Electric Powered Aircraft

Some of these models are not concept but actual aircraft, also note NASA didn't design a new aircraft body they just modernised the wings and engine to save time, this could be done with some of you aircraft builders in flightsim.

Col.

Good video Col, thanks! Electric vehicles of all kinds are developing at quite a pace. The Rolls-Royce "Spirit of Innovation" is now the world's fastest electric vehicle:

https://www.rolls-royce.com/innovation/accel.aspx

There's an all-electric Volocopter in MSFS, but I suspect it consumes it's electricity in gallons per hour lol!

I have one of those models in my X-plane Tim, flies great too.

Col.

Electric is fine for certain types of planes like GA, but a larger plane? I wouldn't think so with battery technology right now. And to me, this whole electric driven thing has my sense of common sense and logic irritated because the work in to work out energy efficiency is out the proverbial window with the use of energy conversions from one source to the next. i.e., coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear to electricity, stored in a battery and used for the use in a drive train connected to an electrically feed engine.

This is done on the premise that it "saves the environment." Nothing could be farther from the truth when a majority of all electricity in the U.S. is created via fossil fuels and at the same time Eco warriors want to shut down all of these electrical producing plants. Even nuclear which is by far the cleanest of them all and its spent fuel can be reprocessed, though costly. They do this in France. And so-called environmentally friendly wind turbines and solar is not. First, the amount of NOx and SOx and other crap generated through the manufacturing process to make wind and solar far out gain the benefits. Plus, you need a TON just to meet the demands of the consumer and into the future. They're actually trying to offset this with large battery backups in cities. HA!

My proposition:

First and foremost, I'm all of the above when it comes to electrical power. I'd use solar and wind in places where it works the best. Consequently, I'd build next generation nuclear plants that can also produce HTE (High Temperature Electrolysis) based hydrogen in areas with a mitigated threat of earthquakes or floods (think ocean). Like in Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, etc. I'd stay out of the New Madrid seismic zone... Nuclear can withstand hurricanes or tornadoes so that's really not a major issue.

I'd make use of natural gas for chief electrical generation followed by other sources and make NG the principal energy source behind vehicles in a hybrid configuration. Whether land, air or water. I'll explain in the next paragraph and get to the point of this post. Also, natural gas produces less emissions and we (the U.S.) are the world's number one producer.

As I described in my opening, the way electric vehicles are now takes one source of energy (primarily fossil fuels), converts it to another (electricity) and then uses that for work in energy in a vehicle. Then it takes a long time to charge. Why don't we use a small natural gas engine to turn a small generator in a hybrid configuration? Add fly wheels and now your efficacy went up. Plus, NG is already pretty clean than other fossil fuels so being used in a small engine that makes use of fly wheels is going to be MASSIVELY more cleaner and efficient! Freight trains are actually hybrids. They use giant diesel engines that turn a generator for an electric motor and it's the electric motor who's the main engine that turns the wheels. This is mostly for sure work out energy and probably fuel savings. Especially since once you surpass the coefficient of friction you can idle down.

So, can you imagine? A hybrid vehicle like a car, truck, tractor, boat, or plane that uses some NG for a small engine that turns an electrical generator for self-sustaining electricity to a battery? A battery with enough potential energy for some serious horse power I might add. (add a bank of large capacitors and you're gonna see some serious sht - Doc Brown). There's no charging station required, no strain on the already fragile electrical grid, and it'll be a lot cleaner than a traditional gasoline or diesel engine. Did I mention the U.S. is the number one producer of NG? What you're pretty much doing here is maintaining the charge in a battery who already has the potential energy needed for the electrical powered drive train. And like I mentioned, add fly wheels and it'll be even more sublime.

Yes, NG powered flight is possible. NASA has/had a plane that used NG. Though, not in a hybrid configuration as I would like to see it. The other great thing about the use of NG as your principal energy source is that propane (a close cousin of NG) can be created via oil through the fracturing process as well in absence of underground NG (methane) sources. So we have two viable sources of fuel in the market for vehicles.

One day I'd like to take an old GM Hummer and convert it to a triple fuel capable hybrid: three small internal combustion engines of gasoline, diesel and NG/propane. These engines would turn (by user choice) a small electrical generator for the battery that drives the electric motor. I'm thinking of calling it the "Prepper Mobile" or "SHTF Vehicle." :D I mean, when a hurricane takes out Florida and there's no fuel (because for some reason gas stations don't use generators or solar for electrical backup), I still have my vehicle!

