sbosquette

My Feedback: (17)

Hi All
While perusing the threads about airships and blimps on the RC Groups site I came upon an unusual airship concept which has real merrit in my opinion. It is called the Carangifoil from Windcrafters [link=http://windcrafterinc.com/]windcrafters[/link].
It is a vertical airship which is much more stable than conventional airships, more agile and lighter. I had not seen the concept before and did a Google search and found this site: [link=http://www.airship.org/]vertical airship[/link].
I have recently purchased a toy blimp from RC guys just to begin in radio controlled. I went home and turned the blimp on it's tail and attached the gondola and it flew much better albeit taller. It is more agile and has less forward resistance I think. The carangifoil is made of two vertical airfoil shapes with 0 pressure bladders for the helium which gives more lift they say. I have just purchased another blimp bag and will put them together in a single airfoil shape to start and see what happens. I am going to use the motors and controller that came with the original blimp and configure them similar the the carangifoil and see what happens.
I should have enough excess lift to mount a small color video camera and battery for some aerial shots. May try it outside when I can fit it with stronger motors and controllers.

Mr B

Windcrafter

Hi MrB.

Glad you found our site.

I am here to tell you that experimenting with the Carangifoil by hobbyists is OK with us.

Please keep us informed as to your results, we will be interested.

Keep in mind though at this point that the design is patented and in production by us.

Again, thanks for your interest.

Eric Selstrom.

Windcrafter inc.

mdlanda

call me to discuss, i have an interested party and was marketing this airship a few years ago. Hot major client asking for contact.
michael landa
360-474-8991

Jack the R

Windcrafters Inc must not have faired so well since their site is now owned by a spammer.

It seems to me like there is a minor flaw with the carangifoil - crosswind handling.

Ron S

My Feedback: (2)

That's too bad - I thought it was an interesting concept. I checked out their website a while back, and took it as a novel idea. I would assume a blimp doesn't need the landing reqs of an airplane, so I'm not sure why you couldn't just land INTO THE WIND like most other vehicles! But, flying into an established airport with set landing paths might not appreciate someone coming in 45 deg off of a runway heading, in an attempt to get rid of a quartering headwind.

Jack the R

What jumped out at me was the pic on the vertical airships site of the carangifoil taxing into an airport terminal like a normal plane. It seems to me like one good gust would push it into the 747 next to it, destroying both vehicles and probably killing a few people. I REALLY don't think the carangifoil is going to have that kind of flexibility. I'm picturing it needing tie-downs that reach at least halfway up the ship, maybe all the way up to the top, to deal with the leverage the wind is going to have on it. Generally wind is stronger the higher up you go, so you can imagine the kind of power the wind will be able to put on the top of a parked carangifoil.

Ron S

My Feedback: (2)

That's true - it may not play well near other aircraft in windy conditions. There may be other benefits though, for the customer, with smaller vehicles, manned or unmanned. For instance, the relatively large sides give plenty of area for advertising use. That's right - flying billboards! [8D] I'm just keeping an open mind.

Jack the R

It's certainly interesting, and I'm glad I found this thread. I came across a couple paintings of fantasy carangifoil blimps a few years ago and thought they were totally made up.

Windcrafter2007

We are still here!!! WINDCRAFTER is still in business.

We were hit HARD by hackers so the site is corrupt

Any questions post to my e-mail addy, as seen in my profile. ( won't post it cause hackers will pounce )

Yes, we are still flying and changing the state of WRITTEN physics. The machines are performing very well in configurations from 40 inches to 40 feet in height. Seems that size doesn't matter when it comes to lighter then air. The best part is that being close to another machine in mute, simply put, fish don't stick together while swimming, so the Carangifoil doesn't stick to other aircraft while flying.

Also, landing is a non-issue, helicopters can land at anywhere from 0 to 180 degrees(head-on or tail-on), SO, a Carangifoil on approach, even at 70', would still be more narrow then a LearJet. I can land my C-foil full on sideways and STILL fall within FAA specs.

There is a whole other world out there when it comes to flight physics, forget what you THINK you know, open your mind, and see what is TRULY POSSIBLE.

Eric S. WINDCRAFTER INC. USA

Windcrafter2007

UMM, ADVERTISE!!!!!

Yep. You NAILED it. Just look at the billboard we can put aloft. Keep your mind open, we could use another THINKER around here. LOLOLOL