kat1031 is right on the money. Artisan versions can be whipped up out of not much more than some sheet metal and plumbing pipe.
For airborne deployment, here are my thoughts:
Transparent airship
Inside: a lightweight parabolic reflector (either trough or dish type, or a compound version of either), say mylar over an alu tri-truss frame, comprising up to half of the internal surface of the canopy. Reflector can be swivelled independently of the 'ship to track the sun. Sunlight is concentrated on the collecting tube/boiler, and steam is fed from their to your hand-tooled, lightweight, brass steam turbine.
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asenathwaite
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-23 04:07 pm (UTC)For airborne deployment, here are my thoughts:
Transparent airship
Inside: a lightweight parabolic reflector (either trough or dish type, or a compound version of either), say mylar over an alu tri-truss frame, comprising up to half of the internal surface of the canopy. Reflector can be swivelled independently of the 'ship to track the sun. Sunlight is concentrated on the collecting tube/boiler, and steam is fed from their to your hand-tooled, lightweight, brass steam turbine.