Anyway, a black van just backed up into the driveway... I hope they see the newly drawn chalk outlines and understand my CIA-like personality and vaaaast knowledge in escape and evasion. :cool: HAHA https://c.tenor.com/kRahqDqUOYoAAAAd/hes-a-dangerous-bastard-turkish.gif

This message brought to you by Benjamin Franklin and his electrical kite driven model T.

PS:

Can I just be king for six months?

What happened to all those people's inventions/ideas of alternative fuels that drove engines and were quickly hushed up?

We all suspected it was the oil/petrol companies that bought their silence, maybe time to dig them out again, some may be worth another look.

Col.

Yeah, that's why I added the "black van" comment. I've had ideas on engines running on air, and apparently so have others, or at least one guy.

Thing about being an inventor, often times than not someone else already had the same idea, so if I can think it so can someone else. Believe me when I tell you this world deserves what it's about to get. It's just universal law of polarity and what not. The polarity of things is expressed right down to the atoms in your flesh that covers your skeleton. And like a star, it's born and dies like it should.

Refer to Professor Falken...

Sorry but I think we all are too late to stop, more less reverse, global polution and it's consquences. By 2050 half of the population on earth, and half of the species (of all kinds) will be GONE. TOO BAD - TOO LATE! You will get warnings: 'you have 10 yrs to...' at 2030, 2040,and 2050 but can do nothing. NADA!

Chuck B

Napamule

Sorry but I think we all are too late to stop, more less reverse, global polution and its consquences. By 2050 half of the population on earth, and half of the species (of all kinds) will be GONE. TOO BAD - TOO LATE! You will get warnings: 'you have 10 yrs to...' at 2030, 2040,and 2050 but can do nothing. NADA!

Chuck B

Napamule

I think it's down to the Will of Man. First, decide to do something about it, then actually DO something rather than debate.

Otherwise we might as well de-planet. I hear Alpha Centauri is nice, this time of year....

Sorry but I think we all are too late to stop, more less reverse, global polution and it's consquences. By 2050 half of the population on earth, and half of the species (of all kinds) will be GONE. TOO BAD - TOO LATE! You will get warnings: 'you have 10 yrs to...' at 2030, 2040,and 2050 but can do nothing. NADA!

Chuck B

Napamule

Says the professor that knows the science beyond what the media (owned by no more than around four mega companies) tells them... I can type three pages on what I think is the real problem, but I'll just state this. There are lies and there are damn lies. There is a lot of money in Eco this and that for marketing and political control. There is bad science in and bad science out. The data is being manipulated all the time all the while the real issue to climate change is not what you'd think it is... Just go to the Field museum in Chicago and stare at a Woolly mammoth.

If the recent plague has taught people anything it's that A)companies and people made a TON of money and B) politicians want control. This, combined with a massive amount of hyperbole and conjecture fools the sheep. This is a perfect analogy to the whole climate crises/climate change/global warming word du jour going around. Never mind the fact humans think they're so creative. Perfect example is Bill Gates wanting to spray a freaking aerosol in the air to block the sun. Can't imagine what the negatives would be from that. You think hunger is a problem now just wait till these idiots get their way. Never mind the fact the sun is why your house exists, what powers your furnace (fossil fuels), your car, your body and a billion other things. It's why life exists and it's no wonder the ancients worshiped the sun.

In the end, arm chair warriors and elected kings won't solve a problem that's not a problem when we humans have just started thinking about this stuff and thinking it's due to this or that from humans when the inherit nature of states of matter right down to the firing off of neurons withen the whole of the universe has a polarity to everything.

In conclusion, there are and always have been climatic cycles, humans may never be able to know when a tornado will form or where it will go let alone know why the Arctic is melting and the Antarctic is a massive ice issue. We need quality data free from CARNEYS pumping the money into its research to somehow say it's this or that. It's like the massive AstroTurf campaign out there as it pertains to pharmaceuticals over any real world grassroots campaign. And that's been a major psyche onslaught since circa 1994. After all, it's what fuels the companies that own the media...

Otherwise we might as well de-planet. I hear Alpha Centauri is nice, this time of year....

I hear the planets that orbit Alpha Centauri want us to learn from our mistakes... and sometimes it is painful. But you can't progress from this school to the next and expect you won't repeat the same mistakes. If life has to recycle back again then it shall. It's done it now five times.

In a nutshell, let technology flourish...