One autonomous-ish glider made of bamboo and stuff like that, several very large balloons, a lot of hydrogen and a pressure suit.
Firstly some kind of low-cost and preferably a bit green way to produce hydrogen.
Balloons inflated with hydrogen, lofts self to say 60,000 ft, with the glider before I forget to mention it.
Gas release valves are ...well, released, balloons deflate, then are reeled into onboard storage boxes in the glider. Thinking something like mangles covered with bubble wrap to expel as much hydrogen as possible.
Glider then autonomously glides to next hydrogen refilling station..
Many wrinkles to work out, like
1) what is the likely range
2) is it less stress on the glider if it's hoiked aloft pointing vertically
3) is it possible that not very useful land en route could be sprayed black to give a thermal boost on the way etc etc..
4)Can the balloons be re-used
4b)What about duty-frees, do I have to push the trolley myself?
Could be used for neo-space tourism, alternative to a Lear jet, or just getting my butt back from Thailand to Japan.-- not_morrison_rm, Aug 26 2014 I think you will find that hydrogen has a dark side, such that you DON'T want it to leak into the open air. Remember the "ozone hole" caused by chlorocarbons? Well, hydrogen and ozone are "hypergolic" --they react on contact (destroys ozone). A worldwide hydrogen economy has major advantages, but keeping the hydrogen contained is going to be extremely important.-- Vernon, Aug 27 2014 //hydrogen has a dark side
Water molecule turns to hydrogen atom and shouts "You're not my father"..
But seriously, if we lose say 33% of the hydrogen, then the glider/balloon ensemble will begin to drop, yes?
Falling through the atmosphere the might be able to turn a propeller, which powers a compressor, which pumps that two-faced hydrogen into a tank.
It would be useful to have some kind of thruster, and bit of compressed hydrogen would come in handy. But, then not exactly a glider, if one is to be pedantic.-- not_morrison_rm, Aug 27 2014 random, halfbakery