Siriuslyricher & Sami1327
Am gald to see you guys continuing to share the leads here.
Yes, took a break from posting till we get more info on the Tao T. acquisition. Got to say the latest PR sure was sweet to read.. more untethered testing, and on a Stratospheric version....cool.
Sami1327, great job on bringing all that stuff together.
Like the video on airworm-esque water vapor contrails. But is that plausible for long-term stratospheric propulsion? [It's pretty cold/dry up there, so gathering a continually expended fuel source like water would be hard? maybe?]
Sirius, personal belief is that the strato-vehicle being tested in not S2A or a Lotte-on-steriods.
It's one from the family Airworm/SkyDragon/Airdragons that already exist.
It must be remembered that Kroplin [designer] clearly had high altitude ambitions for these crafts. The Invest-in-the- Best site illustrates the Airworm as an HAA.
Now, some might consider the standard Airworm as perhaps size-deficient when it comes to solar collection or payload. And they would be right.
That is, the Standard version in all of it's 23m X 2.3m of
glory. But, there are 9 other versions (if you include towing v.), and yes, the largest is designed to operate in the +60,000 ft region.
7 of the 10 have already been finished, with another 2 work-in-progress. The last and largest still in design (this info is as of 2004-5).
The Lotte is an appetizer. The main course is about to be served.
nite.
