Maybe you could get him to give one of his creations to a Swaylockian for an online review like Mark Price did with the Firewire?
Also, maybe if Bert works with the helium (or an even lighter gas?) idea he could eventually get his boards down to lighter than air! Think of the possibilities!!! Aeriels? Floaters? How about instead of “tombstoning” you see boards “balooning”- floating in the air with their riders panicking somewhere below the surface.
hahahahhhhhh
classic mate !
I’d like to see video footage of that !!! …
you could make tow-in [or is that “blow in” ??] boards out of it , too …
Hehe . . . I think the board is made. there was an article about a oceanside company (san diego) doing the same thing with lexan plastic from surfermag and TW surf about a year ago . . . They had a red tinted translucent board. Wouldn’t think nuttin much to make a clear one for kicks.
I did some detective work and searched posts for Serf. INteresting stuff . . . I found Serf’s location. There’s another post from Serf in the classifieds, and he’s was selling some boards and said local SD pick up or something. So maybe Serf is in SD and bought one or borrowed one.
“Hydrogen and helium are the most commonly used lifting gases. Helium and hydrogen both provide about 1 kg of lift per cubic meter of gas at room temperature and sea level pressure.”
The cited weight advantage of 5 lb. = 4.55 kg. At 1 kg lift per cubic meter, the board would have to enclose 4.55 cubic meters, or 161 cubic feet. That would require a rectangular solid of 16’x7’x1.4’. That’s more like the enclosed space of a Boston Whaler…
If the technology is as expensive as I expect it to be and this board is still in good shape, then this gal got a deal at $305-$310. If the board is as tough as the make it to be this is 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of an Aviso which are running $1200-$3000 depending on the style.
Carbon fiber versus Lexan I guess you could ay there’s some inherent structural differences and stress fracture issues between the two.
I’m like you though john, a clear board sounds like alot of fun but the viseo makes that board look awfully bad…
Regarding the supposed advantage of a helium filled board, it doesn’t sound so attractive once one figures out the reduction in thrust due to the lighter weight. Assuming that the rider of the 15 pound air filled board weighs 125 pounds, the overall thrust will be based on a mass of 140 pounds. . . . . reducing the mass 7 pounds by filling the board with helium will reduce the thrust of the board and rider by 5%. The drag will not be reduced by anywhere near 5%, therefore the board will be slower.
Of course if the board and rider combined are lighter than air, then catching a wave is impossible… . . . . . ‘High performance’ taken to an extreme !
Besides, helium should be reserved for solar panel manufacturing purposes
Regarding the supposed advantage of a helium filled board, it doesn’t sound so attractive once one figures out the reduction in thrust due to the lighter weight. Assuming that the rider of the 15 pound air filled board weighs 125 pounds, the overall thrust will be based on a mass of 140 pounds. . . . . reducing the mass 7 pounds by filling the board with helium will reduce the thrust of the board and rider by 5%. The drag will not be reduced by anywhere near 5%, therefore the board will be slower.
Of course if the board and rider combined are lighter than air, then catching a wave is impossible… . . . . . ‘High performance’ taken to an extreme !
Besides, helium should be reserved for solar panel manufacturing purposes
Roy - as the numbers show, reducing the weight of a board by anything even close to the magnitude claimed by replacing 78(N):21(O2):1(x) air with helium cannot be. Figure the needed board volume at 1 kg per cubic metre lift. Even your boards aren’t that large :-> It is impossible - period, end of story. [ADDED]If the one claim that can be objectively evaluated is clearly formed from the end product of peristalsis, what are we to make of the more ambiguous assertions?[/ADDED]
