Envelope tutorial

2016-01-23T22:56:13Z

Andreas:

'''Material'''

Bill of material:
- PE foil
- A roll of Paper (1 m wide)
- Tape

In this tutorial we describe how to easily build an airship envelope with a variable size of up to about 3 m length. The envelope will be welded because this way the most tight and strongest joints of the material can be generated. You´ll need a thin weldeable foil. A good choice is a foil made of or partially coated with Polyethylen (PE). This kind of material can be found at various places. It is used as packing material, capacitors are mode of this and the bags of potato chips as well. A PE layer makes the material easy to weld, while a layer of aluminium can make the envelopes gas tight for weeks, but is not essential. Beneath choosing a material that is weldeable you need very thin foil. The thicker it is, the heavier. To make an airship of about 2 m length flying you should find a material with a thickness of 20µm to 60µm. As a rule of thumb one µm makes up 1 g per m². A good compromise between weight and strength is usually found between 25 g/m² and 40 g/m².

[[File:DSC04457 (Large).JPG|400px]]

Further you need a roll of paper to make the template for welding the envelope and lots of tape to fix everything to your working table.

'''Tools'''
- Iron
- Knife/Scissors
- Folding meter
- Pens
- A very large smooth table or the floor of a room

The PE foil will be welded by using a common iron. The shape of the envelope is defined by the template we are going to prepare in a minute. The welding process itself needs a perfectly smooth and clean surface with the size of the envelopes template. Even the smallest piece of dust at the wrong place can lead to a leak.

'''Preparations for the template'''
It´s relatively complex to calculate the pattern of a 2D shape that becomes a nice aerodynamical 3D shape once inflated. Luckily Johannes Eissing has created an excel sheet that helps you to find the coordinates for such a 2D pattern. You can get the template under the following link:

[[:File:iris_sr_vector_anleitung.pdf]]

Using this excel sheet you can accurately calculate the dimensions of your airship envelope. In this tutorial we make an envelope just from 2 gores (nG = 2). Making envelopes with more gores yields more beautiful results and is often worth the efforts. However it is magnitudes more complex and not covered by this tutorial. Using the last three columns of tab 3 of the excel sheet you can draw the necessary welding pattern on the roll of paper.

[[File:DSC02720 (Large).JPG|400px]]

We have also prepared a huge PDF of the envelope template of the silent_runner I4. Using this PDF you can even print it on a plotter. At the tail of the airship you need to create a tube that acts as the vent like seen in the PDF. This tube should be about 2-3 cm wide to enable inflation as well as deflation. Once inflated this tube is folded and closed with a clip.

[[File:DSC04511 (Large).JPG|400px]]

'''Welding'''

Now it get´s exciting. First use some pieces of foil material to train your welding skills. You need to find the right speed, temperature and pressure to make good seams. If the material burns you´re too hot, if the seams get loose easily you are too cold. Setting the iron to cotton (250 °C) is usually a good starting point. A good seam does not tear apart before the foil itself if you pull it strongly.
Now clean the working place and spread the two layers of foil. Make sure they are flat without any wrinkles. You can tape them to the table. Now role the template over the foil. Put some weights in the middle of the template to prevent it from moving. Set the iron to cotton and wait a few minutes until the temperature is stable. Now start from to tip of the airship on to move the edge of the iron over the line of the template. It is important to move with steady speed and pressure to maintain a good welding quality over the whole seam. This is the most critical step of the whole procedure so take your time. When you have welded everything slowly remove the template from the foil and check your seams. It´s possible to visually assess the quality of your seams and sometimes it´s worth to repeat the welding to ensure the seam is tight. After that use a sharp knife to cut out your airship close to the seam. If you like to paint/spray something on your airship envelope now is a good time, while it lays perfectly flat on the table.
Perform a test inflation using cold air from a hairdryer (Set to cold!!). If everything is done well the envelope does withstand the pressure created by the hairdryer. To remove wrinkles on the inflated envelope you can gently heat the wrinkle with the hairdryer (set to hot).

Here is a video of all the steps in a timelapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO7twPXnclk

File:Iris sr vector anleitung.pdf

2016-01-23T22:55:47Z

Andreas: Andreas uploaded File:Iris sr vector anleitung.pdf

Envelope tutorial

2016-01-23T22:54:59Z

Andreas:

'''Material'''

Bill of material:
- PE foil
- A roll of Paper (1 m wide)
- Tape

In this tutorial we describe how to easily build an airship envelope with a variable size of up to about 3 m length. The envelope will be welded because this way the most tight and strongest joints of the material can be generated. You´ll need a thin weldeable foil. A good choice is a foil made of or partially coated with Polyethylen (PE). This kind of material can be found at various places. It is used as packing material, capacitors are mode of this and the bags of potato chips as well. A PE layer makes the material easy to weld, while a layer of aluminium can make the envelopes gas tight for weeks, but is not essential. Beneath choosing a material that is weldeable you need very thin foil. The thicker it is, the heavier. To make an airship of about 2 m length flying you should find a material with a thickness of 20µm to 60µm. As a rule of thumb one µm makes up 1 g per m². A good compromise between weight and strength is usually found between 25 g/m² and 40 g/m².

[[File:DSC04457 (Large).JPG|400px]]

Further you need a roll of paper to make the template for welding the envelope and lots of tape to fix everything to your working table.

'''Tools'''
- Iron
- Knife/Scissors
- Folding meter
- Pens
- A very large smooth table or the floor of a room

The PE foil will be welded by using a common iron. The shape of the envelope is defined by the template we are going to prepare in a minute. The welding process itself needs a perfectly smooth and clean surface with the size of the envelopes template. Even the smallest piece of dust at the wrong place can lead to a leak.

'''Preparations for the template'''
It´s relatively complex to calculate the pattern of a 2D shape that becomes a nice aerodynamical 3D shape once inflated. Luckily Johannes Eissing has created an excel sheet that helps you to find the coordinates for such a 2D pattern. You can get the template under the following link:
Using this excel sheet you can accurately calculate the dimensions of your airship envelope. In this tutorial we make an envelope just from 2 gores (nG = 2). Making envelopes with more gores yields more beautiful results and is often worth the efforts. However it is magnitudes more complex and not covered by this tutorial. Using the last three columns of tab 3 of the excel sheet you can draw the necessary welding pattern on the roll of paper.

[[File:DSC02720 (Large).JPG|400px]]

We have also prepared a huge PDF of the envelope template of the silent_runner I4. Using this PDF you can even print it on a plotter. At the tail of the airship you need to create a tube that acts as the vent like seen in the PDF. This tube should be about 2-3 cm wide to enable inflation as well as deflation. Once inflated this tube is folded and closed with a clip.

[[File:DSC04511 (Large).JPG|400px]]

'''Welding'''

Now it get´s exciting. First use some pieces of foil material to train your welding skills. You need to find the right speed, temperature and pressure to make good seams. If the material burns you´re too hot, if the seams get loose easily you are too cold. Setting the iron to cotton (250 °C) is usually a good starting point. A good seam does not tear apart before the foil itself if you pull it strongly.
Now clean the working place and spread the two layers of foil. Make sure they are flat without any wrinkles. You can tape them to the table. Now role the template over the foil. Put some weights in the middle of the template to prevent it from moving. Set the iron to cotton and wait a few minutes until the temperature is stable. Now start from to tip of the airship on to move the edge of the iron over the line of the template. It is important to move with steady speed and pressure to maintain a good welding quality over the whole seam. This is the most critical step of the whole procedure so take your time. When you have welded everything slowly remove the template from the foil and check your seams. It´s possible to visually assess the quality of your seams and sometimes it´s worth to repeat the welding to ensure the seam is tight. After that use a sharp knife to cut out your airship close to the seam. If you like to paint/spray something on your airship envelope now is a good time, while it lays perfectly flat on the table.
Perform a test inflation using cold air from a hairdryer (Set to cold!!). If everything is done well the envelope does withstand the pressure created by the hairdryer. To remove wrinkles on the inflated envelope you can gently heat the wrinkle with the hairdryer (set to hot).

Here is a video of all the steps in a timelapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO7twPXnclk

Envelope tutorial

2016-01-23T22:54:36Z

Andreas:

'''Material'''

Bill of material:
- PE foil
- A roll of Paper (1 m wide)
- Tape

In this tutorial we describe how to easily build an airship envelope with a variable size of up to about 3 m length. The envelope will be welded because this way the most tight and strongest joints of the material can be generated. You´ll need a thin weldeable foil. A good choice is a foil made of or partially coated with Polyethylen (PE). This kind of material can be found at various places. It is used as packing material, capacitors are mode of this and the bags of potato chips as well. A PE layer makes the material easy to weld, while a layer of aluminium can make the envelopes gas tight for weeks, but is not essential. Beneath choosing a material that is weldeable you need very thin foil. The thicker it is, the heavier. To make an airship of about 2 m length flying you should find a material with a thickness of 20µm to 60µm. As a rule of thumb one µm makes up 1 g per m². A good compromise between weight and strength is usually found between 25 g/m² and 40 g/m².
[[File:DSC04457 (Large).JPG|400px]]
Further you need a roll of paper to make the template for welding the envelope and lots of tape to fix everything to your working table.

