GB2225305A - Very large airship design and applications - Google Patents

Abstract

An airship in the form of a rigid airframe, measuring three hundred metres in length and in breadth, and one hundred and eight metres in height, plus extended undercarriage, having a load capacity of three thousand tons when the airframe volume is filled with helium gas, which, when equipped with engines of sixty tons thrust, or more, will provide a means of transporting several thousand passengers on long distance flights at a fairly rapid speed, and will provide a means of fighting forest fires, by the transport of up to three thousand tons of fire fighting material on one flight, and will provide various means of action in industry and in agriculture, such as the dispersion upon the ground of great quantities of fertilizer, or fresh water, or other products, and the transport of goods and material. One application is of a high speed Ice Breaker, and another application being the formation in flight of a number of such airships, to form vertical walls near the low pressure region of cyclones, in order to deflect circular air movement into the low pressure region, thus stopping the dynamic sequence of the cyclone. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVED BAIIOQN DESIGN AND dPPLICATONS One object of this patent application is to provide a better means of air transport , in some respects , to the means that are at present available , and to provide a means for a regular and systematic dispersion upon the ground , from the air , of useful materials , such as fertilizers for agriculture , and water and chemicals for extinguishing forest fires , and for any other useful purpose The present trendein air transport is the development of more powerful engines , and the design of much larger aircraft , capable of transporting greater numbers of passengers tban is st present possible Aircraft control congestion at airports is becoming a major problem , and the solution is the provision of aircraft having greater passenger carrying capacities Engines are now being developed which will have a thrust of sixty tons , such as those being designed by the tolls Royoe Company , but no airframe is ae yet available for engines of this power This patent application provides a suitable airframe for the more powerful engines that will soon be available , in the form of a Balloon Unit The Balloon Unit may consist of 11 sub units . The Central Unit Cube may consist of a cube of sides 100 metres . The volume of the cube will be one million cubic metres . This volume may be filled with Helium gas , which will produce a lifting force of one thousand tons .The lifting force of Helium is one kilogram for one cubic metre of gas Referring to Figure 7 , 1 , the Central Cube 1 may support a Main Load Transport Cabin 2 , positioned on the top surface of the cube , and a flight Deck Cabin 3 , positioned beneath the bottom surface of the cube The six sides of the cube , 1 , may be formed by vertical and horizontal girders of weight 10 kilograms per metre x spaced at 2.5 metre intervals supporting 3 millimetre thick metal sheet of weight 300 sheets per ton The weight of Central Cube 1 will be 700 tons The Main Load Transport Cabin , Figure 1 , 2 , may measure 100 metres in length and in breadth , and may be 6 metres in height , to provide three floors at two metre intervals .The flight Deck Cabin , Figure 1 , 3 , may measure 100 by 100 metres and may have a height of 2 metres . The combined weight of the two cabins will be 600 tons Girders of weight ten kilograms par metre may form the frames of the cabins . The girders may be spaced horizontally and vertically at 2.5 metre intervals . The frames may support 3 millimetre thick metal sheet of weight 300 sheets per ton The surface area of the Main Load Transport Cabin will be ten thousand square metres for one floor , and thirty thousand square metres for the three floors .This area would provide passenger seating for up to twenty-five thousand persons , at a space allocation of one square metre per person ss plus space for facilities The aim of this balloon unit design is to provide a load capacity of 3000 tons , or 300 kilograms per one metre square area of the main floor of the Load Transport Cabin The eight sub units other than the Ventral Cube and the two cabins, may have girder frames of weight ten kilograms per metre , these girders being spaced veritally and horizontally at 5 metre intervals . The girder frames may support 3 millimetre thick metal sheet of weight 300 sheets per ton The metal sheets of the Central Cube and the cabins will cover squares of girder framework of area 6.25 square metres .The metal sheet of the other sub units will cover squares of girder framework of area 25 square metres . The area of these squares of girder framework may be crossed by light supports in order to consolidate the sheeting against vibration and its effects With reference to the drawing Figure 1 , the Central Cube 1 may be surrounded by four Altitude Control Shafts , 4; 5 , 6 , and 7 , and the four Altitude Control Shafts may be surrounded by four Streamlined Edges , Figure 1 , 8 , 9 , 10 , and 11 One Altitude Control Shaft , Figure 1 , 4 , may be positioned on the front side of the Central Cube , relative to the intended usual direction of flight This shaft may be rectangular in form , 200 metres long and fifty metres wide , and 100 metres in height .This shaft may contain a platform measuring just under 200 metres by fifty metres , which may be raised and lowered within the shaft by means of electrically operated winches . The weight of the platform and the winches will be 100 tons the construction details of the platform being similar to those of the sub units . The weight of this Altitude Control Shaft , 200 metres long , will be 700 tons including the platform .The volume of this shaft will be one