Cloud skims are the primary flying vehicles used by skyfarers - pilots. They are single-pilot craft that rely on the floating mineral but in small, stable amounts. The mineral is stabilized in a specially designed enclosure, causing the skim to act not unlike a boat in the skim - on its own, will remain "afloat" at any given height and barely move unless wind or other propulsion method is used.
So their basic propulsion is achieved by harnessing the wind with the help of various sails on the skim. This is another reason why the skims are very "weight-limited" - as they have very limited propulsion available most of the time.
But a byproduct of the balance of the grounding vs floating mineral when exposed to the air is a kind of gelatinuous dew, resembling fist-sized water droplets that can - through a complex mechanism involving moisture from the clouds - generate impressive amounts of energy.
This "dew" typically evaporates within a day (and even less when used in a Skim) making it impossible to store, making it necessary to harvest when needed.
For vehicles with a proper "Dew Furnace" like the Cloud Skims, the dew turns what is a floating canoe into a veritable acrobatic vehicle, capable of fast and agile air mobility - making the Cloud Skims completely unique as far as know flying machines.
Cloudskim Features: