solid aircraft (NOT a baloon) lighter than air

hey there

Many of you probably know about aerogel. It was completelly new to me when I found it on wikipedia last week. But I don't know how many of you have ever heard of silica nanofoam...

However these two materials offer many new options in designing aircraft... As you know the density of the air is 1.2 mg/cm3. The density of aluminium is 2.7 g/cm3 and density of titanium is 4.1 g/cm3. It means that airframe made of aerogel would be at least 2000 times lighter than today's usual airframes... In wikipedia article you have a photo of a 2g piece of aerogel supporting 2.5 kg brick. That means that it maybe can't sustain pressures at high supersonic speeds, but it definitelly would sustain pressure at high subsonic speeds... Aerogel is also one of the best (in guinness book listed as the best) heat insulator. Wouldn't use of such a material greatly affect the range and fuel consumption of b-2 bomber-like aircraft??

But that's not all... The next material is called SILICA NANOFOAM...it has a density of 1.0 mg/cm3, which makes it LIGHTER THAN AIR!! This material is still only in labs, but it offers you making a solid aircraft that is lighter than air: can hover without consupting any fuel, can be easily accelerated, ... But eventhough it's still just in labs, many times in history something that was only just in labs in white world could be at the same time in operational use in black wolrd... The only problem you have to solve is fuel, 'cause you can't have fuel tanks (they weight too much).. but you can have solar cells... you would have to have 1000m3 to support 2 tons of equipment... it's not that much...it's 10x25x4 meters...

Just imagine phoenix lights, UFO over europe, which could hover and accelerate extremely rapidly... it could all be done with such materials...

Does anyone have any more info??any more pros?? any contras??

Got any relevant links?

This all sounds very interesting. Never heard of it before.

Linkage, please. Links, links, links.

I'm sure they are either working on or have super light weight craft. More then likely unmanned craft. I would guess it has more to do with surveillance then warfare (bomb delivery).

Disclaimer: I'm a theist but not of the Abrahamic faiths. I have minor biblical scholar and scriptural skills. Also I am not a scientific/legal or medical expert in any field. Beware of my Contagious Memes! & watch out that you don't get cut on my Occams razor.All of this is my personal conjecture and should not be considered the absolute or most definitive state of things as they really are. Use this information at your own risk! I accept no liability if your ideology comes crashing down around you with accompanying consequences.

Explanation: Aerogel wiki.

1stly Just because the silica nanofoam has a mass less than that of air at sea level the problem is that the foam is evacuated of air to achieve this resulting mass. This creates an internal/external imbalance in the pressures involved and gravity wins. To achieve Buoyancy [wiki] the aerogel could be filled with a buoyant fluid gas such as helium! but that would make it a ballon with a massive amount of internal cells!

Personal Disclosure: If its naturally buoyant whilst evacuated then why no pictures of a levitating block of foam available?

You can play with aerogel now.

Its at the bottom of this McMaster-Carr page.

I want that nanofoam,　too if it can hover !!

I heard about the Aerogel a few years ago but the Silica Nanofoam is new to me. All very interesting to say the least.

It would be nice to see this technology on the market and what could potentially be done with them.

Here are a couple videos about Aerogel:
QUEST Lab: Aerogel:

YouTube Link

Aspen Aerogel video presentation:

YouTube Link

Here is the cousin of Aerogel Seagel. It shares similar properties but is lighter than air. And it's edible
Aerogel lighter than air solid:

YouTube Link

reply to post by ShadowLink

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Disclaimer: As above!

Explanation: Starred! Awesome find!

Personal Disclosure: I note that they had to change the density of the fluid [air] that they floated the block of SEAgel in to make it buoyant and again this shows that at sea level in open air that the block would still be non-buoyant!

reply to post by OmegaLogos

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Your absolutely right. So it's technically not lighter than air but it is very light. enough so to balance it on the end of a small feather.

Also upon re watching the Aerogel video presentation video they are continuing to advance it's properties.

Perhaps in the near future as the OP suggested these materials will be used in non typical aircraft type advancements.

Somebody said if I had any links.... I think the wikipedia link to aerogel was allready posted, while there isn't much about silica nanofoam.... just tipe it into google, but you only get some university pages with little info...

As for lightness of this material... You were speaking about buoyancy and that it's lighter than air at sea level, but not on altitude, ... Since i'm not a native speaker, i didn't really understand you... why wouldn't it be lighter than air?? of course it isn't on a big altitude, but at sea level??

A vacuum would be the most buoyant 'thing' of all and the problem that kills it is the weight of the vessel containing it which has to be strong enough to survive the huge differential pressure without allowing any of the external medium (air in this case) to enter the vacuum. Sounds like this is mighty close to achieving that goal of a strong lighter than air construction material.

I'd even settle for neutral buoyancy at anything above sea level as a real breakthrough.

If that gel could be made to be more clear or transparent then a matrix of liquid crystals could produce a real 3d holographic tv.

Hmm Lighter than Air..

Does the TR-3B count? Not lighter than air but it does have a special device that can reduce it's mass by as much as 89% back in 98, or perhaps today they can reduce it to 100%

There is some speculation to if the TR-3B actually exist.. if it does not then I guess it really would be lighter than air!

[edit on 11-11-2009 by JohnPhoenix]