 |
Skyhook Jess Heavy Lifter Like Pournelle's Skyhook
The Skyhook Jess Heavy Lifter (JHL-40) is an ambitious new aircraft that is part blimp and part helicopter. It is designed to lift up to forty tons in one load and travel up to 320 kilimeters.
(Skyhook Jess Heavy Lifter [JHL-40])
The Skyhook, which is being developed by Skyhook International of Calgary in conjunction with Boeing, is a "blimp on steroids because it's got more than 20,000 horsepower" according to Skyhook president Pete Jess.
The helium-filled envelope fully supports the weight of the empty aircraft - it has neutral buoyancy. The four Boeing model 234 rotors attached on the air frame are entirely dedicated to lifting and maneuvering payload.
This heavy lifter may remind science fiction viewers of a very similar device from Jerry Pournelle's 1976 novel West of Honor; in fact, it's similar enough to have the same name:
The troops outside were grinning at us as they cut loose the tethers holding the balloons. Nothing happened, of course; the idea of Skyhook is to have almost neutral buoyancy, so that the lift from the gas bags just balances the weight of the load.
(Read more about Pournelle's Skyhook)
For contributing the name and promoting the general idea, I think that the company should at least offer Jerry Pournelle a free ride on the thing...
If you're interested in heavy lifters, take a look at the Dynalifter, a hybrid helium gas / gasoline-powered engine craft.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/9/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Transportation ")
Is Teleportation A Death Sentence?
'A long trail of dead, he thought, left across the stars...' - Clifford Simak, 1963.
Musk Tweets A Boring Tunnel Pic
'We hit the sub-basement and went at once to the express tubes...' - Robert Heinlein, 1956.
Tesla Electric Automatobus Prototype Spotted?
Those buses need to feed on something.
easyJet Short-Haul Electric Jets
Have a little faith, will you? They're working on it.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
IBM's Grain Of Sand Computer
'Our ancestors... thought to make the very sand beneath their feet intelligent...'
Liquid Metal Shape-Changing 'Soft Robotics'
'A mimetic poly-alloy... 'What the hell does that mean?''
The Hammock Caravan And Italo Calvino's Octavia
'Now I will tell you how Octavia, the spider-web city, is made.'
Super-Resolution Microscopy Provides '4D' Views
View the magnified interior of living cells.
Have I Seen The Tesla Roadster Story Before?
'Only it wasn't a vessel. It was an automobile...'
Watch 'Do You Trust This Computer' For Free Today
Thanks for making this available, Elon.
Self-Driving Car Ticketed
This just missed making my day.
Elon Musk Tweets Versions Of Clarke's Operation Cleanup
'Fortunately, the old orbital forts were superbly equipped for this task.'
Burner Generates Temporary Phone Numbers
'Interesting phone system he's got, by the way...'
Walmart’s Autonomous Robot Bees
Everyone loves bees.
EA Created AI That Taught Itself To Play Battlefield
Harmless fun for computer scientists.
Is Teleportation A Death Sentence?
'A long trail of dead, he thought, left across the stars...'
New Brain Scanner Lets You Move Around
'In Bob Arctor's living room his thousand dollar custom-quality cephscope crafted by Altec...'
Can An Entire Brain Be Simulated In A Computer?
'The miles of relays and photocells had given way to the spongy globe of platinum iridium about the size of the human brain.'
Physicists Try To Turn Light Into Matter
If E=mc squared, then... m=E/c squared!
Save Your Brain's Connectome, Upload Yourself Elsewhere
'You've got remote storage. How regular is the update?'
