A Lighter-Than-Air System Enhanced with Kinetic Lift

A hybrid airship system is proposed in which the buoyant lift is enhanced with kinetic lift. The airship would consist of twin hulls in which the buoyant gas is contained. The twin hulls would be connected in parallel by a wing having an airfoil contour. In forward flight, the wing would provide kinetic lift that would add to the buoyant lift. The added lift would permit a greater payload/altitude combination than that which could be supported by the buoyant lift alone. The buoyant lift is a function of the volume of gas and the flight altitude. The kinetic lift is a function of the airfoil section, wing area, and the speed and altitude of flight. Accordingly there are a number of factors that can be manipulated to arrive at a particular design. Particular designs could vary from small, lightweight systems to very large, heavy-load systems. It will be the purpose of this paper to examine the sensitivity of such a design to the several variables. In addition, possible uses made achievable by such a hybrid system will be suggested.