuvie.com/aeolus-airship-travel-vehicle-concept-with-aerodynamic-shape/

Wow  !  Can  you  sketch out what  you  see in  paint   and post it ?
 I like your  tag line  BTW , Come on in,  forum doors open ! 
 

Oh, now I see you already referenced the aeolus concept, sorry.

I think the concept has merit, but I don't think it will be easy to store while inflated. I think you would need to tank your lift gas between flights. But yah, I would like to see a sketch of what you had in mind. A picture is worth a thousand words....

I tried drawing it and realized the lifting body design doesn't meld well with Renault's sail design. Which has made me go back to my original design before seeing Renault's. The Zephyr 1.0 :)

Once again we take the lifting body as the hull, attach a propeller above it, a large wing above that, add a hydrogen or helium filled cigar shaped envelope on each end, and then attach supports struts to the bottom of each gas filled envelope to the hull to provide extra support. The large wing attaching the two envelopes I hope provides enough lift as to enable it to be a hybrid. The wing is also where flexible solar absorbing material would be placed along for incredible fuel efficiency since the craft is all electric. Perhaps a safety feature that could be employed is if the hydrogen is ignited the lifting body could be detached from the rest of the body to sail to safety?

I plan on making a model of it this year, followed by RC tests next year so on and so forth...hopefully tweaking until I build the full thing that I can sail around the world enjoying the minimal living comforts of home with the world traveling cost effectiveness of sailing.

Here is my attempt at drawing it.... I suck at paintbrush. Anyone is welcome to draw a better version :)

Here are a few pics of aircraft that have inspired this design:

The lifting body you want to use is best suited for very high speeds. You will need a little more width to get enough lift to operate as a life boat. However, I am wary of the weight and complexity that would come with a detachable lifeboat.

What about this?

The point of the... lets call them "vertical sail airships", is that the propulsion acts as the keel of a sailboat and allows the craft to maintain a course and track into the wind. The airfoil shape of the envelope behaves like a sail and provides thrust by the lateral lift. The sail does the work not the props.
The sail types would require the gondola and motors to be able to pivot around the sail (or vice vera?) for the sail to maintain the proper angle of attack on the wind. 

@Dude:  I think the idea of this concept is as a world traveling vagabond for trust fund babies. Storage isn't much of an issue.   I think its beyond the scope of our project.

@Dreamer, unfortunately your design suffers from many inefficiencies. One, the multiple lift bag cylinders carries a lot of extra weight because the increased surface area vs. a single bag. Likewise your connecting strut/wings also add weight and complexity.  This is why most (all?) hybrids use a "pumpkin seed" shaped fat lifting body design. You get the best of both worlds instead of the worst.  

 Yes   Although  striking  to  look  , no  question  about  that   at all  ,  duel  envelopes  are inherently   troublesome  to  maintain  level  flight , One side heats up   and  the other in shadow  ,   or  one has  a  slightly  higher  perm rate ,   or  even  if one leaks ,  the   lifting  body  is  now  tilted   and  will  want to  bank turn   to  the low  side  with  constant   rudder  inputs  to  counter it .  Maybe  even  to  the point  of    getting  stuck  to  circle.  or   totally  hang  wing  down if  one  side   has  a  severe problem .   Might   pose  for a interesting  landing .  
  The optimal  would be   2 wings on  a  central envelope .  Preferably   inflatable  with  air   so   you  could   regulate  lift . And it  could  also  provide you  with   some  form of  glide capability   should  the  envelope   have a problem .