Engineering Acceptable Air Transportation Safety with a focus on preventing and reducing worst case scenarios

There is too much of a focus on perfecting air travel safety. The USA is spending about $6 billion each year on air travel security and the extra wait times from post-September 11 security procedures add another $8 billion ($50/hour for business and $15/hour for everyone else. Greater use of full-body scanners instead of metal detectors would very likely increase wait times and thus raise those costs. Poole says that getting a passenger through a full-body scanner takes about 30 seconds longer than through a metal detector.

Because driving is so much more dangerous than flying, the thousands of more people who took to the roads rather than the skies after September 11 led to more car accidents. Blalock estimated that from September of 2001 to October of 2003, the enhanced airport security led to 2,300 road fatalities that otherwise would not have occurred. If security delays were to lengthen again, a similar driving fatality effect could happen, Blalock says, as more travelers choose to drive to avoid the increased inconveniences of flying.

So you also have to consider the safety of the overall transportation situation, because more people driving means more fatalities. If we can make the worst case on the airplane the same as bus or train terrorism then that would be a reasonable level. We will not need to overprotect planes if we make buses or trains the targets.

The underwear bomber did not have the explosives to rupture the air plane fuselage according to simulations and tests. Newer planes with composite materials are likely even safer in the event of an explosion.

They placed about 80 grams of PETN's base material, pentaerythritol, near the 747's fuselage where Abdulmutallab was seated. Eighty grams of pentaerythritol contains about the same explosive power as a hand grenade, but lacks the the hot, sharp metal fragments of an actual grenade that cause so much damage. The BBC set up cameras and Wyatt set off the explosives.

In the BBC documentary, entitled "How Safe Are Our Skies," the controlled detonation of the explosives lasted a scant 0.94 milliseconds, but the results were clear to cameras. Shock waves rippled through the exterior aluminum skin of the aircraft like fat water drops of water hitting the surface of a smooth pond.

The metal was permanently bowed out, and a handful of rivets were punched out, but no gaping holes appeared. The pressurized air inside the cabin would have slowly leaked out of the missing rivets, said Joseph, a non- life-threatening situation. The amount of explosives was "nowhere near enough" to bring down the plane, concluded Wyatt and Joseph

Halo Interceptor concept of a car that can become a boat or planes with attachment modules

The Halo Intersceptor is a multi functional vehicle, based around one car that can couple with several vehicle attachments to form the basis of private air, sea and land travel The car is the case unit and it docks to attachments to become boats, planes or helicopters.

The Halo Inersceptor site

Utopium project to use carbon nanotube enhanced materials with Additive Manufacturing and the Airbus vision to Scale up Additive Manufacturing

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University of Exeter has commercially orientated research in the core themes of advanced manufacturing and materials development.

One of their projects is Utopium.

EADS Innovation Works is the partner and funder of the Utopium project.

The project proposes to investigate the development of unique high potential carbon nanotubes (CNT) polymer composite structures with a high potential for application in aerospace industry.

The research will include growing CNT forests (in the newly developed CNT lab at Exeter) and application of Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) principles and technology for manufacturing of the new CNT composites.

CNTs are of great interest for the next generation of composite materials due to their exceptional mechanical and physical properties.

ALM is highly novel, disruptive technology that will lead to major changes in the way a diverse range of engineering components are manufactured, using direct deposition of materials to create structures in an additive manner. Due to its versatility it is possible to process various polymer, metal and composite materials, constructing complex geometries such as cellular and hierarchical structures. ALM thus has potential for direct manufacture of high performance aerospace components.

The project aims to address: 1. An approach towards making fully aligned and dispersed bulk CNT/polymer composites, which is to date not yet possible. 2. An approach towards the application of an additive layer manufacturing philosophy; with the goal of eventual exploitation in ALM methods and equipment.

Swarms of UAVs

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The SMAVNET project aims at developing swarms of flying robots that can be deployed in disaster areas to rapidly create communication networks for rescuers. Flying robots are interesting for such applications because they are fast, can easily overcome difficult terrain, and benefit from line-of-sight communication.

From a software perspective, controllers allow flying robots to work together. For swarming, robots react to wireless communication with neighboring robots or rescuers (communication-based behaviors). Using communication as a sensor is interesting because most flying robots are generally equipped with off-the-shelf radio modules that are low-cost, light-weight and relatively long-range. Furthermore, this strategy alleviates the need for position which is required for all existing aerial swarm algorithms and typically requires using sensors that depend on the environment (GPS, cameras) or are expensive and heavy (lasers, radars).

Virgin Galactic on track for commercial flights within 18 months

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Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson said Monday that Virgin Galactic is on track to offer commercial space travel within 18 months (by March 2012), and that space hotels are next on the drawing board.
(H/T Instapundit

"We just finished building SpaceShipTwo. We are 18 months away from taking people into space," Branson told a business conference in Kuala Lumpur, adding that the fare will start at 200,000 dollars.

Virgin Galactic, which aims to become the world's first commercial company to promote space tourism, has already collected 45 million dollars in deposits from more than 330 people who have reserved seats aboard the six-person craft

Virgin galactic made the first solo crewed flights of VSS Enterprise (SpaceShipTwo) on July 15th, 2010

Skylon Spaceplane Project is nearing significant events

Richard Varvill, technical director and one of the founders of Reaction Engines believes the Skylon spaceplane project is now reaching its final stages. After decades of withdrawn government support and huge technical hurdles, the tide has turned in favour of high-tech manufacturing and, more importantly, human space travel. A recent study into the Skylon’s ability to carry passengers suggests that a trip to orbit in an upright seat, for stays of up to 14 days, would cost around $500,000. Compared with the plans of some groups, Skylon’s space tourism ambitions are still relatively modest. However, the team is also looking to include an upper stage that would move out of low Earth orbit and, if successful, the project could have far wider significance.

Reaction Engines has been undergoing internal preparations for significant events, which are to be covered in their September update. UK officials will meet next week at a special two-day workshop next week, which will investigate how it can be developed commercially.

Combining MHD Airbreathing and IEC Fusion Rocket Propulsion for Earth-to-Orbit Flight

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A Rocket-Based-Combined-Cycle (RBCC) propulsion system employing ducted rocket operation and MHD airbreathing to accelerate the vehicle to Mach 12 in about 4 minutes within earth’s atmosphere, and then fusion rocket propulsion to continue vehicle acceleration above the sensible atmosphere for 28 minutes until Mach 26 (orbital speed) is reached. And, here, 18 metric tons of payload can be placed in low earth orbit with a takeoff weight of only 162 tons - about the same payload and takeoff weight as that of medium size airline passenger jets.

The main MHD air breathing and IEC fusion rocket paper was presented at Space Technology and Applications International Forum (STAIF) in 2005 and was written by H. D. Froning and George Miley and Nie Luo, Yang Yang, H. Momota E. Burton. The abstract is at americanantigravity below. Froning also worked with Robert Bussard on various Fusion rocket papers which are linked to below. NASA is continuing theoretical, computational and some experimental work on MHD propulsion for space planes.
Single-State-to-Orbit (SSTO) vehicle propellant can be reduced by Magnets-Hydro-Dynamic (MHD) processes that minimize airbreathing propulsion losses and propellant consumption during atmospheric flight. Similarly additional reduction in SSTO propellant is enabled by Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) fusion, whose more energetic reactions reduce rocket propellant needs. MHD airbreathing propulsion during an SSTO vehicle’s initial atmospheric flight phase and IEC fusion propulsion during its final exo-atmospheric flight phase is therefore being explored. Accomplished work is not yet sufficient for claiming such a vehicle’s feasibility. But takeoff and propellant mass for an MHD airbreathing and IEC fusion vehicle could be as much as 25 and 40 percent less than one with ordinary airbreathing and IEC fusion; and as much as 50 and 70 percent less than SSTO takeoff and propellant mass with MHD airbreathing and chemical rocket propulsion. Thus this unusual combined cycle engine shows great promise for performance gains beyond contemporary combined-cycle airbreathing engines

Studies in Russia, Europe, and the US have shown that Magneto-Hydro-Dynamic (MHD) processes can extract electricity for vehicle and propulsion power from slowed airflow within airbreathing engines while reducing propulsive losses and propellant consumption during high-speed atmospheric flight.

Damage resistant, carbon fiber blade technology

Moller International (OTCBB: MLER) is pleased to announce that it has successfully developed and tested a damage resistant, carbon fiber blade technology that increases durability for the ducted fans used in its Skycar® and Neuera™ VTOL aircraft product lines. This improvement reduces blade rotating inertia, allowing the fans to respond quicker to roll and pitch commands from the artificial stability system, resulting in a more stable aircraft during hover and transition.

The newly-developed epoxy carbon fiber matrix can tolerate increased damage to the leading edge of the fan thereby dramatically improving resistance to damage caused by bird ingestion. “This advancement was inadvertently validated when a screwdriver was accidentally ingested into a fan during the maximum power tests of an M400,” stated Dr. Paul Moller, President of Moller International. “The screwdriver caused a significant notch in the leading edge of the fan but was quickly repaired with epoxy filler. An aluminum fan blade would have to be replaced if it had survived the impact, which is problematic.”

Carbon fiber has up to seven times the tensile strength of aluminum. As a result, the blades can be designed to have a very large safety factor.

Discussion Related to Skylon Spaceplane Interview

This site had an interview with Richard Varvill, the Technical Director and Chief Designer at Reaction Engines Limited. Reaction Engines Limited is a UK company that is developing a fully reusable launch system called Skylon.

There was a comment (link to the comment) by reader Goatguy which has a response from Richard Varvill

Below is a response to the specific points made by 'Goatguy':

1) SINGLE STAGE - Sounds great. But if they're ejecting a fuel tank, it isn't single stage. Let's remember to call technology standards for what they are.

Skylon does not eject a fuel tank. Skylon is single stage to orbit and has no expendable fuel tanks or equipment. Everything that takes off comes back apart from propellant and some cooling water.

2) 200 use - why there? Well, undoubtedly because the ceramic tiles that protect the present, beautifully ageing space-shuttle last for about 1/4 to 1/2 that many missions. They figure they can outdo the shuttle's re-useability.

The 200 flights is not determined by the lifetime of the TPS aeroshell, nor is the TPS material the same as the Shuttle. Skylon's aeroshell is a reinforced glass ceramic composite manufactured in thin sheets and corrugated for stiffness. The aeroshell is several hundred degrees cooler than the Shuttle during re-entry due to Skylon's lower ballistic coefficient. Re-entry insulation is provided by an internal multifoil insulation blanket.

The vehicle design lifetime is determined by economic considerations, representing a trade-off between development and operational costs. (ie: a longer design lifetime would reduce operational cost but increase the required development program cost and duration). Once introduced into service the vehicle lifetime and reliability will be gradually improved as the operational environment proves what the real life limiting factors are.

3) 400 x better? That takes quite a leap of faith! They're not going to cut the kg/kg fuel/payload ratio much - especially if they don't jettison the external fuel cells and go "2 stage" or "3-stage" in effect.

400x is the improvement in reliability compared to expendable rockets – which is mainly due to Skylon's ability to abort in all flight regimes and the position of each individual vehicle on the “bathtub curve” (as supplied each vehicle is quite a way down the “wear in” Weilbull Distribution since it is flight tested prior to delivery to the customer).

4) $5M per flight? OK, maybe ... especially since the Space One folks figured out (rightly I might add) that wings, turbojet-engines, standard JP1 and a whole lot of atmosphere (especially in a ramjet secondary) can gets you to Mach 6 or 7 (about 2 km/sec) without too much trouble. The 90-minute-orbit (250 km up, r = 7,125km, C = 44,700km, V = c/5400 = 8.3km/sec) then gets its first 2 km/sec off oxygen breathing "stage". But the rest (18x more energy) needs to come from non-air breathing rocketry.

Getting any single stage vehicle to Mach 6-7 from a standing start using air-breathing engines is not easy (and in fact has never been done). Although the rocket powered phase provides most of the energy the air-breathing phase is more technically difficult (from a propulsion perspective).

5) Looking at (4) more ... the whole reusable shuttle concept is vexed with "protection-and-accelleration costs". It has to be BIG enough to store the fuel to get from 2,000 m/sec to 8,300 m/sec. But BIG = WEIGHT, which equals more fuel. Which requires bigger shuttle. gah. And cuts down on the payload.

