Windrunner-Enormous cargo aircraft project with rough field capability

[Andrew Gorman]

Ran across this concept for a 100 meter long cargo aircraft that can land on an unimproved runway, proposed to carry wind turbine blades into remote areas.  It's big! It's kinda ugly! Looks like fun!
https://radia.com/windrunner

[Rick Lowe]

BIG Girl!

Whenever I see something taking in a load that way, all I hear is "NomNomNom"

[PR19_Kit]

Hmmm, it starts off by saying that the road infrastructure isn't large enough for moving these blades from factory to the turbine site, and then proposes they use the plane to fly them there.

Fine, but how do they get the blade from the landing site to the turbine site?

As usual they've not thought it through?

[Old Wombat]

I think it's mis-named, it's not carrying "wind" (unless the crew had beans for breakfast) - It should be .......... Bladerunner!     

[zenrat]

Two thoughts.
1.  Use an airship and you could lift the blades right into place.  No need to land.
2.  Create a big enough 3d printer and print the blades on site.

[PR19_Kit]

OK......................

The 3D printer would of necessity be larger than the blade, so how do you get THAT onto the site? 

[zenrat]

OK......................

The 3D printer would of necessity be larger than the blade, so how do you get THAT onto the site? 

Mount it in an airship (torus shaped gasbag?).  You pour raw materials in the top and the blade is extruded out the bottom.

[PR19_Kit]

Yeeeaaaah, riiiiiiiiight............. 

[zenrat]

It's called a Replicator.  Right now its science fiction, but...

[scooter]

Hmmm, it starts off by saying that the road infrastructure isn't large enough for moving these blades from factory to the turbine site, and then proposes they use the plane to fly them there.

Fine, but how do they get the blade from the landing site to the turbine site?

Remote location?  Land on site.

[PR19_Kit]

Remote location?  Land on site.

And if it's out in the middle of the sea?

[jcf]

OK......................

The 3D printer would of necessity be larger than the blade, so how do you get THAT onto the site? 

In sections, assembled on site.
Only the bed would need to be longer than the blade. The "printhead" and printing material spool/hopper/tank etc. would slide on rails printing the blade as it moved along.

[scooter]

Remote location?  Land on site.

And if it's out in the middle of the sea?

Fit it with the worlds largest floats and turn it into a seaplane?

Seriously though, if your working an offshore windfarm, hopefully your assembly area is on the coast or near a waterway, so you can barge your uber large turbine blades

[jcf]

Two thoughts.
1.  Use an airship and you could lift the blades right into place.  No need to land.
2.  Create a big enough 3d printer and print the blades on site.

Several current fantasy airship projects, fantasy because they're not really much more than slick CGI images and videos, have shown their gas bags being used as cranes for that purpose. All of which ignores the reality that a big floaty bag that's at the mercy of atmospheric conditions is a poor choice for a flying crane. Wind, even low speed, is the airship's nemesis. Large heavy-lift helicopters get pushed around by the wind and they're tiny in comparison
There's a slew of other reasons why no one has been able to build a succesful
airship flying crane, Cyclocrane was the closest, aside from atmospherics. The most critical is that airships rely on the
balance between lift and the combined weight of the airframe, systems and payload. Droppable ballast and control of the lifting gas are required to maintain neutral buoyancy. So the big
problem comes when you go to drop off that big blade or cargo load, how too compensate for the sudden change in weight caused by dropping off several tons of cargo?
🧐
No one has come up with workable solution to this major problem.

[Old Wombat]

The most critical is that airships rely on the
balance between lift and the combined weight of the airframe, systems and payload. Droppable ballast and control of the lifting gas are required to maintain neutral buoyancy. So the big
problem comes when you go to drop off that big blade or cargo load, how too compensate for the sudden change in weight caused by dropping off several tons of cargo?
🧐
No one has come up with workable solution to this major problem.

The First Dirigible on the Moon?