Flying House: Building Materials for a Future Airship Prototype

Designing a flying house, like any other flying vehicle, will involve novel integration of cutting edge concepts and materials. The road towards this "iPhone of the Sky" begins with gathering everything that may come in handy. Let's start making a list of things that should be kept in mind as of 2012. 

Part 1 


Helium-2 superfluid - Maximum amount of conductivity. A few hundred times more efficient conductor than copper (to such a degree that heat moves through it in waves like sound does). Non-gas, non-wing, non-exploding fuel propulsion systems will require rapid and efficient energy transfer for which we want the most the best conduits (encased in strongest and lightest insulating casing).

we want the house to withstand pressure evenly

Aggregated Diamond Nanorods (which are 491 gigapascals versus normal diamond's 442-446 gigapascal range) - Maximum amount of hardness from hyperdiamonds arranged in new novel ways via metamaterial printing (see below).

Metamaterials - By the time sufficient amounts of novelty seeking bourgeois begin pulling capital for first major flying house prototypes, we'll be able to utilize 3D printing to manufacture designer metamaterial parts.

Iron and nitrogen compound magnet for many of our moving parts like bearings as well as furniture and possibly within propulsion system itself? Iron cobalt is no longer most magnetic material on earth.

simplest example of tensegrity, similar
 to diamond's molecular structure

Tensegrity - Maximum amount of strength for the house's shell via proper mathematical arrangement of support beams in simplest manner. The violence of external elements must be absorbed by the entire house, preferably be harnessed for additional energy, and not be allowed to compromise weaker spots on molecular level. Buckminster Fuller's thought and elaboration on his thought will make appearance again and again in the decades ahead. 

We're all familiar with geodesic domes and material science will allow us to really play with their variants. It may even be possible to create some support beams made out of electromagnetic energy to bypass metamaterials when required. We already have software that calculates and models best beam arrangement. Small crash proof geodesic panic/safety room to survive certain altitude crashes or for possible ejection in case of emergency may be a good addition for extra safety redundancy.

3D Solar panels - Even if electromagnetism and/or zero point energy is harnessed to create a floating on air energy bed beneath the house, it is still a good idea to harness solar radiation to the maximum when possible.

Reactive thermal insulation - It is not enough to have metamaterial insulation that just stops  heat from the propulsion system dead in its tracks. New insulation methods allow to reflect and redirect heat to increase the effectiveness of the propulsion itself.

Reactive electromagnetic energy insulation - We don't want the humans inside (and ideally outside as well) to be fried by all this power we're harvesting and directing. After all, biological organisms have their own energy fields which should be protected and nurtured. Redirection, storage, and protection from energy pollution within the house will be of outmost importance. 

In the future, we will continue the list and tackle each of these separately to start getting a grip on how they can be best integrated.