Generated electric?

[breister]

Originally Posted by glenn654

Hey Guys,
Electric power may be available sooner than anyone thinks. Check out A123 Systems, they developed the batteries for the upcoming Chevy Volt (2010), built an electric drag bike...fastest on record....appears to have good potential but I really like the sound of internal combustion.

Glenn Wilkinson

Yes, batteries are getting better. In addition to A123, AltairNano is providing batteries to Phoenix Motorcars (who have begun production of an all-electric pickup truck for fleet use in CA).

Better still, if they actually deliver, is EEStor (about double the energy storage per pound of either of the above batteries). However, I ran some calculations based on everyone's published numbers. To replace 40 gallons of gas with EEStors' unit would be around 1,200 lbs just for the battery compared to 240 lbs of gas. The best available LiIon batteries would be nearly twice that (around 2,000 lbs for AltairNano or A123).

Cars are an easier sell. With regenerative braking to recoup some of the power lost while driving, it is "reasonable" to have only a 10 gallon tank equivalent (300lbs for EEStor; 550 lbs for batteries). Some of the weight difference is also offset by all of the things you DON'T need with an all-electric setup (e.g. alternator; cooling; and with wheel motors you can eliminate engine and transmission). Since cars only use around 10% of their maximum rated horsepower in cruise, they don't need huge amounts of stored power. Aircraft, however, operate at close to 100% power 100% of the time, so until we can be happy with one hour flights it will be a while yet until electric planes are the norm.

[pmccoy]

Here's a crazy thought to throw into the mix...

What if a couple of wind generator's were attached under the leading edge of each wing? Could these be connected to an alternator that produced enough power to supplement the battery charge and extend the life of a battery discharge?

[dtaylor]

This would not work: The Thermodynamics cops would pull you over and give you a ticket for breaking the first law.

[nucleus]

The solution is:

An Arc Reactor. I just saw it in Ironman: About the size of your fist, and baby does it put out the power!

[Shockwave]

Originally Posted by pmccoy

Here's a crazy thought to throw into the mix...

What if a couple of wind generator's were attached under the leading edge of each wing? Could these be connected to an alternator that produced enough power to supplement the battery charge and extend the life of a battery discharge?

As what DTaylor said, however you could cover your plane with solar panels and not break the laws of physics. Of course thier effeciency isn't very high either.

The nagging problem isn't energy, its the storage of the energy. Gasoline happens to store a lot of energy in a small space in a simple and light container. Hydrogen, electricity, compressed air, nuclear, cng, and others can't do that yet.

Now if we could get a flux capacitor, a lightning rod, and fly a little closer to thunderstorms...

[SuperSixOne]

Originally Posted by Shockwave

As what DTaylor said, however you could cover your plane with solar panels and not break the laws of physics. Of course thier effeciency isn't very high either.

The nagging problem isn't energy, its the storage of the energy. Gasoline happens to store a lot of energy in a small space in a simple and light container. Hydrogen, electricity, compressed air, nuclear, cng, and others can't do that yet.

Now if we could get a flux capacitor, a lightning rod, and fly a little closer to thunderstorms...

Nuclear, not so much. One pound of enriched uranium which is about the size of a golf ball contains the same amount of energy as a one square block 13 story high apartment building filled with oil. It also makes a pretty good bomb.

[Mike S]

Originally Posted by SuperSixOne

Nuclear, not so much. One pound of enriched uranium which is about the size of a golf ball contains the same amount of energy as a one square block 13 story high apartment building filled with oil. It also makes a pretty good bomb.

Might make a bomb-------if refined correctly, and correctly installed into a rather complex mechanism, and a few other things that must be done correctly, and deliberately.

At least the "golf ball" (minus above mentioned support staff) wont catch fire in a crash like the petroleum products will.

[BigSky]

All this talk about alternative fuels made me think of the following clips that I had seen.

Personally, I am not a big fan of electric stuff. It just doesn't seem like it will ever be meant for moving large objects around. But never say never right?

There is a bunch of stuff on youtube about water power that I think are very fascinating.

Here are a couple interesting clips. The problem that I can think of as it relates to aviation would be the radio frequency with this water power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiKa4nOkHLw

This one, I am not sure if it is real. But worth a look. Let's hear what y'all think. There are probably hundreds of other clips similar to this one. only not news stories.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMovXzVOzc4

Good to be here by the way.

[Webb]

Don't forget to have your 30 minutes of fuel on VFR or 45 on IFR flights - I guess the same would hold true for a battery.

Self serve pumps would be interesting too. Based on how long it takes to charge a battery, heck....we'll be here all night.

Don't know about you but my flight instructor was anal about having a spare set of batteries in the brain bag just in case. Now I'm going to get a hernia to carry it.

I think I'm going to call Scotty and see if Captain Kirk will loan me some dilithium crystals (or whatever they called them).

Why do we think fuel is expensive - the guy who has a nice boat gets about 3 miles to the gallon at the same price and bottom line cost of the fish he brings home is about $200 a pound for that fresh fish dinner. Makes our $100 hamburger seem like a deal and we didn't have to cook it either.