The above mass growth effect is encapsulated by the well known 'rocket equation'. Actually on Skylon most of the fuel (hydrogen) is used in air-breathing mode getting up to Mach 5, and hydrogen tankage accounts for most of the fuselage volume. Nevertheless the payload fraction always improves as the vehicle scale is increased due to the diminishing effects of fixed masses and minimum material gauges etc.

The rest of the discussion is at rather a tangent to the SKYLON concept. At this point in time we have no reason to alter our approach which 25 years of study and research have shown to be viable.

All the best
Richard

Response from Goatguy

I apologize for not having researched more on the Skylon technology before posting my series of questions and rebuttals. More informed (now), I see that the idea is dependent on several factors: the development of a cooled-air hydrogen turbojet engine, the ability of the ceramic-glass composites to deliver the necessarily high strength (and insulating R value)-to-weight ratio, the use of composites and ultralight weight materials for the 41,000 kg empty-weight fuselage, and the jettisoning of pressurized human-occupant cabins and all the associated support systems. I imagine that there would also be a call for minimalist (and light-weight) avionics and a lightly pressurized helium gas-fill to thwart oxygen-leak fire potential.

I also see that the thought-experiment of a space-plane with tanks that weigh nothing, engines that weigh nothing and fuselage that weighs nothing ultimately gains nothing in being multistage… as only the reaction-mass and the payload are accelerated. It is because conventionally the very large tanks, the rather large attendant turbopumps, thrusters, force-frame and control systems weigh so much that it makes sense to “multi-stage” them.

I do wonder Dr. Varvill though … is it possible that the cross-over between a single-stage and a 2 stage design – for a winged, aerodynamic lift vehicle – per the work done by the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne folks … is such that the Skylon design could easily be kept as a winged lifter with a separable LOX/H2 stratosphere-to-space 2nd stage? Doing so would markedly lower the weight of the air-breathing vehicle: it wouldn’t need any thermal-barrier protection (or at least very little), so that that dead-weight would be reserved just for the secondary stage.

Thinking on this further – and maintaining the idea of a horizontal runway take-off approach – might there also be advantage in borrowing from the military? At least it is the American armed forced SOP to lash a couple or quad of modest-sized solid-rocket launch boosters to get the heaviest conventional aircraft up to take-off velocity when runway-length (combined with the vehicle mass and its jet thrusters) is too short for a safe takeoff. I know “technically” then that is a third stage … but it seems so obvious – attaining the first 400 m/sec over a shorter runway, which at this velocity would allow the craft to do an early abort utilizing a short return-to-spaceport loop (and rapid pumpless fuel dumping). Water cooled brakes … not needed, nor the water mass. Further, the high-pressure rocket casings wouldn’t have to be made from exotic materials, them being jettisoned after the first 30 seconds of acceleration. Cheap, robust, reusable.

Finally … I have to say that I am markedly more enthusiastic about the Skylon space-plane concept than I was when I wrote the comments (to which you graciously replied).

EMdrive Proposed flying Car and Hybrid Spaceplane

A link to the 14 page word document on the 2009 EMDrive research which was presented at the the CEAS 2009 European Air & Space Conference

The Emdrive Programme – Implications for the Future of the Aerospace Industry

Two other groups, one in China and one in the USA are working on EmDrive projects. We understand that significant progress has been made in both theoretical and experimental work, within these groups. Reports have also been received of work in a further two countries. In the UK we have started the initial performance tests of our first flight thruster. It is anticipated that this thruster will be flown on a technology demonstrator mission.

The main object of this paper is to describe the results of a recent design study for a Hybrid Spaceplane. This vehicle utilises hydrogen cooled, superconducting EmDrive thrusters to provide the static lift. Acceleration is provided by hydrogen fuelled conventional jet and rocket engines. The results of a number of numerical analyses show remarkable performances for different missions. These include sub-orbital passenger transport, Earth orbit payload delivery, and a Lunar landing mission. This design study followed on from the first phase of an experimental, superconducting thruster programme.

It is estimated that the unmanned flying car proposal, using four, liquid hydrogen cooled, versions of the experimental thruster, could begin flight trials in 3 years time.

