Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Inexact change.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                     

Concert Dirigible

Woodstock without roadies.
  (+7, -3)
(+7, -3)
  [vote for,
against]

It's a big dirigible airship with a built-in stage, sound system, lights and projection screen. It floats down, puts on a show, and flies away to the next town.

Start with a damn big blimp. Make the passenger area project well below the body, and put the performer's stage on one side, with windows that raise up so the audience can see them.

Put speakers inside the body of the craft, where they are protected from rain and weather, and let them blast sound out through cones in the skin of the blimp. Make a very quiet generator, exhausting to the side away from the audience.

Make the side skin above the stage as smoothly translucent as possible. Put laser projectors inside the skin on the other side, beaming images through the helium, so the skin of the audience side becomes a reverse-projection screen. (The maintenance guy is going to need a SCUBA set.)

The musicians live aboard, and the ground crew need only drive two anchor trucks, one for each end. The trucks pull up in a park, the blimp appears, drops cables to the trucks, winches work, and the concert starts. (If the fins on the back of the blimp could retract, it would be slightly less likely to blow away.)

On a good, calm evening, the trucks aren't needed. The blimp descends gently through the sunset, hovers over a peaceful field of spring flowers, and, in the quiet of expectation, the windows oil upward. And there is MegaDeth.

baconbrain, Dec 20 2007

Didgeridirigible Didgeridirigible
[globaltourniquet, Dec 20 2007]

[link]






       Not inspired by [UnaBubba]'s LED Zeppelin. That just reminded me of something I thought of long ago.
baconbrain, Dec 20 2007
  

       //(The maintenance guy is going to need a SCUBA set.)//
And presumably, the bilge pumps would have to shift air.
AbsintheWithoutLeave, Dec 20 2007
  

       //The blimp descends gently through the sunset, hovers over a peaceful field of spring flowers, and, in the quiet of expectation, the windows oil upward. And there is MegaDeth.//   

       Bun for that. Also for knowing who MegaDeth is.
shapu, Dec 20 2007
  

       Cool. I'm just trying to remember if helium makes a sonic condensor or diffusor lens.   

       I'd also like the blimp to be short and wide so that you could bring your own roof to some stadiums.
MisterQED, Dec 20 2007
  

       And the Australian bands that like to go for that traditional fusion add the [linked]
globaltourniquet, Dec 20 2007
  

       I'm thinking that dirigibles have very noisy engines, which might interfere with this. But I suppose you could always use something quieter, like giant rubber bands.
DrCurry, Dec 20 2007
  

       You could shut the motors off for the duration of the concert. It's not as if you need them to go anywhere.
shapu, Dec 20 2007
  

       //dirigibles have very noisy engines//   

       Most piston-engine airplane noise comes from the propellers. The engines themselves aren't any louder than a truck engine of similar size. Mufflers aren't always included, as they add weight, and the propellers are making so much noise.   

       Propeller tips are often nearly supersonic, and are shedding tip vortices all the time. Both problems are avoided with ducted fans, as found on several modern blimps.   

       Still, propulsion noise would be an issue. Practically speaking, a concert dirigible would have to be anchored down for a show. Although there was once a concert of music performed on air horns and airplane engines.
baconbrain, Dec 20 2007
  

       //(The maintenance guy is going to need a SCUBA set.)//   

       Unless he's going swimming after work, he'll need an SCBA.
Alx_xlA, Aug 17 2010
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle