SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Reuters) - A proposed unmanned floating airship surveillance system is being hailed by city officials in Ogden, Utah as one way to fight crime in its neighborhoods.Because nothing says "up against the car and assume the position" quite like the Goodyear Blimp. But it gets better...
The blimp is long [52 feet long, to be precise] but narrow and moves quickly and quietly [it's electric], meaning it should be fairly undetectable, he said.Guys, it's 52 feet long and has a 400-foot ceiling. I think it'll be detectable. They use these things as billboards, you know. Sure, you can paint it gray, but...
The blimp is being developed by the Utah Center for Aeronautical Innovation and Design at Weber State University.Because nothing says "we need an immense R&D budget" quite like 100-year-old airship technology.
Researchers say the blimp is a helium filled balloon with a special coating of fabric developed at their center.Leading, I'm sure, to the new debate in Ogden, "What's the best load for blimp?"
"The very lightweight fabric was developed in partnership with the Utah State Legislature who gave us a grant... The air envelope would leak the helium it would penetrate through so it had to be coated," said Bradley Stringer, research team executive director.
Brilliant.
19 comments:
Flechettes. You want multiple impacts for max damage to the helium cells, I should think. Although...
If they've just updated some of the hydrogen/helium resistant coatings from the '30s, incendiary/tracer rounds might be even more fun.
I'm actually a proponent of blimp and dirigible tech (the um... _1911_ is hundred year old tech, too). Dirigibles show up in a couple of my SF novels. But they have certain vulnerabilities in shooting scenarios.
I think that your basic bullet would just make a hole. Yeah it might leak, but not enough to make much of a difference.
Explosive bullets might be a good thing if they fragmented into big jagged pieces...the entry would be small but hopefully the exit would be multiple.
I'm thinking about the chain and bar shot that they used back in the 18 century as ammo for ship cannon to destroy rigging.
maybe something that would break apart when it hit, then turn into chain connected pieces.
Hypothetically of course. For instructional purposes only.
-UnReconstructed
Hmmm... 130 yard shot. Aim for the motor and/or control surfaces. Disabling the controls leaves it at the mercy of the wind. And how could it be recovered?
Oooh, chain and bar shot. I should have thought of that. A classic for destroying rigging and sails. There have been some companies selling specialty shotgun ammo...
Here we go.
Here's flechettes:
w w w .firequest.com/G12-015.html
and here's some ball 7 chain rounds:
alamoammo .com/cart/shotgun-ammunition/12-gauge/12-gauge-ball-and-chain-3ct
In WWI at least, shooting down a balloon was not a trivial matter. It took a decent number of hits to allow enough hydrogen to mix with oxygen before the incendiary rounds would ignite it.
'Course, a modern balloon uses helium instead. So just use buckshot. How many times can they afford to patch it up before the grant money runs out?
Carl,
NICE. I had missed the 400 foot ceiling. Gotta love the speciality 12 gauge ammo.
Now a bowling ball mortar............that'll shoot 100+ yards straight up.....a little black powder, old welding gas cylinder.
This could be big fun!
-UnReconstructed
hah.
now that I think about it, a nice potato cannon sort of arrangement.
ha ha.....bwahaha
-UnReconstructed
Speaking of mortars...
Think commercial fireworks displays. Star shell mortar rounds. Aerial booms and burning bits.
"
now that I think about it, a nice potato cannon sort of arrangement. "
Now you got me to thinkin'...How many arrows could you pack into a spud-gun?
http://www.trophyridge.com/images/broadheads/tomohawk.gif
You guys are having entirely too much fun here. [grin]
Personally, I'd much rather disable the idiots sending these things up.
Mortars are a delightful idea, but I fear we must keep in mind that the blimp itself isn't without defense - or at least revenge. It's festooned with night-vision cameras, that being its whole purpose. I doubt our beloved public servants would miss the deployment of a mortar crew, just before the abrupt alteration of the cameras' angle of view.
Specialized shotgun loads, now; that has possibilities. Especially if they were deployed from numerous points of cover...
It's festooned with night-vision cameras,
There is that.
But my modest experience with LTA stuff big enough to carry that gear (IT for a company trying to tethered aerostats) informs me that it ain't easy, wind is a bitch, you'll have way more downtime than you think going in. The lightest breeze can mess with those things quicker than you can say 'my tax money paid for whaaaattt?'
You might see this stuff on a calm day. How many of those do you have out west?
Could it be roped and dragged along? Why shoot it down? Drag it off,give it a new paint job,and tether it out somewhere...How much weight could something that size support? My guess is "not much".
I don't wanna be the resident nay-sayer here, but again I have to ask, "What are the cops doing while all this is going on?" They're not going to smile indulgently and munch donuts while watching you lasso and tow away their skillion-dollar blunder-blimp.
I dunno. Just set the remote-control, compressed-air grappling hook to fire remotely from the top of the local station house.
Besides, it probably wouldn't take much to get the cops themselves doing it. Turf wars in the air could probably be fomented pretty easily...
...yeah, this is a fun discussion. :-)
I kinda wonder if you couldn't override the controller signal? Send it sailing away until the motor batteries give out, then see where it drifts? 'Cause they'd get tired of that after a few sessions, fer shur, and you'd never have to show yourself to the cams.
two words...
'flare gun'
two more...
'grenade launcher' (low tech version of M203)
-UnReconstructed
MamaLiberty said...
You guys are having entirely too much fun here. [grin]
Personally, I'd much rather disable the idiots sending these things up.
Interesting factoid: Kevlar isn't all that resistant to slicing/cutting, and even less resistant to fine-point penetration. (Do cops practice Testudo formations?)
Not that I would EVER suggest violating ANY laws in any way whatsoever.
You are all missing the obvious one guys...cheap RC airplanes can be had at any Wally World for about 50 bucks (AirHogs brand). Hows about taping razor blades to the wingtips and taking them out just like the ones in WWI?
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