Off Topic – Huge Sky Balloon To Lift 150 Ton Gear

Rich Gates October 13, 2010 Off Topic

So cruising the news today for USB updates, I stumbled upon this article about an Australian company dreaming up a giant sky balloon to carry stuff. When you need to get heavy gear into remote places a road can’t always get you there.Â Sometimes the gear is so large, air lifting it in wont get you there either.Â So what to do?Â How about a ginormous sky balloon?

Sky balloon

To give you an idea of the type of problem this Australian company [Skylifter] is trying to solve; a helicopter is the only aircraft which can float in a product of great size or weight to a remote location – but it’s got limitations.Â A helicopter can only carry about 50 tons of gear.Â What if the stuff weighs more than 50 tons? The balloon is 150-meters wide and could carry up to 150 tons.Â The balloon would have a flight range of 1240 miles and would act like a parachute on decent to make a gentle touchdown. A mini RC version of the balloon is now being tested and is 9 feet across. It can carry about 1 pound with a full-size prototype set to start building in the coming three years.

Rich Gates

Administator for GetUSB.info GetUSB.info started in 2004 with the concept of providing USB information for everything USB related. At the time, USB was gaining momentum and every day new products, articles and news became published. Today, the site is focused on bringing technical information, tricks and hacks to USB related products. The site does publish off topic information as well, to keep the variety up. Please visit the footer area of any page if you or your company is interested in article or product placement via purchased advertising.

Off Topic – Huge Sky Balloon To Lift 150 Ton Gear

Rich Gates

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