million cubic metres , providing a lifting force of one thousand tons when the volume is filled with helium gas , and when the weight of the shaft is deducted , the lifting power will be 300 tons One Altitude Control Shaft , Figure 1 , 5 , moy be positioned at the rear side of the central cube . its dimensions may be the same as those of Shaft 4 , Figure 1 , in the forward position Since the width of the Central Cube is 100 metres , and since the length of the two shafts 4 and 5 , Figure 1 , is 200 metres , the ends of these two shafts will protrude to a distance of fifty metres on each side of the cube The space on each side of Central Cube 1 , Figure 1 , between shafts 4 and 5 , Figure 1 , may be filled by two smaller Altitude Control Shafts , 6 and 7 , Figure 1 , each having a length of 100 metres , a width of fifty metres , and a height of 100 metres . The weight of one shaft of length 100 metres will be 350 tons including its platform . Its volume will be one half million cubic metres , providing a lifting power of 150 tons when filled with helium gas A streamlined edge , Figure 1 , 8 , may be positioned in front of Shaft 4 , Figure 1 .The length of Streamlined Edge 8 , Figure 1 , may be 300 metres , its height may be 100 metres , and its width 50 metres . In cross-section the streamlined edge may have the form of a semi-circle of radius 50 metres , thus providing a leading edge to wind or air resistance The weight of one streamlined edge of length 300 metres will be 400 tons This volume will provide a lifting force of 1177 tons and a lifting power of 777 tons Another Streamlined Edge of length 300 metres , Figure 1 , 9 , may be positioned alongside Altitude Control Shaft 5 , Figure 1 Since the Central Cube and the four surrounding Altitude Control Shafts together provide a width of 200 metres , Streamlined Edges 8 and 9 , Figure 1 , will protrude on each side to a distance of fifty metres The space on each side of Control Shafts 6 and 7 , Figure 1 , between Streamlined Edges 8 and 9 , may be filled by two smaller Streamlined Edges , 10 and 11 , Figure 1 , which have a length of 200 metres , a width of 50 metres , and a height of 100 metres These eleven sub units may be suitably connected together to form the Balloon Unit , measuring 300 metres by 300 metres by 108 metres in height The weight of Streamlined Edges 10 and 11 will be 200 tons each The lifting force will be 785 tons for each of these two units , and they will each provide a lifting power of 585 tons The total weight of the eleven sub units is 4600 tons Their total lifting force is 7924 tons Total lifting power 3324 Tons The weight of ten engines might be one hundred tons , and fuel for a transatlantic flight might weigh nine hundred tons .The weight of the transported load may be between 1000 tons and 3000 tons , according to the weight of the equipment carried , such as passenger seating , and according to any additional weight to the metallic structure that might be added for technical reasons , such as consolidation , flaps and fins undercarriage and navigation equipment The frame of the Central Cube may be internally consolidated by eight beam girders placed at suitable intervals in a vertical position , and by eight girders placed horizontally extending from the front to the rear of the cube , and by eight girders placed at suitable intervals in a horizontal port to starbord position . At a weight of ten kilograms per metre each girder will weigh one ton .These girders may be placed at 25 metre intervals , upon a line in the form of a square of sides 25 metres in length , centered around the central point of each of the six sides of the Cube . Opposite sides of the cube may be further consolidated by a girder passing through the central point . Further consolidation may extend between these girders and between the sides of the Cube and these girders , for a total weight of about fifty tons The weight of the Balloon Unit as described includes 200 tons of metal sheet around the Central Cube , but this may be considered to be unnecessary , since the Central Cube is entirely surrounded by the walls of sub units The four Altitude Control Shafts may be consolidated by suitable numbers of vertical girders , which will pass through the platforms Inflated rubber seals will seal the platform holes through which the girders will pass .The edges of the platforms will be sealed in this manner The proposed weight of the streamlined edges allows for an adequate amount of internal consolidation , which may however be increased The purpose of the four platforms within the Altitude Control Shafts is to compress and drive helium to the adjoining gas-filled sub units when the platforms are raised , through apertures placed near the roof of the shafts , while drawing air into the shafts , beneath the platforms , through apertures placed near the floor of the starts , thus replacing the helium gas with air when the shafts are raised , or replacing air with helium gas , when the platforms are lowered According to the amount of rise of the four platforms , a weight of up to 2100 tons will become applied to the Balloon Unit , since helium gas will no longer support the weight of the four shafts , or will do so to a lesser degree , and since the combined weight of the four shafts is 2100 tons There will be a further increase in weight due to the compression of helium within the volume of the other gas-filled sub units . The increase in weight and the loEs of 900 tons of lifting power provided by the Altitude Control Shafts , makes available a controlled weight variation of 3000 tons It will therefore become possible to compensate in flight the release of a 3000 ton load , thus maintaining altitude and stability , by decreasing the available lifting power A means of controlling the altitude of the Balloon Unit is therefore provided , for take off and landing , and for