Scalability of Skysails, an outsider point of view

[PierreB]

@rschmehl

From Paulig et al (2013) we know

The specific weight of 160 to 320 m2 kites is around 0.5–0.6 kg/m2

And much less for a 1 m² powerkite.
The stress increases far more than the surface area. As a result, the specific weight increases. See also here about scalability of blimps and perhaps of soft kites.

@PierreB

The big difference of weight, like a jump of mass increase per area, between the 900 m² and 1040 m² wings (13.5 tons and 19 tons)

I had misinterpreted. It’s about payload.

@tallakt

Power and area scales with the square of the scale, the mass by the cube.

Yes, and, in addition, the last elements here could corroborate that the mass of flexible or rigid kites scale cubic, but likely at a threshold of significant dimensions.

@rschmehl

So, a slightly steeper increase of mass than linear should be expected. But still, this is far from a square-cube law.

Would the value of scalability vary at different thresholds, perhaps like blimps that become very heavy from a certain threshold, leaving room for rigid airships?