'''Tools'''
- Iron
- Knife/Scissors
- Folding meter
- Pens
- A very large smooth table or the floor of a room

The PE foil will be welded by using a common iron. The shape of the envelope is defined by the template we are going to prepare in a minute. The welding process itself needs a perfectly smooth and clean surface with the size of the envelopes template. Even the smallest piece of dust at the wrong place can lead to a leak.

'''Preparations for the template'''
It´s relatively complex to calculate the pattern of a 2D shape that becomes a nice aerodynamical 3D shape once inflated. Luckily Johannes Eissing has created an excel sheet that helps you to find the coordinates for such a 2D pattern. You can get the template under the following link:
Using this excel sheet you can accurately calculate the dimensions of your airship envelope. In this tutorial we make an envelope just from 2 gores (nG = 2). Making envelopes with more gores yields more beautiful results and is often worth the efforts. However it is magnitudes more complex and not covered by this tutorial. Using the last three columns of tab 3 of the excel sheet you can draw the necessary welding pattern on the roll of paper.
[[File:DSC02720 (Large).JPG|400px]]
We have also prepared a huge PDF of the envelope template of the silent_runner I4. Using this PDF you can even print it on a plotter. At the tail of the airship you need to create a tube that acts as the vent like seen in the PDF. This tube should be about 2-3 cm wide to enable inflation as well as deflation. Once inflated this tube is folded and closed with a clip.
[[File:DSC04511 (Large).JPG|400px]]

'''Welding'''

Now it get´s exciting. First use some pieces of foil material to train your welding skills. You need to find the right speed, temperature and pressure to make good seams. If the material burns you´re too hot, if the seams get loose easily you are too cold. Setting the iron to cotton (250 °C) is usually a good starting point. A good seam does not tear apart before the foil itself if you pull it strongly.
Now clean the working place and spread the two layers of foil. Make sure they are flat without any wrinkles. You can tape them to the table. Now role the template over the foil. Put some weights in the middle of the template to prevent it from moving. Set the iron to cotton and wait a few minutes until the temperature is stable. Now start from to tip of the airship on to move the edge of the iron over the line of the template. It is important to move with steady speed and pressure to maintain a good welding quality over the whole seam. This is the most critical step of the whole procedure so take your time. When you have welded everything slowly remove the template from the foil and check your seams. It´s possible to visually assess the quality of your seams and sometimes it´s worth to repeat the welding to ensure the seam is tight. After that use a sharp knife to cut out your airship close to the seam. If you like to paint/spray something on your airship envelope now is a good time, while it lays perfectly flat on the table.
Perform a test inflation using cold air from a hairdryer (Set to cold!!). If everything is done well the envelope does withstand the pressure created by the hairdryer. To remove wrinkles on the inflated envelope you can gently heat the wrinkle with the hairdryer (set to hot).

Here is a video of all the steps in a timelapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO7twPXnclk

File:DSC04457 (Large).JPG

2016-01-23T22:53:28Z

Andreas: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:DSC04511 (Large).JPG

2016-01-23T22:53:25Z

Andreas: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

File:DSC02720 (Large).JPG

2016-01-23T22:53:23Z

Andreas: File uploaded with MsUpload

File uploaded with MsUpload

Envelope tutorial

2016-01-23T22:52:17Z

Andreas: Created page with "'''Material''' Bill of material: - PE foil - A roll of Paper (1 m wide) - Tape In this tutorial we describe how to easily build an airship envelope with a variable size of u..."