a choice of altitude , since an increase in weight will cause the Balloon Unit to lose altitude , and since a decrease in weight will cause the Balloon Unit to rise in altitude The four platforms may be raised or lowered with great rapidity , by means of electrically operated winches operating above or below the platforms .The rapidity of operation , automatically controlled by instruments , will permit the Balloon Unit to be maintained in a horizontal position in flight in spite of wind effects or turbulence , since if one side of the balloon should dip , the platform on that side of the Balloon Unit may be automatically lowered , immediately increasing the amount of helium in that shaft and producing a countering lift effect The Balloon Unit may settle upon an airfield by means of a suitable number of wheeled undercarriage units , which by platform control will support a defined and limitetrart of the weight of the Balloon Unit . There might be thirteen undercarriage units , being one at each of the four corners , and one at the centre point of the floor area of each of nine sub units , Figure 1 , 3 to 17 .Each wheel unit may be composed of twenty wheels , each wheel supporting a pressure ot weight of five tons . The total weight of the undercarriage units might be fifty tons . At landing the Balloon Unit may be anchored to the ground by cables , in view of wind effects on the large balloon surface At take off with a 3000 ton load the platforms will be nearly at the bottom of the Altitude Control Shafts . The thrust from a number of engines may be directed upwards to cause the balloon to descend , downwards to assist rise , and laterally.to counteract drift effect . Engine vertical thrust will help the Balloon Unit to rise to the maximum height obtainable by the helium lifting power . It is supposed that the three millimetre thick metal sheet walls of the sub units will resist internal pressure exerted by the helium at the maximum height .If this is not the case , the maximum height will be governed by the resistance capacity of the metal sheet . At high altitude the horizontal thrust from a number of very powerful engines should provide a speed of several hundred kilometres per hour , perhaps about 900 kilometres per hour . A flight from Europe to New York might take about seven or eight hours One important application of the Balloon Unit may be the control and extinction of forest fires , which every year cost many lives , and many millions of dollars in damage , in different countries of the world The cost of equipment and manpower for fighting forest and shrub fires in France is ten milliards francs per year , or two billion dollars , or one million million pounds sterling Fire fighting techniques involving the use of Balloon Units may reduce this annual expenditure by more than half These fires are mainly put out , with great diffilblty, with water dropped from aircraft . The maximum load of water that can be dropped a a fire from these aircraft is about ten tons A Balloon Unit may drop up to 3000 tons of water on a forest fire The water may be poured from a slot 100 metres wide positioned beneath the Balloon Unit , at a rate which will cover every square metre of ground beneath the balloon with ten litres of water , as the balloon advances at a suitable speed , which might be 60 kilometres per hour This amount of water jettisoned would be 16 tons per second or 1000.tons per minute . The 3000 tons of water would be jettisoned within three minutes , and the area immersed in water would be three kilometres long and 100 metres wide , or one kilometre long and 300 metres wide One method of putting out a fire is to deprive the burning area of oxygen . This may be done by dropping from the Balloon Unit quantities of an inert and harmless gas , such as Carbon dioxide , or C02 , over the burning region A ground level deprived of air , and therefore of oxygen , will no longer support the combustion of wood or any other material , and forest fires and any other type of fire , such as an oil fire on ground or water , will be extinguished immediately The Carbon Dioxide may be released in the form of solid '2ry Ice' from the Balloon Unit .The dry ice may be in the form of wafers or flakes, which may be packed in thin and rigid plastic boxes which will break on impact with the ground . The level of distribution may be one plastic box per square metre of ground A weight of three kilograms of dry ice represents about 2.5 cubic metres of carbon dioxide gas . If three kilograms of carbon dioxide is distributed over each square metre of ground , the gas will rise to the height of most small trees , thus protecting them . Five or six kilograms of dry ice per sre metre of ground would protect foliage at a height of five or six metres . Flames from oil burning on land or on sea could be put out immediately by the formation of a cloud of carbon dioxide During air transport the temperature of the dry ice may be suitably controlled .When the flakes of dry ice are on the ground , they will quickly sublime due to relative heat , and become a gas Since carbon dioxide is heavier than air , the carbon dioxide will form a cloud at ground level , rising to any desired height according to the quantity of dry ice distributed per metre , and the air layer will start , not at ground level or at sea level , but on the top surface of the cloud of carbon dioxide Therefore , if water is not available to extinguish a forest fire it may be extinguished by the use of sufficient quantities of dry ice Another method of extinguishing a fire is to deprive the burning area of air , by means of a blanket .A crashed and burning aircraft , a burning oil refinery , a burning city building , are examples where an uninflammable blanket , dropped over a fire , would put it out immediately One suitable uninflammable blanket material would be woven glass-wool .

