dequinox
10 kW
Take to the sky!!
[youtube]r22UkWbG5yM[/youtube]
[youtube]r22UkWbG5yM[/youtube]
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Lock
100 MW
dequinox
10 kW
mah bad, I did some searches for flying and related key words...but must have limited my search to the ebike area by accident. n/m. I am hoping to see one of the folks on here produce one of these DIY style though... that would be cool!
gestalt
10 kW
When I first started getting into electric vehicles I was really exited about the electric ultralites especially. I'll try to finD it but there's one out there that the riders harness is fully coweled and the landing gear retracts as well. Really slick looking and the thing flies for about 45 minutes. With how quickly EV tech is evolving that hang time is only going to increase, furthermore I recon if the guys here as e-s put their colective minds together one could be built that had big gains over the electric sky trikes currently out there. I have been sketching out ideas for an electric ultralight where the opperator rides up top much like the open sky projects "mehve" for a few years. It's one of my many electric pipe dreams I go back to time after time.
As a paraglider and a powered paraglider pilot I'd rip my 2smoke off in a second if it was feasable, but sadly we're not there yet. At a bare minimum I'd want an hours autonomy, more realisticly 1.5 hours, but even with lipo it's just not possible. The power required to take off and stay airborne would be more batteries than you could carry.
That said, I'm busy trying to figure out the numbers required for a tandem rig, with batteries instead of a passenger. It'd have to be a trike, as foot launching a passenger without legs just won't work. I think we'll get there for this, but it'll be expensive.
That said, I'm busy trying to figure out the numbers required for a tandem rig, with batteries instead of a passenger. It'd have to be a trike, as foot launching a passenger without legs just won't work. I think we'll get there for this, but it'll be expensive.
dequinox
10 kW
dequinox said:
Correct, in fact you can even buy solar/battery powered sailplanes today, if you have a few hundred thousand dollars, however I was speaking specifically about my powered paraglider. The wing costs you about $2000, then all you need is a battery powered fan that can put out 50kg or so of thrust at peak and half of that continuous.
For cost-effectiveness, and power/weight ratio, and range,...its VERY hard to beat a gasoline 2-stroke. A Rotax is a completely different beast compared to a 2-stroke lawnmower engine...
That being said, I always like seeing the actual results of an (expensive short-range) electric conversion.
That being said, I always like seeing the actual results of an (expensive short-range) electric conversion.
dequinox
10 kW
Ah yes...my mistake. It was morning when I read that lol again my bad. 
That must be really cool though to have a setup like that... do you have to submit flight plans and everything to fly? Or can you just stay below a certain altitude and buzz around all you want?
That must be really cool though to have a setup like that... do you have to submit flight plans and everything to fly? Or can you just stay below a certain altitude and buzz around all you want?
dequinox said:
No flight plans needed, you just need to stay out of controlled airspace. In fact in America I believe you don't even need a licence
. Still think it's better to get one. There are some things you just shouldn't teach yourself!The flying is great, there is pretty much nothing around you but air. A tiny seat below you, and a 28sqm wing 7 meters above you. You can take off and land on a football field (obviously not if it has large trees or buildings around it), fly so low you drag your feet on the ground, or fly at 3000m above ground depending on your mood!
The only downside is the noise. My motor spins to 10000rpm (my prop is on a 4 to 1 reduction so 10000rpm is 2500 prop rpm) on takeoff, and at the altitude I stay at needs about 8000rpm to maintain level, and it's noisy. You wear an aviation headset, but it's still too much. I idle the motor when I find a thermal or get some ridge lift, but I really would love to experience electric flight. I imagine the difference would be even more pronounced than moving from a petrol to electric motorbike. One of the problems with the motor on your back is the vibration. It's nearly impossible to have a vibrationless singe cylinder motor, so electric will solve that problem too.
I'd like to see a direct drive RC motor that spins to 2500rpm with a 3 blade prop, along with large chunks of lipo. People are working on it, but at best they're getting 20-30 mins airtime. I'm watching the lipo prices, hobbycity is looking quite good lately, I'll need to do some more maths, but it might actually be feasable quite soon. If I had the know how and fabrication skills of someone like recumpance I'm sure I could make it happen, but I'm just not in that league.
dequinox
10 kW
I went through a phase where I was absolutely obsessed with ultralight flying...mostly due to 'Fly away home' (bear in mind I was quite young). I see now that I'm not entirely over it though.
Sounds like you really have a lot of fun even with the gas engine though...my congrats for taking to the sky on your own! One day the battery tech will be available to send the regular single wing craft up into the air so we don't have to built the thing out of carbon fiber like the Sunseeker!
The initial energy required to get off the ground is the peak of your gas usage right? Have you thought about solid state rocket propulsion to get your craft into the air...and then running off electricity? Sounds like Wile E. Coyote engineering to me!
Sounds like you really have a lot of fun even with the gas engine though...my congrats for taking to the sky on your own! One day the battery tech will be available to send the regular single wing craft up into the air so we don't have to built the thing out of carbon fiber like the Sunseeker!
The initial energy required to get off the ground is the peak of your gas usage right? Have you thought about solid state rocket propulsion to get your craft into the air...and then running off electricity? Sounds like Wile E. Coyote engineering to me!
Lock
100 MW
Hehe... Also a bit wiley, electric winch:dequinox said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliding#Winch-launching
"Gliders are often launched using a stationary ground-based winch mounted on a heavy vehicle.[30] This method is widely used at many European clubs, often in addition to aerotowing. The engine is usually a large diesel, though hydraulic fluid engines and electrical motors are also used."
tks
loK
dequinox
10 kW
Lock said:
Ha ha ha, oh man! That just shot a wonderful load of an idea into my head! Slingshots like they use on the aircraft carriers!!! We could really get someone up in the air with a proper spring loaded setup!
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