Superconducting Cavity Thruster and a Proposed Flying Car Demo


The experimental superconducting emdrive

The design of the vehicle results from iterating a mass, power and thrust analysis with inputs from four mission analyses. The mass, dimensions and performance of the jet engines are scaled from the data available for the AMT Titan UAV engine. The power generator is based on an uprated ROTAX 503 aero engine driving a high speed 36 kW alternator.

For 6kW of microwave input power at each thruster, the total lift thrust is 573kg. Thus for an estimated total vehicle mass of 477kg, the vehicle would start to accelerate upwards. However as the average velocity goes above 1m/s, the lift thrust approaches the vehicle mass, and acceleration stops. This is simply the principle of the conservation of energy at work, with energy used to accelerate the vehicle being lost from the stored energy in the thruster, hence lowering the Q.

Clearly, to achieve a useful rate of climb, the jet engines need to be rotated to give vertical thrust and the lift engine operation needs compensation to avoid losing stored energy.

The flight envelope was investigated by running 4 numerical mission analyses. These gave a maximum rate of vertical ascent of 52m/s (170ft/s) and a maximum speed of 118m/s (230 knots) at a maximum altitude of 12.6km (41,300ft). If the altitude is restricted to 1.34km (4,400 ft) then a full liquid hydrogen fuel load will give a maximum range of 97km (60 miles).

Hybrid EmDrive Spaceplane Proposal

The basic Hybrid Spaceplane (HSP) concept is a VTOL carrier vehicle using eight EmDrive lift engines, two hydrogen fuelled jet engines with vertical lift deflectors and up to six hydrogen/ oxygen fuelled rocket engines. Electrical power would be provided by two fuel cells run on the boiled-off hydrogen gas from the lift engines, and liquid oxygen.

The overall dimensions are 35.5 meters long, 13.3m wide and 7m high. Carrier dry mass is 61.1 Tonnes. Maximum fuel load, liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) is 190.5 Tonnes.

The mission analyses show the highest g level to be 0.58 g and maximum velocity in air to be 180 km/hr. However the design is aerodynamic (drag coefficient is estimated at 0.35) and the vehicle is capable of a glide landing in an emergency. Control surfaces for this situation are provided by the twin fin and tailplane configuration

. A 2 meter scale model is shown on the right above.

The London to Sydney sub-orbital mission starts with a vertical take-off with the spaceplane in a horizontal attitude. Lift is provided by the EmDrive thrusters and vertical acceleration by the jet engines. At 12km altitude the ascent rocket engines are fired to maintain the climb to a cruise altitude of 96km At this height, the orbit engines are fired to accelerate the spaceplane to a cruise velocity of 4km/s. At 90 minutes into the flight, deceleration starts, using the lift engines in a braking mode. Note that when used for deceleration, the EmDrive lift engines are not subject to the dynamic thrust limitation, as no energy is being lost from the stored energy in the resonant cavity. Descent and a vertical landing are controlled by both the lift engines and the jet engines.

For the LEO (Low Earth Orbit) and GEO (Geosync Earth Orbit) missions the spaceplane carrier vehicle can be viewed as a “space elevator without cables”.

Interview of Richard Varvill of Reaction Engines and the Skylon Spaceplane by Sander Olson

Here is an interview, by Sander Olson, with Richard Varvill, the Technical Director and Chief Designer at Reaction Engines Limited. Reaction Engines Limited is a UK company that is developing a fully reusable launch system called skylon. Skylon is an unpiloted reusable spaceplane that will have a hybrid jet/rocket engine and take off from an airport to achieve orbit. Mr. Varvill believes that Skylon could begin flight testing by 2020, and may eventually reduce launch costs to as low as $5 million per flight. [Videos and more pictures are below]

NOTE- There was a follow up discussion related to the comment on this article where Varvill addressed all of Goatguys issues with the design and project

Question 1: Tell us about the Skylon rocket project. How much will it cost to develop, and to what extent could it bring down launch costs?

Answer: Skylon is a reusable single stage to orbit launch vehicle and is intended to replace current expendable launch vehicles. It is designed to last 200 flights and is intended to reduce the cost (to about 1/10th), increase the reliability (about 400fold) and reduce turnaround times (from about 2 months to 2 days). Skylon will cost about €10.5Billion to develop at current (2009) prices. The amount it brings down prices is heavily dependant on the launch rate (since the recurring costs are low). At current worldwide launch rates (approx 100 per year) the launch cost with full development and production cost amortization and without any hidden subsidies will be about €30M. However at say 1000 flights/year the cost falls to €4.5M.


