Flying electric generator

[nexium]

Is this concept is anything other than a crackpot idea,?I'd like the answer to several questions:<br /><br />* If the rotor blades are also used as a lift mechanism, then the thing '''is''' a helicopter. ~I agree. If the tether breaks or there is no wind, the FEG = flying electric generator descends slowly as an autogyro without power. Typically only minor damage occurs when it lands.~ What is the steering mechanism? ~ordinary GPS = global positioning service plus a computer which makes most of the decisions. Ground operators can also pilot by radio control.<br />~To cancel rotor torque, The 15,000 foot model will have two rotors spaced a bit more than two rotor radius apart. The later model will have 4 or more rotors spaced a bit more than a rotor radius apart. ~<br />Are winds aloft any less variable than low altitude winds? www.skywindpower.com and I believe they are very much less variable. They're driven by global patterns rather than local factors. For example, the equator is always much warmer than the poles, so the basic Hadley cell is always there. Dan <br />~I agree, but much larger scale and typically faster wind. When the wind aloft shifts, The FEG will typically find a new arrangement that works favorably in about one minute.~<br />I'd like to know how much 30,000 feet of wire weigh. #20 aluminum wire is 930 pounds per 1000 feet and 17.6 ohms per 1000 feet = one million ohms for 60,000 feet. We need two conductors very well insulated from each other. (Three conductors for 3phase ac) If the FEG produces 400,000 volts at 1/5th amp, half the energy is line loss. The wire gets warm, but not hot, which helps keep the the tether dry and ice free.~ Wouldn't that weigh the thing down, so it would be spending all it's energy to stay up? ~Sometimes altitude will lost, but typically altitude will be regained as conditions improve. Reduced power will be delivered briefly and rarely. The 30,000 foot tether wil

 

[fingle]

Seems like it could work and I think wind tunnel testing could prove or fail the idea real fast.<br /><br /><br />Re: "If the tether breaks or there is no wind, the FEG = flying electric generator descends slowly as an autogyro without power. Typically only minor damage occurs when it lands."<br /><br />When I read that bit it got me to thinking about the autorotation technique of unpowered landings for helicopters. Autorotation is only successful above a critical altitude that allows enough time for sufficient lift to be developed by the windmilling rotor blades. So you say no big deal the FEG is at 30,000 feet and the blades are already windmilling at a high rate of speed. There is a simular situation in use today by the logging industry, long-line logging, used in remote areas where the helicopter dangles a long-line to lift logs out and deliver them to a processing area. This NTSB report details some of the problems. "The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated six helicopter crashes related to transport of logs by cable (i.e., long-line logging) that occurred in southeastern Alaska during January 1992-June 1993 and resulted in nine fatalities and 10 nonfatal injuries. This report presents case investigations of these incidents." <br /><br />In a at least some of the cases the fatalites occurred when the long-line severed the tail rotor from the helicopter. Another major cause of the fatalities was blamed on not enough maintenance especially in view of the heavy load factors involved with long-line logging. A friend of mine who has been a pilot for decades won't even consider flying in a helicopter he calls them "fling wing death traps". Have you ever heard of the term "The jesus nut" ? I think it was coined in reference to the huey helicopters which only use one big hex nut to hold the rotor blades on. <br /><br /><br /><br />Other than that, I don't know.<br /><br />fingle <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>