use the air we drive through

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

This makes no sense. Let's say you have a grill that's 2 square feet. So you put a turbine in, and because of the restriction and energy sapped away by the wind generator, it's now effectively 1 square foot.

You'd be better off making a fairing to restrict the hole to 1 square foot aerodynamically.

You can't get something for nothing.

Thanks winkosmosis,

That's exactly what I tried to elaborate in the second post of this thread.

Jim.

[2003protege]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Wind generator for a Piper Cub

"requiring Cub drivers in Europe to figure out how to power the thing"

leads me to believe there's no alternator/battery system they can tap power off of - unlike a car. I'm not saying you can't generate electricity doing this, i'm saying it's a net loss.

[Frank Lee]

Old timer general aviation commonly used wind powered generators.

[2003protege]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Old timer general aviation commonly used wind powered generators.

never said it didn't

[Frank Lee]

never said you said it didn't

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Old timer general aviation commonly used wind powered generators.

Sure.
And many aircraft have a small, normaly retracted emergency air turbine to generate electrical power just in case all engines quit.

But always at the cost of increased drag.

[gone-ot]

...uh, how often are you driving 75-110 mph in city traffic?

[2003protege]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

never said you said it didn't

I see what you did there....

[cfg83]

Frank -

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Turbo Alternator BPE-14 | Basic Aircraft Products

Wind generator for a Piper Cub

Do you think if this was front-dead-center, like where the license plate is, it would even spin, let alone generate more than one amp at 45-55 MPH? :

"Open circuit," Mattias writes, "I get 15.6-16.3 volts at 75 - 110 mph [indicated airspeed], and the short circuit current is 3.6-4.9 at the same speeds. As I have a quite robust battery (high current, long-life 28 amp/hour sealed lead-acid) I didn't bother to build a regulator. I just put two diodes (MR754) in series and hooked it on the battery. I judge the risk for over-charging as quite small.
...
"I've been flying with it for about 30 hrs now and I'm very satisfied. The biggest problem was to find a robust starter to convert. The ones sold nowadays are very cheaply built with a lot of plastic parts and simple bearings. I found a used "Pylon Brand Hi-Tork" with a robust metal housing and real ball bearings at both ends. It's a bit heavier (1.15 kg, 2 lbs something...) but that isn't really a problem for a Cub."

CarloSW2

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Do you think if this was front-dead-center, like where the license plate is, it would even spin, let alone generate more than one amp at 45-55 MPH?


CarloSW2

At 55mph a square foot of well designed propeller (not counting the hub), could in theory, at best produce 200 watts, that would be enough to maintain the electrical system on a gas car, but the average speed of a gas car is not 55mph for most people it's closer to 35mph, unless they pull out of their driveway right on to a freeway.
But that 55mph wind speed would need to be straight line air flow, no obstructions in front or behind it, at all.