Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Rolls-Royce Electric Airplane Takes Flight
https://cleantechnica.com/2021/09/18/rolls-royce-electric-airplane-takes-flight/ ^ | September 19, 2021 | Steve Hanley

Posted on 09/19/2021 4:14:52 PM PDT by American Number 181269513

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-49 next last

1 posted on 09/19/2021 4:14:52 PM PDT by American Number 181269513
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: American Number 181269513

Propellers - is that the latest greatest invention?


2 posted on 09/19/2021 4:17:30 PM PDT by NWFree (Somebody has to say it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: American Number 181269513
The project is being funded by the Aerospace Technology Institute and the UK government

Nothing like some govt gravy to keep your engineers on the payroll while commercial sales are sucking bilgewater.

3 posted on 09/19/2021 4:17:53 PM PDT by nascarnation
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: American Number 181269513

No way I’m getting on an electric airplane, no way, no how.


4 posted on 09/19/2021 4:18:34 PM PDT by Dave911
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: American Number 181269513

5 posted on 09/19/2021 4:19:04 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: American Number 181269513

“It was in the air for 15 minutes. I leave it to you to convert that to parsecs if you wish.”

Parsecs is distance, not time.


6 posted on 09/19/2021 4:19:32 PM PDT by TexasGator (UF)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dave911

“No way I’m getting on an electric airplane, no way, no how.”

Why not?


7 posted on 09/19/2021 4:20:16 PM PDT by TexasGator (UF)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: TexasGator

Not a Star Wars fan we see. Han Solo can make the The Kessel Run in 12 parsecs.


8 posted on 09/19/2021 4:24:53 PM PDT by JD_UTDallas ("Veni Vidi Vici" )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: JD_UTDallas

That pissed ne of when I was in engineering classes. I learned a parsec was 3.26 ly, and it ruined my Star Wars enjoyment...

Not close to Jar Jar Binks, or those woke that three dumpster fire movies.


9 posted on 09/19/2021 4:30:52 PM PDT by EEGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

’Cos I’m leavin’ on an e-plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again …
Nope; doesn’t work.
10 posted on 09/19/2021 4:32:04 PM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EEGator

The novel said “twelve standard timeparts” instead.


11 posted on 09/19/2021 4:33:31 PM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Olog-hai

I wasn’t “in the know”.
Thank you.


12 posted on 09/19/2021 4:36:41 PM PDT by EEGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: American Number 181269513

No fuel fluid dynamics.

A thousand points of failure reduced to 4 connections to the drive motor.

Battery stability and charge analytics at near perfect reliability.

I’m in.

In fact, as a former hang glider pilot I would drop my fear of combustion engines and learn to fly one of these.

Want one.


13 posted on 09/19/2021 4:36:49 PM PDT by Eddie01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NWFree

Props in modern propfan configuration are twice as fuel efficient as turbines. At subsonic speeds the higher the bypass ratio the more fuel.efficient the engine is at cruising speed. This is why you are ever larger success fans on the fronts of turbines gas generators. This is also why the 737 max 8 with is much larger fans is so much more fuel efficient than the prior gen 737.

Propfans have a 50+ bypass ratio and can cause at mach .8 the same speeds as ducted fans do. So yes modern sweeped propellers are cutting edge technology. The challenge has been noise the blade tips at take off go supersonic and the thousands of sonicbooms per second are extremely loud. Duct fans also go supersonic at takeoff power you can hear this same effect as that loud droning sound from the engines at takeoff that’s tapers off as you get to cruising speed and the fan slows to subsonic tip speeds. 737 max engines have a very loud takeoff drone to them due to the much larger carbon fiber fan diameter the engine duct traps a good amount of this noise but not all of it.

Look at the specs on this vs a ducted fan of equal thrust.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_%26_Whitney/Allison_578-DX


14 posted on 09/19/2021 4:37:39 PM PDT by JD_UTDallas ("Veni Vidi Vici" )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: JD_UTDallas

Not a Star Wars fan we see.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Kessel_Run/Legends


15 posted on 09/19/2021 4:39:09 PM PDT by TexasGator (UF)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: JD_UTDallas

“Look at the specs on this”

The picture looks like a conventional prop in back of a turbo engine. How’s this different from a turboprop, except for the fancy looking blades and a 2nd set of blades and the blades being in back of the engine like they were on the B36?


16 posted on 09/19/2021 4:47:22 PM PDT by cymbeline
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: American Number 181269513

Let’s dig into that a bit. According to JetPack Aviation, a liter of jet fuel has an energy density of 9.6 kWh and weighs about 0.8 kilograms. That translates to 12 kWh per kilogram. In comparison, some of the best lithium-ion batteries have an energy density of 265 Wh per kilogram. The net result? Jet fuel has almost 50 times more energy available per kilogram to power an airplane than batteries do.

The same applies for electric cars too. Hauling all that weight around is not free. Also batteries put out less and less energy as they age. But they never weight less. Compare that to liquid fuel. As you use it up it weighs less and less.

Just one on many reasons why electric vehicles make no sense.


17 posted on 09/19/2021 4:47:51 PM PDT by Revel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Eddie01
You might want to wait a while for better batteries! You couldn't carry enough fire suppressant to put out lithium battery fires.


18 posted on 09/19/2021 4:49:32 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom ("If I’m going to get my political views from those who chase balls, I’ll ask my dog.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Eddie01

Electric motors have peak power at low rpms I bet the STOL performance of this plane is like a Tesla car off the line. Give me a ESTOL capable of a 300 to 500 ft take off run and I can change it from my roof panels for free vs $6.98 gal for 100ULL at local airport. A 400 mile IFR range with reserve puts all my favorite fishing and hunting spots a single hop away. Cover the wings with thin film solar panels instead of paint and also pack some thin film roll out solar panels and charge while you relax. It’s like taking a petrol pump with you to the bush.

https://flightaware.com/resources/airport/KADS/services/FBO/Atlantic_Aviation_Addison


19 posted on 09/19/2021 4:49:38 PM PDT by JD_UTDallas ("Veni Vidi Vici" )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Revel
When you're pumping gas into your tank at a gas station, you're "charging" your car's "chemical battery" at the rate of about 4000 hp. That's how much energy per second is flowing through the fill hose and nozzle.

Put another way, in order to "fill" (recharge) an electric car at anything like the rate that one fills the tank with liquid fuel, you would need the equivalent of a diesel electric locomotive engine for each pump at the station. For a station with eight pumps, that's 32,000 horsepower if they're all in operation at the same time.

That means that an eight-pump station would need a 15 megawatt electric supply for a maximum-load scenario.

That's if it were possible to charge a battery pack as quickly as one can transfer energy in liquid form.

Those numbers assume automotive gasoline engine efficiency of 30%, which is a bit optimistic.

Don't even ask about the size of the cables that would be required to carry the necessary amperage.

20 posted on 09/19/2021 4:57:01 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-49 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson