>>10967965>>10968170basically this:
>>10967969So there are two ways to stay in the air, being lighter than air or throwing air down. Air doesn't have a very high density, so one has to displace a very large amount of air to stay up. Such a lightweight structure is prone to getting blown around by the wind and can't go very fast. Throwing air down just takes energy. However, in terms of power required per payload and speed, throwing air down is more effective. We can get the same payload much faster with a plane for about the same energy usage with a plane than we can an airship. Really the only interesting case for lighter than air vehicles today is for transporting hydrogen by riding the jet stream:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590174519300145By riding the jet stream, we don't have to expend much energy moving the hydrogen. Although the locations we can transport hydrogen to and from may be limited.
>>hoverthere's not much benefit to making a big thing that can hover.