'''Material'''

Bill of material:
- PE foil
- A roll of Paper (1 m wide)
- Tape

In this tutorial we describe how to easily build an airship envelope with a variable size of up to about 3 m length. The envelope will be welded because this way the most tight and strongest joints of the material can be generated. You´ll need a thin weldeable foil. A good choice is a foil made of or partially coated with Polyethylen (PE). This kind of material can be found at various places. It is used as packing material, capacitors are mode of this and the bags of potato chips as well. A PE layer makes the material easy to weld, while a layer of aluminium can make the envelopes gas tight for weeks, but is not essential. Beneath choosing a material that is weldeable you need very thin foil. The thicker it is, the heavier. To make an airship of about 2 m length flying you should find a material with a thickness of 20µm to 60µm. As a rule of thumb one µm makes up 1 g per m². A good compromise between weight and strength is usually found between 25 g/m² and 40 g/m².
Further you need a roll of paper to make the template for welding the envelope and lots of tape to fix everything to your working table.

'''Tools'''
- Iron
- Knife/Scissors
- Folding meter
- Pens
- A very large smooth table or the floor of a room

The PE foil will be welded by using a common iron. The shape of the envelope is defined by the template we are going to prepare in a minute. The welding process itself needs a perfectly smooth and clean surface with the size of the envelopes template. Even the smallest piece of dust at the wrong place can lead to a leak.
Preparations for the template
It´s relatively complex to calculate the pattern of a 2D shape that becomes a nice aerodynamical 3D shape once inflated. Luckily Johannes Eissing has created an excel sheet that helps you to find the coordinates for such a 2D pattern. You can get the template under the following link:
Using this excel sheet you can accurately calculate the dimensions of your airship envelope. In this tutorial we make an envelope just from 2 gores (nG = 2). Making envelopes with more gores yields more beautiful results and is often worth the efforts. However it is magnitudes more complex and not covered by this tutorial. Using the last three columns of tab 3 of the excel sheet you can draw the necessary welding pattern on the roll of paper.
We have also prepared a huge PDF of the envelope template of the silent_runner I4. Using this PDF you can even print it on a plotter. At the tail of the airship you need to create a tube that acts as the vent like seen in the PDF. This tube should be about 2-3 cm wide to enable inflation as well as deflation. Once inflated this tube is folded and closed with a clip.

'''Welding'''

Now it get´s exciting. First use some pieces of foil material to train your welding skills. You need to find the right speed, temperature and pressure to make good seams. If the material burns you´re too hot, if the seams get loose easily you are too cold. Setting the iron to cotton (250 °C) is usually a good starting point. A good seam does not tear apart before the foil itself if you pull it strongly.
Now clean the working place and spread the two layers of foil. Make sure they are flat without any wrinkles. You can tape them to the table. Now role the template over the foil. Put some weights in the middle of the template to prevent it from moving. Set the iron to cotton and wait a few minutes until the temperature is stable. Now start from to tip of the airship on to move the edge of the iron over the line of the template. It is important to move with steady speed and pressure to maintain a good welding quality over the whole seam. This is the most critical step of the whole procedure so take your time. When you have welded everything slowly remove the template from the foil and check your seams. It´s possible to visually assess the quality of your seams and sometimes it´s worth to repeat the welding to ensure the seam is tight. After that use a sharp knife to cut out your airship close to the seam. If you like to paint/spray something on your airship envelope now is a good time, while it lays perfectly flat on the table.
Perform a test inflation using cold air from a hairdryer (Set to cold!!). If everything is done well the envelope does withstand the pressure created by the hairdryer. To remove wrinkles on the inflated envelope you can gently heat the wrinkle with the hairdryer (set to hot).

Here is a video of all the steps in a timelapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO7twPXnclk

Documentation

2016-01-23T22:51:09Z

Andreas:

The current version of the silent_runner documentation is available for download as PDF:

Currently under revision the new tutorial of the silent_runner i4: [[tutorial_i4]]

The new DIY tutorial is a step by step guide how to build the airship:

[[File:Silent_Runner_Documentation_03-01-2014.pdf]]

The old documentation shows a lot more information how to design an airship yourself:

[[File:Silent_Runner_Documentation_02-11-2012.pdf]]

How to make a silent_runner or similar envelope:
[[Envelope tutorial]]

At the moment the project is still in development, thus await changes in the documentation as the silent_runner is tested.

[[Category:Howto]]

Documentation

2016-01-23T22:50:52Z

Andreas:

06 Envelope

2016-01-02T15:09:34Z

Andreas:

Back to overview: [[Tutorial i4]]

[[File:envelope_01.JPG|400px]]

It does not matter if you have a transparent or silver envelope. You can handle both the same way. Before you fill them with lifting gas, test them once with air, to train everything. Once you use helium it´s one stepp trickier since the balloon likes to fly away all the time.
You can use a hairdryer (cold!!) to fill the envelope. The envelope is full once most of the wrinkels have disappeared and it is nicely taut. Be aware, the transparent envelopes are a bit more flexible, so have less wrinkels at the seams compared to the silver ones.

[[File:envelope_02.JPG|400px]]

To seal the envelope, use one of the clips, like shown in the picture. Fold the tube vent several times, to make sure no lifting gas will leak. You can use your wet lips to check if lifting gas is leaking, it will feel cold.

[[File:envelope_03.JPG|400px]]

Set up your silent_runner as shown in the pictures. To connect the parts to the envelope you use TESA sticky tape. Fold one end of each tape, to later remove it easily. If you remove the sticky tape, do it with some care, to not rip the envelope.
You can freely move the motor gondula and battery to front and back, depending on the position of your payload, to level the airship. Use some little ballast thins (coins, lead, etc.) to fine tune the balance of your airship.
If the airship is filled with lifting gas, make sure your balance it a little heavy (1-2 gram). This way it will come down on it´s own if something goes wrong.

[[File:envelope_04.JPG|400px]]

Make sure you are prepared to answer a lot of question to all people around, since now you are one of the very few people in the world who have a flying racing airship.
Be prepared, now the flying starts: [[07 Flight]]

Pro Tip1: To get the air/helium out of the balloon, use some tube and connect a vacuum cleaner. This can also be done before inflating with helium, to suck theremaining air out of the envelope.

Pro Tip2: If you like to have a balloon without wrinkels, you can use your hairdryer (hot air) to carefully heat the inflated envelope in the regions were the wrinkels are. This slightly stretches the material and most of the wrinkels dissappear. This works better for transparent than for silver envelopes.
Caution! If you heat too much the envelope can melt!

Pro Tip3: If you will fly your silent_runner in difficult areas and you expect some hard crashes, it is a good idea to put a bit of strong tape to the envelope, where the motor gondola is placed. If the ship hits the ground really hard, it can happen that the propeller cuts the envelope, which can be prevented by some strong tape in the area of the gondola. (Pro Tip from Arne)

Part Lists silent runner i4

2015-12-22T07:43:45Z

Andreas:

To build the silent_runner iteration 4 the bill of materials gives an overview what is needed:
[[:File:sr_i4_bill_of_material_20151206.pdf]]

All parts can be acquired from different sources and should be available around the world. Have a look at the [[Links]] section for webshops.
The 3D files for the printed plastic parts can be downloaded from the thingiverse: [http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:31180]

2015-12-18T13:27:48Z

Andreas:

'''Wiki Updates'''
During the next days this wiki will receive major updates while the next iteration of the silent_runner DIY airship is published --[[Special:Contributions/134.94.66.98|134.94.66.98]] 07:37, 30 November 2015 (CET)

'''The silent_runner'''

Airships were the most fascinating aircrafts, ever crossed the skies and forever will be (well, maybe one day Imperial Star Destroyers will be a bit cooler, but till then airships absolutely rule). So, why not build your own? Thanks to modern materials and electronics, RC-airships can be incredible fast and agile while consuming very low energy and they are really fun to fly. The [[Documentation]] will explain in fast and easy steps how to get the silent_runner airship running. For more details email us or join the airship regatta mailinglist [http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/rc_airship_regatta rc_airship_regatta@yahoogroups.com]

[[File:DSC07759.JPG|600px]]

{| align=left
!silent_runner i4 datasheet
|-
|length:
|2.1 m
|-
|diameter:
|0.5 m
|-
|mass:
|300 g
|-
|motors:
|1x Brushless
|-
|ESC:
|1x 10A
|-
|battery:
|LiPo 2S 500 mAh / 2S 1000 mAh
|-
|speed:
|3 m/s
|-
|endurance:
|90 min
|-
|payload:
|40 g [depending on battery]
|-
|}

This site contains all information necessary to build a fully functional high performance RC airship:

* Full DIY [[tutorial i4]] and older iterations [[Documentation]]

* [[Part Lists silent runner i4]]

* [[Videos]] of the silent_runner and other airships

* External [[Links]] to additional informations, projects and shops

{{#ev:youtube|LP4YVb6439E|640}}

The silent_runner project was first published 01.11.2012
Development of the silent_runner is done by the [http://www.windreiter.de Windreiter Team] and lot´s of great helpers all around the world.