Life Alternate » Aircraft

Airlines Looking to Biofuel as Fuel Costs Mount

Wispa — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:33:53 +0000

Airlines are looking to alternative energy forms as an alternative to using Aviation-gas. The leading contender is to use biofuels derived from organic material.

The idea of using organic material to produce biofuel for aircraft is becoming widespread and many airlines are approaching the idea with enthusiasm.

This is an area that I am not comfortable with. Using arable land that could be used to grow food crops to produce biomass that can be turned in to fuel is not an ideal situation. As well as rising prices of fuel, food stocks are becoming more expensive and in some places rare. Shifting fields to grow corn for fuel and not corn for food is the wrong direction.

One alternative is to use waste biomass and waste food, although we should also be quite ashamed at the amount of good edible food that is thrown away. Mass such as grass cuttings and the old Christmas tree are the idea sources of waste that can be converted. Although just how much of this material can be sourced is a problem itself which might keep the cost high and limit the quantity of biofuel produced.

The price of oil is a large factor in looking for alternate sources of fuel. Apart from the inevitable rising costs which are sure to happen in the coming years, the increasing variability of the price each day made it more difficult to plan for the long term.

Piston Engine Aircraft Polluting the Skies

Wispa — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:18:32 +0000

Propeller driven aircraft flying about our skies are emitting pollution in to the environment. The aviation fuel used by these aircraft still contains lead which being airborne can spread over a wide area.

All those aircraft combined can account for nearly 50% of the Lead pollution in the USA. This can rise to dangerous levels around local airports where these little aircraft are more common place.

Older piston engines still need leaded fuel for performance and while newer aircraft can run on lower levels of lead in the fuel there are still a lot of aged aircraft still flying.

Removing the lead from fuel has already been achieved for cars and they have been driving around lead free for over a decade. A Cars lifespan can be measured in under ten years and most have been replaced with environmentally friendly models. The life of an aeroplane can be much longer and we can expect them to be flying around for many more years.

The lead pollution is specific to piston engine aircraft but all aircraft still produce carbon and that is another problem in itself.

Sonex Electric Powered Aircraft Makes First Flight

Wispa — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:05:22 +0000

Aircraft powered by electricity are not new and have been around for a number of years, some of these have even been solar powered. All of these have been of limited use and mostly as a proof of concept. This all changes with the development by Sonex Aircraft of a usable aircraft.

The company has been building small recreational aircraft, these are the little one or two seat planes rather than something the size of a Jumbo jet. With the development of the N270DC aircraft, which is a variation of their Waiex design, they have have taken a path that might lead practical aircraft that do no use Oil.

The first test flight occurred in December with a short hop along the runway which is always a good idea before any aircraft takes to the skies.

The aircraft is currently powered by a 54Kw single engine mounted on the front of the aircraft. Keeping the juice flowing is a 14.5KWh battery made from a lithium polymer. Much the same material that is used in all modern batteries and used in the soon to be common Electric Cars.

Using a bit of mathematics with the battery capacity would give a flight time of around 15 minutes. This would be using full power in situations such as performing aerobatics or climbing to a high altitude. Normal use the engine would be using much less electricity and as a consequence the flight time would be much higher.

Further developments in the battery power pack could see this extended to hours of flying time and that could give you a range of a few hundred miles.

There is no need to point out the benefits of electric aircraft. The cost of powering the aircraft, compared to using fossil fuels would be cut dramatically. But overall with large aircraft still using kerosene the overall reduction would be small.

The benefits of less localized pollution are a bonus to everybody. Lastly but just as important, they are oh so quiet. It might be quite a while before Electric Aircraft are comparable on performance, but this is surely a step, however small in the right direction.

Solar Impulse Aircraft to Fly at Night

Wispa — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 06:31:34 +0000

The Solar powered aircraft, Solar Impulse, is to attempt the next phase in its energy efficient development.

The aircraft will energize itself during the day and store the energy in its internal batteries ready for the attempt at flying at night.

The aircraft which is covered in solar panels will take off on its test flight from Switzerland.

Developed by an aptly named Mr. Piccard the ultimate goal of the solar Impulse is to make long distance solar powered flight a reality. If enough energy can be stored and not used by day time flight then it could be possible to fly for 24 hours totally on solar energy.

Once the tests flights are completed the aircraft hopes to make a nonstop flight across the Atlantic ocean followed by longer round the world flights.

The Solar Impulse is small and not designed to carry passengers or cargo.

Solar energy is low power and using it directly to power aircraft, ship, vehicles or energy hungry devices currently cannot supply enough energy in real time. The Solar Impulse is highly efficient both in design of its airframe and in it`s engines.

Certainly in a few years the efficiency of solar cells is going to improve and this means more real time energy to drive more heavier vehicles.

Solar Impulse takes its first Hops

Wispa — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:49:36 +0000

The solar Impulse aircraft has taken a small step in its bid to fly around the world.

Boeing has made its first flight of its efficient airliner, the 787 Dreamliner, but that is no match to the plans of Bertrand Piccard. It is his hope to fly around the world in his experimental plane, named the Solar Impulse, which would be completely powered by solar energy.

After nearly 4 years of research and development the Solar Aircraft made its maiden flight on December 3rd. Designated the HB-SIA, it sped along the runway at Dubendorf Airfield, Switzerland using just battery power. As it reached 22 mph the aircraft rose in to the air and cruised at flight level of 1 meter. After a distance of 350 meters it was all over and the aircraft descended to land safely.

This was just a small test to prove the concept and now the aircraft will undergo more construction. In particular it will be fitted with its power source, a whopping 11,628 lightweight mono-crystalline solar cells mounted along the wings of the plane. The next step is to achieve its first completely solar powered flight.

This will not be Mr Piccard’s first round the world achievement, his previous claim to fame was as the first person to circumnavigate the world in a balloon. Hopefully sometimes in the next few years he will also have the claim of being the first person to fly round the world in a solar powered aircraft. Boing will then have to re-evaluate the meaning of efficient aircraft.