One or a number of glass-wool blankets , or blankets of another suitable material , measuring 100 metres by 100 metres , or even 300 metres by 300 metres , one or two centimetres thick , lowered from a balloon unit over any type of fire , would extinguish it immediately , by intercepting the incoming air currents that feed a fire with oxygen . These incoming mainly horizontal air currents are produced by a slight lowering of air pressure around a blaze , as heated air expands and rises above the fire An uninflammable air current interception blanket made of a material such as glass-wool , may be woven around a wide mesh of steel supporting cables of about one half centimsire diametre , the mesh forming squares of sides three metres , or as may be convenient One further means of action to prevent and to control forest fires is the use of woven steel cable curtains , which by their great weight when suspended Just above ground level from a balloon unit , will easily uproot forest trees , and will crush grass and shrubbery , as the balloon unit advances over the forest at a suitable speed , thxspreventing the propagation of a forest fire , by creating open spaces .Inflammable material strewn upon the ground , and to some extent crushed and compacted will have a much less active burning behaviour than standing trees and shrubs , which when burning produce much more powerful incoming air currents , the volume and speed of which being in proportion to the height and the area of the burning material , above ground level The woven steel cable may be about five centimetres thick , and may weigh about ten kilograms per metre in length , or may weigh about 500 kilograms per square metre The woven cable may form a curtain 300 metres long and about 15 metres high .The upper ten metres of the height may be woven , and the lower 5 metres may take the form of vertical free hanging cables or strands , which when dragged over the ground will not be able to catch in any king of obstacle , but will crush to the ground the foliage of fallen trees , as well as bushes and grass .The upper part of the curtain , of weight five tons per metre in width , will be heavy enough to uproot any type of tree The curtain may be suspended from the Balloon Unit by steel cables placed along the upper edge of the curtain at one metre intervals The weight of this curtain of woven cable will be about 2000 tons One application of the Balloon Unit may be that of an Ice Breaker Unil now ice breakers have been ships , which have the inconvenience of slow movement , cpared with the speed of a Balloon Unit The ice of any thickness may be broken with the use of a steel platform , suspended from the Balloon Unit by a column of steel positioned at the centre point of the platform , or by a number of steel cables The steel platform may have the form of a square of sides 30 metres , and it may be 30 to 50 centimetres thick .At the start of an ice breaking operation the platform may be pushed down through the ice without any difficulty , due to the weight of several thousand tons of the Balloon Unit As the Balloon Unit Ice Breaker advances , the steel platform may be positioned at a depth of about one metre below the thickness of the ice , as far as the front edge , or the leading edge of the steel platform is concerned f or one half metre , according to the thickness of the ice At the front part of the steel platform , the top surface of the platform may be inclined , from the leading edge to the steel supporting column at the centre point of the platform .The angle of inclinaLtion may be between five and ten degrees As the steel platform advances beneath the surface or undersurface of the ice , the inclined surface of the platform will push the ice upwards , over the 30 metre. width of the platform , and this upward force will break the ice , which will be shovelled onto the platform As the steel platform advances , the ice which is being pushed upwards onto the platform will push to the rear of the platform the ice which is already on the platform At the mid point of the platform , the broken slabs of ice will have risen or been pushed up the slope , to a height of about one or two metres above sea or ice level At about the mid point of the platform , the top surface of the platform may be inclined laterally, from the steel supporting column to the sides of the platform , in such a manner as to cause the slabs of ice that are being pushed over the surface of the platform to slide onto the unbroken ice that is on each side of the platform In this way , the steel platform may not only break the ice covering the sea , but also position the broken slabs of ice on each side of the channel so formed , thus leaving the channel compleiiy clear of floating slabs of ice . The great speed of a Balloon Unit Ice Brier, compared with the traditional ship ice breaker , will permit ice channels hundreds of kilometres long to be kept open If the steel platform is made from a special steel alloy , its weight may be about 500 tons One application of the Balloon Unit may be to suppress cyclones A cyclone is the result of a circular movement of air , producing a low pressure centre If nine balloon units are positioned side by side , in rows of three , each balloon unit taking up a vertical position , one row of three above another , a wall will be formed , one side kilometre in area A formation of ninety balloon units , so positioned , would form a wall about one kilometre high , and about ten kilometres long If such a balloon formation were to be positioned in the circular air movement of a cyclone , the balloon engines would have to develope a power equivalent to a speed of more than six hundred kilometres per hour in order to remain stationary , in the face of a wind of more than two hundred kilometres per hour , although near the centre , the winds are less strong A wall so formed of balloon units could be positioned in such a manner as to deflect the oncoming movement of air into the central low pressure area of the cyclone There would therefore no longer be a central area of very low pressure , and the sequence of events which produce the cyclone would change from a situation of increasing dynamics to a situation of decline thus ending the cyclone within a few hours Four or five such walls might be required , in various positions in order to quickly stop a cyclone The Balloon Unit load may consist of up to 3000 tons of fertilizer material , which may be jettisoned over a selected area , or 3000 tons of dry ice in light plastic canisters . The Fertilizer material or the plastic canisters may be fed onto endless belts by modern methods at a selected rate , and transported from the stock area of the Balloon Unit to the jettison point or jettison slot . If the canister load or a bulk load is placed in the upper load transport cabin , the load may be progressively fed onto belts provided with vertical forks or scoops , during the jettison operation , and the forts or scoops may hold the material as the belts curve around rollers from a horizontal position to a vertical position , while transporting the material to the lower cabin jettison slot .The belts may turn about another roller from the vertical to an inversed horizontal position , thus releasing the material to be jettisoned into a jettison slot , which may extend across the floor of the lower cabin , at right angles to the direction of flight , extending over a width of about 100 metres The rate of successive canister jettison may be 33 canisters per second per one metre width of jettison slot , if the forward speed of the Balloon Unit is 120 kilometres per hour , thus ensureing that on average one cannister falls on each square metre of ground beneath the balloon At this rate the release of a 3000 ton load will last for 5 minutes distributing the load over an area 100 metres wide and ten kilometres in length If twenty Balloon Units are flying side by side , the width of the treated area will be two kilometres , and the length ten kilometres If there are five rows of Balloon Units flying in formation , each row consisting of twenty balloon Units , and each row successively releasing a load , each row being behind another , the length of the treated region will be fifty kilometres Thus an area of 100 square kilometres may be treated in 25 minutes by the deployment of 100 Balloon Units The structure of each Balloon Unit would require about 5000 tons of metal at a cost of about one thousand pounds sterling per ton , or five million pounds sterling It is supposed that the total production cost of one Balloon Unit would be between twenty and forty million pounds sterling .A flight of one hundred Balloon Units might cost about three thousand million pounds This specification is ended with the following notes In order to provide an airtight seal around the edges of the platforms , inflated rubber cushions may be provided , to slide against a smooth wall surface within the Altitude Control Shafts . These seals may be water or emulsion lubricated during operation to avoid the effects of friction Engines and fuel may be housed within or near the flight deck cabin . Lifts will raise passengers or load to the Main Transport Cabin The stability of the Balloon Unit would be greater if the heavier main load transport cabin could be positioned beneath the balloon unit , and the flight deck cabin above the Cube structure .However , it is supposed that the Central Cube structure , would not be able to support the 4000 ton weight of the main load transport cabin , if this cabin were to be placed beneath the Central Cube The centre of gravity of the Balloon Unit would no doubt be at the centre point of the lower floor of the main load transport cabin , positioned above the Central Cube structure , where the mass of this cabin is acted upon by the upward lift force of the helium within the Cube , acting against this lower floor .Thus the same lifting force also supports the Cube structure An amount of ballast , such as fifty tons of water , placed at the centre point of the lower flight deck floor , would help to stabilize the balloon unit , since the distance of 100 metres between the centre of gravity and the water ballast would produce a powerful fulcrum effect Another means of obtaining greater stability would be to circulate a quantity of water at high speed around the edges of the lower cabin . Water tanks may be placed each corner of the lower cabin , and should one corner of the balloon unit dip , the water tanks in the opposite corner of the lower cabin would be automatically filled with several tons of ballast thus exerting an influence opposed to the dip This very general construction specification is submitted for the expert attention of aeronautical engineers , who may apply their specialised knowledge in cover to determine the exact and best means of constructing the above design

Claims (12)

1. WHAT I CLAIM IS 1. An airframe in the form of a Balloon Unit , suitable for the installation and use of engines having a thrust of sixty tons or more the halloo Unit consisting of a number of sub units , including a main load cabin , a flight cabin , altitude control shafts , and units having streamlined edges
2. 2.A Balloon Unit , for the transport of material and passengers waving a load capacity of three thousand tons , according to the example of the described design ; and for specific uses , such as the fighting of forest fires , by the distribution of suitable materials over the ground such as water and chemicals , and by the use of very large blankets made of a non-inflammable material , which may smother even large fires ; and for the prevention of forest fires and shrub and grass fires , by means of the trailing of a very heavy curtain of woven steel cable ; and for the distribution over the ground of useful materials , such as chemical fertilizers and other products , and for use as an ice breaker , and for use in formation as a vertical wall , for the deflection of high pressure air movement into the low pressure region of cyclones , thus stopping the dynamic sequence
3. 3.A Balloon Unit Airframe , consisting of eleven sub units , of which the load supporting units , such as the main load cabin and the flight cabin , may be constructed with girders placed horizontally and vertically at 2.5 metre intervals , the girders being of weight ten kilograms per metre , and supporting metal sheet three milimetres thick of weight three hundred sheets per ton ; the frames of the other units being constructed with girders placed horizontally and vertically at five metre intervals : the balloon unit being caused to rise to a considerable height by the provision of very large sub unit volumes , which may be filled with helium gas , on the basis that one cubic metre of helium gas provides one kilogram of listing force
4. 4.A means of accurately controlling the altitude of balloons by the provision of mobil platforms within shafts , there being , on one side of the platforms , a volume of helium which may be compressed by a movement of the platform , which will drive the helium into an adjoining sub unit , thus causing a loss of lifting force for the shaft , and an application upon the Balloon Unit of the weight of the shaft ; and there being , on the other side of the platforms , air vents within the walls f the shafts , permitting air to be drawn within a shaft by a platform movement that compresses the helium , thus replacing a volume of helium with a volume of air , and thus diminishing to a controlled extend an available lifting force , according to the controlled amount of movement of the platform ;; while the movement of the platforms in an opposite direction may compress and drive air from the shafts , while drawing into the shaft helium from the adjoining sub unit , thus replacing at will the air with helium gas , and thus providing a required amount of lifting force , according to the controlled amount of movement of the platforms
