Poll: For science!

[Souplex]

Since the dawn of man, people have dreamt of flight. Today we have flight but it is only if you are willing to spend an hour in a crowded airport or if you can afford a helicopter.

While most people think of something rocket powered when they think personal flight I see a silly dangerous idea that will end in explosions and misery. No, instead I look to something awesome from the past, something wonderful; Zeppelins!
Zeppelins themselves won't work due to size issues but helium making things lighter will.

The above is what resulted in me coming up with my idea for the hover-bike. Replace the wheels with propellers and attach a blimp to the top and you have a flying bike! It would need to be customized to be slightly lighter than the combined weight of biker and bike so they could land. The design clearly has flaws and that I why I have made this thread; to make a feaseible hover bike!

That said, donate your two cents to science.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

Sounds like a problem to control it.

It'd be fun though.

 

[Lord George]

Well done you've just designed a balloon with a very weirdly shaped basket, I think a better thing to make would be a balloon tank mahahahaahahahah.

 

[Xaryn Mar]

You would still need a huge baloon and Helium is extremely expensive and will evaporate through almost any material including plastic so you will have to refill often.

 

[FalloutJack]

Yes, I want our giant personal zeppelins! Zeppelins are cool! (Just don't give one to anyone by the name of John Lumik or to anything called Cybus Industries.)

 

[Souplex]

You would still need a huge baloon and Helium is extremely expensive and will evaporate through almost any material including plastic so you will have to refill often.

Is helium really That expensive? Also, hydrogen is cheaper and I am fairly certain it is more buoyant. The reason it is not in blimps is the whole explosiveness thing however I don't see that as a problem on bikes. Also, not all of the buoyant gas needs to be overhead, a smaller portion can be in that area where people put their drink holders.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

The idea already has been used in an old cartoon (The Great Mouse Detective).

 

[Herb sewell]

The idea already has been used in an old cartoon (The Great Mouse Detective).

Ok new idea. Instead of lethal injection we kill all death row inmates with Rube Goldberg style devices that end in giant mousetraps being sprung directly on the inmate. I think I just made my first million.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

But the important question is, would they be significantly faster than normal airplane travel to warrant shelling out all that government money for a official zeppelin program?

 

[New Troll]

There wasn't a poll answer for me so I just voted not really. Really of course it could work, but to what point? What would make it any better than just riding in a balloon or hang-gliding or some other cheaper, more reliable form of flying?

 

[Souplex]

There wasn't a poll answer for me so I just voted not really. Really of course it could work, but to what point? What would make it any better than just riding in a balloon or hang-gliding or some other cheaper, more reliable form of flying?

Added an "It would but whats the point?" option just for you.

 

[Neonbob]

I say do it.
If only because I want to hit someone who is riding one of them on the highway as I go 85.
For science, of course.
[sup]My hoverbike is powered by a bunch of minions blowing at the ground as hard as they can.[/sup]

 

[Souplex]

I say do it.
If only because I want to hit someone who is riding one of them on the highway as I go 85.
For science, of course.

Unless you could get your car to fly this seems infeasible.

 

[New Troll]

There wasn't a poll answer for me so I just voted not really. Really of course it could work, but to what point? What would make it any better than just riding in a balloon or hang-gliding or some other cheaper, more reliable form of flying?

Added an "It would but whats the point?" option just for you.

Why thank you. -blushes

 

[sky14kemea]

didnt they make a hoverboard (kinda) on Brainiac? :/ it wasnt very good but it did move.

i'd love a hoverbike though, but yeah i guess the only way to do it without futuristic science that doesnt exist is with helium

 

[IxionIndustries]

How would you make it turn in mid-air? All you would do is you would go straight.
Also, how would you get down? Or what if you got stuck in the air, and kept floating upwards until that helium runs out and you eventually plummet to a gravity-induced death?!?!

It would be cool, but how are you going to pull it off?

 

[teisjm]

I don't think it would work for various reasons, including the ammount of helium you would have to use (watch the episode of mythbusters where they use helium baloons to lift an 8 year old girl, and you can easily imagine the sheer size of a baloon able to lift 3-4 times that weight or more.

But several people have already build somewhat functional 1-man choppers or gyrocopter thingies.

Awesome and ready for lift-off

 

[Souplex]

What would make it any better than just riding in a balloon or hang-gliding or some other cheaper, more reliable form of flying?

It is more about accessability and control. I don't expect people to hover cross country but I live in New York. The island of Hatland is only 13 miles long and two miles wide, it could make transportation much easier. Also a major issue with other suggested ideas for personal flight is fuel consumption. Elbow grease is plentiful and does no damage to the environment.

 

[Jaqen Hghar]

Ok new idea. Instead of lethal injection we kill all death row inmates with Rube Goldberg style devices that end in giant mousetraps being sprung directly on the inmate. I think I just made my first million.

I would be for death penalty if this came true. If the inmate could choose the end-trap, it would be even more awesome. Yeah. I said it. Awesome.

For the original idea... I am just waiting for giant zeppelins like back in the old days. I think they will return. Hope so at least, now that they can be made safer.

 

[Fairee]

This idea sounds confusing and ridiculous, zeppelins (sorry for misspelling it, I'm too lazy to check) didn't take off for a reason - helium ignites so easily.