Helium

[PMad]

No, this is not a new kite, just a crazy discussion topic :

one of the major issue with large-size kite is basically their weight. I was wondering what would happen if the main tube was blown up with Helium, thus reducing the overall kite weight... ever done it?

Just a crazy thought!
Cheers,
j.

[ERX]

...I tried it just for fun since I had helium container for some event. At least with BT 12.2 it doesnt make any difference....
erx

[SupaEZ]

............"A well-known but minor use is as a lifting gas in balloons and airships"

..........This topic question was posted originally exactly 10 years ago ........................

[Toby]

New big kites are much lighter nowadays...and perform excellent!

[tautologies]

No and use the search function. Helium molecules are too small.

Also helium should be way more expensive

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... =pm_latest

[plummet]

We did the maths a while back and it doesn't stack up. the impact would be negligable.

ps taut helium molecule too small\?... thats the whole point. less weight!.
but your would get permiation through the bladder. but not enough permiation to worry about in an average 2 - 3 hr kite session

[dyyylan]

We did the maths a while back and it doesn't stack up. the impact would be negligable.

ps taut helium molecule too small\?... thats the whole point. less weight!.
but your would get permiation through the bladder. but not enough permiation to worry about in an average 2 - 3 hr kite session

but if the molecules are smaller, wouldn you need more of it to pump it to the same psi? i have no idea, i was an art major :p

[SupaEZ]

Great Helium application video............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l_v1K3G ... re=related

.............

[stakas]

The lifting power of helium is roughly 1 kg/m3.
The strut volume of a large kite is probably 0.5 m3 the most.
So the weight difference would be 4 kg versus 3.5 kg.
A huge amount of air is also carried with the kite while moving thru the sky.
The only way to make it really matter we would need a sealed, double surface kite.
Made from very light material and filled with Helium.
(Let say a 15 m2 kite with an average thickness of 0.15 m has a volume of 1 m3. If you can make it 1kg heavy (roughly the third of a current kite's weight) then it would float in the air and would be incredibly faster to move it around.)

[William Munney]

The lifting power of helium is roughly 1 kg/m3.
The strut volume of a large kite is probably 0.5 m3 the most.
So the weight difference would be 4 kg versus 3.5 kg.
A huge amount of air is also carried with the kite while moving thru the sky.
The only way to make it really matter we would need a sealed, double surface kite.
Made from very light material and filled with Helium.
(Let say a 15 m2 kite with an average thickness of 0.15 m has a volume of 1 m3. If you can make it 1kg heavy (roughly the third of a current kite's weight) then it would float in the air and would be incredibly faster to move it around.)

Let's try hydrogen!