5. 5. An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal Balloon Unit invention claims 1 to 4 , being the distribution over the ground of Carbon Dioxide in great quantities , in the form of dry ice , in order to deprive of oxygen , at ground or water level , a large area just above ground or water , for the extinction of a fire and for any other useful purpose
6. 6.An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the provision of non inflammable blankets , one or two centimetres thick , which may have the form of a square of sides three hundred metres , being consolidated by a wide mesh of light steel cable which may be lowered from the Balloon Unit over any type of fire , in order to deprive the fire of oxygen , thus causing its extinction
7. 7.An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the provision of curtains of woven steel cable of suitable thickness , which may be four or five centimetres , the curtain being up to three hundred metres long and about fifteen metres high , the upper ten metres being woven , and the lower five metres consisting of vertical cables placed one beside the other , which , when suspended by numbers of cables placed along the width of the lower surface of a Balloon Unit , at regular intervals which may be one metre , may , over a burning forest region , by its great weight easily uproot all trees in its path, as the balloon advances at a suitable speed , while the lower part of the curtain consisting of vertical cables or strands , may drag over the ground , and may thus crush foliage and grass , rendering this inflammable material compact and thus much less prone to burn easily , thus greatly reducing the possibility of the fire spreading
8. 8. An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying aapacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the provision of a material discharge slot or jettison slot of width one hundred metres , situated below the lower cabin , by which great quantities of material such as fertilizer , or chemicals or water , may be evenly distributed over the ground beneath the balloon in its flight , over an expanse of ground or water one hundred metres wide , along the path of the flight
9. 9.An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the provision of passenger facilities for the transport of several thousand persons , these numbers being much greater than it is possible to transport at present on any one aircraft , thus providing major improvements to air passenger transport , by greatly reducing the number of aircraft required for world air transport , thereby greatly reducing airport congestion , and thus improving safety conditions
10. 10.An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the use of the Balloon Unit as a high speed Ice Breaker , and for the towing of Icebergs ; there being provided for the breaking of ice a steel or alloy platform , which may measure 30 metres by 30 metres being not a solid block of steel or alloy but rather having the form of a shell of the required form or shape , and having a required thickness for strength of construction , which may be from thirty to fifty centimetres The steel or alloy platform may be suspended beneath the Balloon Unit by means of a column of steel or alloy , positioned at the centre point of the platform and extending towards the rear side or edge of the platform . The steel or alloy column may have the form of a girder construction , about five metres high and one or two metres wide Alternatively , the steel or alloy platform may be suspended beneath the Balloon Unit by means of a number of steel cables , which may be adjusted for length by means of winches placed beneath the Balloon Unit . In this case the top of the steel column may project forward for several metres and extend towards the front edges of the platform , to provide elevated fixing points for the cables , at the four corners of the platform The use of an alloy of weight one ton per cubique metre will produce a platform weight of about five hundred tons , which will easily crash through the ice when the platform is lowered from a Balloon Unit , at the start of an ice clearing operation .Ice breaking edges may be provided The front edge of the platform may be positioned beneath the lower surface of the ice . The top surface of the platform may be inclined at a suitable angle , which may be between five and ten degrees , in such a manner as to cause the ice above the front edge of the platform to be forced to slide up the inclined surface of the wedge shape of the front part of the platform , as the Balloon Unit advances . The appropriate angle of the inclined surface may be obtained by controlling the lengths of the supporting cables .The inclined surface or slope of the top surface of the platform may extend from the front edge of the platform to the rear edge , over a distance of thirty metres The top surface of the steel or alloy platform may also be inclined laterally , from a line extending across the width of the platform , and passing through the centre point of the top surface area of the platform . Two lateral slopes may extend from the width centre point line to the rear edge of the platform .The two lateral slopes may incline at an angle of about ten degrees , from an upper point alongside the column of steel or alloy , to the lateral edges of the platform As the ice is forced up the slope of the platform at the front edge , it will be broken into slabs by its rigidity , or lack of suppleness and the slabs of ice will be pushed over the top surface of the platform by the ice that is always being shovelled up at the front edge , as the Balloon Unit advances At the width centre point line of the platform the surface of the platform will be one or two metres higher than the surface level of the sea or ice level , and when the slabs of ice reach that point , they will begin to slide towards the two side edges of the platform , because of the two lateral slopes that progressively begin to incline from the width centre point line to the rear edge of the platform The slabs of ice will therefore slide from the side edges of the platform onto the unbroken expanse of ice on each side of the platform thus leaving the water channel formed by the platform completely free of slabs of broken ice , over a width of thirty metres
11. ii. An application of the great surface area of the Balloon Unit , and of the considerable engine power provided by a number of engines of sixty tons thrust or more , whereby a number of Balloon Units maintained in a vertical position , the one next to the other , and the one above the other , may form one or a number of walls extending outwards from the central low pressure area of a cyclone , in the face of the circular oncoming air movement , in order to deflect to some extent the circular air movement of the cyclone into the central low pressure area , thus raising the air pressure slightly within the low pressure area , and thus stopping the dynamic sequence of the cyclone . The deflection walls being positioned at a suitable angle in order to obtain a maximum amount of deflection
12. 12. A Balloon Unit and various particular applications constructed and arranged to operate substantially as herein described Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1.A means of obtaining a very high ratio of air displacement lifting power to structural weight , by the provision of air excluding envelopes or structures forming volumes , which may contain a gas such as helium , the envelopes or structures having the largest possible base in relation to their other dimensions , thus providing a low ratio of weight to base area , while having the largest possible volume , thus providing the maximum level of air displacement for the production of maximum lift ; such suitable geometric forms being parallelepipeds and cubes 2.The construction of one or a number of enclosed volumes , of such dimensions as to provide an air displacement vertical lift effect , where-by there may be a structural weight to lift ratioi that will permit the lifting and transport of relatively heavy loads ; a volume within a cube of sides 50 metres , enclosed by a structure weighing 25 tons , providing a lift of 125 tons ; a volume within a cube of sides 100 metres , enclosed by a structure weighing 100 tons , providing a lift of 1000 tons ; a volume within a cube of sides 200 metres , enclosed by a structure weighing 1000 tons., providing a lift of 8000 tons 3.The provision of an airframe , having the structural characteristics of a high speed high flying aircraft airframe , that may envelope air excluding volumes , thus also providing the characteristics of an airdisplacing balloon structure , for the production of vertical lift 4. The provision of an airframe , having the suitably curved upper and lower surfaces of an aircraft wing , and all the characteristics and equipment of a high speed, high flying aircraft b and also having the characteristics and vertical lift of a balloon 5.The provision of one or a number of metal enclosed volumes of suitable dimensions , to form the aircraft airframe of a Balloon Unit , consisting of a central volume , with integrated altitude control volumes or surrounding altitude control volumes ; and a number of integrated or surrounding streamlined edge volumes ; main load decks. and one or a number of engine equipped flight decks being constructed beneath the base of these volumes ; the aircraft airframe providing the performance capabilities of a high flying high speed aircraft , capable of lifting and transporting a load of up to several thousand tons , and of releasing sucha load in flight without loss of stabaity or change in altitude An airframe in the form of a Balloon Unit , suitable for the installation and use of engines having a thrust of sixty tons or more the Balloon Unit consisting of a number of sub units , including a main load cabin , a flight cabin , altitude control shafts , and units having streamlined edges 7.

    A Balloon Unit , for the transport of material and passengers having a load capacity of three thousand tons , according to the example of the described design ; and for specific uses , such as the fighting of forest fires , by the distribution of suitable materials over the ground such as water and chemicals , and by the use of very large blankets made of a non-inflammable material , which may smother even large fires ; and for the prevention of forest fires and shrub and grass fires , by means of the trailing of a very heavy curtain of woven steel cable ; and for the distribution over the ground of useful materials , such as chemical fertilizers and other products , and for use as an ice breaker , and for use in formation as a vertical wall , for the deflection of high pressure air movement into the low pressure region of cyclones , thus stopping the dynamic sequence A Balloon unit Airframe , consisting of eleven sub units , of which the load supporting units , such as the main load cabin and the flight cabin , may be constructed with girders placed horizontally and vertically at 2.5 metre intervals , the girders being of weight ten kilograms per metre , and supporting metal sheet three milimetres thick of weight three hundred sheets per ton ;; the frames of the other units being constructed with girders placed horizontally and vertically at five metre intervals s the balloon unit being caused to rise to a considerable height by the provision of very large sub unit volumes , which may be filled with helium gas , on the basis that one cubic metre of helium gas provides one kilogram am of listing force 9.

    A means of accurately controlling the altitude of balloons , by the provision of mobil platforms within shafts , there being , on one side of the platforms , a volume of helium which may be compressed by a movement of the platform , which will drive the helium into an adjoining sub unit , thus causing a loss of lifting force for the shaft , and an application upon the Balloon Unit of the weight of the shaft ; and there being , on the other side of the platforms , air vents within the walls of the shafts , permitting air to be drawn within a shaft by a platform movement that compresses the helium , thus replacing a volume of helium with a volume of air , and thus diminishing to a controlled extend an available lifting force , according to the controlled amount of movement of the platform ;; while the movement of the platforms in an opposite direction may compress and drive air from the shafts , while drawing into the shaft helium from tie adjoining sub unit , thus replacing at will the air with helium gas , and thus providing a required amount of lifting force , according to the controlled amount of movement of the platforms 10.

    An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal Balloon Unit invention claims 1 to 4 , being the distribution over the ground of Carbon Dioxide in great quantities , in the form of dry ice , in order to deprive of oxygen , at ground or water level , a large area just above ground or water , for the extinction of a fire and for any other useful purpose 11.

