Electric Airplanes
Here's one electric airplane:
http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/au...05-660x303.jpg (click on image for link) Here's another: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_imIrRbm3PM...aircraft-1.jpg (click on image for link, including video) |
...I can just see it now--a stewardess frantically running up & down the isle asking passengers if anyone has any spare BATTERIES whenever their airliner has to go into a "holding pattern" around a busy airport!
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what is the effect on weight and range and power?
Oh, wait, it is a tiny fraction of liquid fueled, like so many electric cars that go 40 miles. I bet it costs a fortune too. They can have it put out the same power for a tiny fraction of the range or some other combination of a fraction of liquid fuel capabilities. There's lithium, right next to ZERO on energy/mass and energy/volume... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ensity.svg.png |
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Even now, there are places where electric airplanes could work, starting with (as mentioned on that other thread) self-launching sailplanes. Then there are possibilities in the Light Sport class, where you may never travel long distances. When you figure that 100LL avgas is now $7.09/gal at my FBO (plus a quart of not-cheap aviation oil every 10 hours or so), and that a major overhaul of an aircraft engine was IIRC about $12K over a decade ago (about $16K now, from a quick search), electric power for sport flying begins to look kind of attractive. Then too, as with the Tesla, there are people to whom the impact, environmental & otherwise, of burning oil is more important than money. |
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My Li-Po race cels are lighter than my Li-Fe's and you've got to remember with electric there would be little differential between take-off and landing weight and you could dump all the fuel pressurisation/cooling sytem just think of the turn around time if it was a cell exchange at each air port rather than a charge!
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electric power has taken over in the remote control airplane hobby
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per: Lithium-ion battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Volumetric energy density: 250 to 620 W·h/l (900 to 1900 J/cm³)[2] 1000 cm³ = 1L ~2MJ/L energy density for lithium batteries, which is about what was plotted, compared to ~37MJ/L for diesel. Quote:
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As an aside, excellent performance can be had with NO motor too (and extra weights are usually needed), though around here I just bungee launch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oix6sHKzOLU |
What I find funny about that video is the RC jet guys are lucky to push 360mph
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTHWBSluUjU . Maybe you get 200mph with an electric RC, and the no-motor plane serves them both up for raw top speed (and endurance and efficiency and cost) under the right conditions :) |
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It also sounds like these planes cost about the same as the gasoline counterparts but are much simpler so when you get your annual inspection done you get your electric motor checked and maybe bearings replaced compared to a gas engine plane that gets it's engine tore down and rebuilt. |
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