One of the women I work with said she wanted to build a blimp to escape the end of the world in 2012.
I have taken this idea and run with it.
The first post is here, in which I introduce the idea with little preamble and launch into some simple SQL code that generates a list of diameters and estimated costs and payload weights.
The second post is here. In it I discuss balloon envelope materials and what implications those might have, as well as a few subsystems that you might need.
The third post discusses balloon and balloon envelope design. I lay out a way to use hydrogen while minimizing the risk of fire.
The fourth post talks about gondola design considerations.
Post 5, also known as Post V, talks about flaming envelopes and recovery from massive failure.