    An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the provision of non-inflammable blankets , one or two centimetres thick , which may have the form of a square of sides three hundred metres , being consolidated by a wide mesh of light steel cable which may be lowered from the Balloon Unit over any type of fire , in order to deprive the fire of oxygen , thus causing its extinction 12.An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the provision of curtains of woven steel cable of suitable thickness , which may be four or fiee centimetres , the curtain being up to three hundred metres long and about fifteen metres high , the upper ten metres being woven , and the lower five metres consisting of vertical cables placed one beside the other , which , when suspended by numbers of cables placed along the width of the lower surface of a Balloon Unit , at regular intervals which may be one metre , may , over a burning forest region , by its great weight easily uproot all trees in its path, as the balloon advances at a suitable speed , while the lower part of the curtain consisting of vertical cables or strands , may drag over the ground , and may thus crush foliage and grass , rendering this inflammable material compact and thus much less prone to burn easily , thus greatly reducing the possibility of the fire spreading An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying aapacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the provision of a material discharge slot or jettison slot , of width one hundred metres , situated below the lower cabin , by which great quantities of material such as fertilizer , or chemicals or water may be evenly distributed over the ground beneath the balloon in its flight , over an expanse of ground or water one hundred metres wide , along the path of the flight iand including another arrangement , the jettison slot being 300 metres x in t width 14.An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the provision of passenger facilities for the transport of several thousand persons , these numbers being much greater than it is possible to transport at present on any one aircraft , thus providing major improvements to air passenger transport , by greatly reducing the number of aircraft required for world air transport , thereby greatly reducing airport congestion , and thus improving safety conditions An .An application of the many useful means of action provided by the very great load carrying capacity of the principal invention , claims 1 to 4 , being the use of the Balloon Unit as a high speed Ice Breaker , and for the towing of Icebergs ; there being provided for the breaking of ice a steel or alloy platform , which may measure 30 metres by 30 metres being not a solid block of steel or alloy but rather having the form of a shell of the required form or shape , and having a required thickness for strength of construction , which may be from thirty to fifty centimetres The steel or alloy platform may be suspended beneath the Balloon Unit by means of a column of steel or alloy , positioned at the centre point of the platform and extending towards the rear side or edge of the platform .The steel or alloy column may have the form of a girder construction , about five metres high and one or two metres wide Alternatively , the steel or alloy platform may be suspended beneath the Balloon Unit by means of a number of steel cables , which may be adjusted for length by means of winches placed beneath the Balloon Unit . In this case the top of the steel column may project forward for several metres and extend towards the front edges of the platform , to provide elevated fixing points for the cables , at the four corners of the platform The use of an alloy of weight one ton per cubique metre will produce a platform weight of about five hundred tons , which will easily crash through the ice when the platform is lowered from a Balloon Unit , at the start of an ice clearing operation .Ice breaking edges may be provided The front edge of the platform may be positioned beneath the lower surface of the ice . The top surface of the platform may be inclined at a suitable angle , which may be between five and ten degrees , in such a manner as to cause the ice above the front edge of the platform to be forced to slide up the inclined surface of the wedge shape of the front part of the platform , as the Balloon Unit advances . The appropriate angle of the inclined surface may be obtained by controlling the lengths of the supporting cables .The inclined surface or slope of the top surface of the platform may extend from the front edge of the platform to the rear edge , over a distance of thirty metres The top surface of the steel or alloy platform may also be inclined laterally , from a line extending across the width of the platform , and passing through the centre point of the top surface area of the platform . Two lateral slopes may extend from the width centre point line to the rear edge of the platform .The two lateral slopes may incline at an angle of about ten degrees , from an upper point alongside the column of steel or alloy , to the lateral edges of the platform As the ice is forced up the slope of the platform at the front edge , it will be broken into slabs by its rigidity , or lack of suppleness and the slabs of ice will be pushed over the top surface of the platform by the ice that is always being shovelled up at the front edge , as the Balloon Unit advances At the width centre point line of the platform the surface of the platform will be one or two metres higher than the surface level of the sea or ice level , and when the slabs of ice reach that point , they will begin to slide towards the two side edges of the platform , because of the two lateral slopes that progressively begin to incline from the width centre point line to the rear edge of the platform The slabs of ice will therefore slide from the side edges of the platform onto the unbroken expanse of ice on each side of the platform thus leaving the water channel formed by the platform completely free of slabs of broken ice , over a width of thirty metres 16 An application of the great surface area of the Balloon Unit , and of the considerable engine power provided by a number of engines of sixty tons thrust or more , whereby a number of Balloon Units maintained in a vertical position , the one next to the other , and the one above the other may form one or a number of walls extending outwards from the central low pressure area of a cyclone , in the face of the circular oncoming air movement , in order to deflect to some extent the circular air movement of the cyclone into the central low pressure area , thus raising the air pressure slightly within the low pressure area , and thus stopping the dynamic sequence of the cyclone . The deflection walls being positioned at a suitable angle in order to obtain a maximum amount of deflection 17.

    A Balloon Unit and various particular applications constructed and arranged to operate substantially as herein described 18.

    Another arrangement of the Altitude Control Shafts , in which horizontal corridors constructed between the internal supporting girders of the Altitude Control Shafts , and extending throughout the length of these shafts in straight lines , may permit the fast movement of vertical screens along the length of these Control Shafts , the screens being supported upon wheeled carriages which may run upon rails ' the carriages being suitably powered for fast control ; these screens and corridors permitting quantities of helium stored within the Altitude Control Shafts to be rapidly compressed into adjoining units , while rapidly drawing air into the Control Shafts by means of suitably placed air entrance points , into order to rapidly increase the weight of the Balloon Unit ; the reverse operation drawing helium into the shaft and expelling air from the shaft , thus decreasing the weight of the Balloon Unit