Lapcat Video

LAPCAT (Long-Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies) is a 36 month European FP6 project to examine ways to produce engines for a Mach 4-8 Hypersonic aircraft. The project is funded by the EUROPA general R&D; fund rather than ESA.

One possible supersonic transport aircraft being researched as part of this project is the A2 by Reaction Engines Limited. The researchers are looking at an aircraft capable of flying from Brussels (Belgium) to Sydney (Australia) in 2-4 hours, significantly reducing journey times across the globe.

To attain and maintain such high speeds, Reaction Engines Limited would need to develop its newly designed concept engine called the Scimitar, which exploits the thermodynamic properties of liquid hydrogen. The engine is theoretically capable of powering the A2 to a sustained Mach 5 throughout flight with an effective exhaust velocity of 40,900 m/s (4170 s).

"Results so far show [the Mach 5 vehicle from Reaction Engines] can avoid later [technology] pitfalls and could travel from Brussels to Sydney," says ESA's LAPCAT project coordinator Johan Steelant.

Interview Continued
Question 2: The Sabre engine is essentially a hybrid rocket. Is this approach unequivocally superior to having separate and simpler jet and rocket engines?

Answer: The Sabre engine is designed to capitalize on the best aspects of airbreathing propulsion (low fuel consumption) without adding too much hardware mass whilst also increasing the practical airbreathing Mach range by precooling. By combining the airbreathing and rocket modes into a single engine we save a lot of mass compared to separate jet and rocket engines.

Skylon Mission Animation Video



More Interview
Question 3: The Sabre engine will necessarily be quite complex. Will it be able to operate reliably? Will it require extensive and frequent maintenance?

Answer: The Sabre engine is certainly more complex than current jet or rocket engines in terms of parts count. However, reliability is only loosely related to the number of parts. Reliability is mainly related to factors such as component stress levels, fatigue, creep, wear, vibration, production quality control etc and also importantly how much money is spent during the engine development program. The engine on a reusable launch vehicle has to be more reliable than current expendable engines to meet the overall program objectives, which places emphasis on rocket thrust chamber life, turbopump bearings and seals and the precooler.

Question 4: Your company estimates launch costs as low as $5 million per flight. and per-passenger costs to orbit of $100,000. How much confidence do you have in these estimates?

Answer: As discussed above the costs are dependant on the vehicle operational scenario. Our development and production costs are empirically derived from previous aircraft and rocket projects and are estimated to have a standard deviation of about 15%.


Question 5: The Skylon's airframe will be only .5 mm thick, yet will need to withstand the intense heat of re-entry. What material could meet these criteria? Has this material been fabricated?

Answer: Skylon's reentry trajectory is less severe than STS due to its lower ballistic coefficient (resulting in lower skin temperatures). The aeroshell is currently specified in a fiber reinforced glass ceramic which can withstand temperatures up to 1400K. We have been testing coupons of this material in a specially designed test rig at Reaction Engines to verify its ability to survive chemical attack by the reentry plasma. Sections of corrugated aeroshell have already been made.


Question 6: What sort of avionics will be required for the Skylon? Will flight be completely automatic?

Answer: The flight will be completely automatic but with flight data fed back to a ground monitoring center (it is not really a flight control center in a traditional space sense of the word). It is expected that SKYLON operations will be incorporated into existing Air Traffic Control.

The ability to completely conduct a flight of this type as a UAV was proven in the 1980s by the Russian Buran. However we are currently re-looking at the SKYLON avionics incorporating integrated architectures, high capacity data-buses and other features of modern aircraft avionics.

Power is provided by fuel cells fed from the orbital cryogenic propellant supply


Question 7: When is the earliest that the Skylon could be operating? How confident are you of meeting development schedules?

Answer: Earliest possible Entry Into Service is 2020 assuming that system development starts soon. Program delay is more likely to be caused by political wrangling than technical difficulties.


Question 8: Reaction Engines Long-Term Advanced Concepts and Technologies (LAPCAT) aims to reintroduce supersonic commercial flights. How extensively has your company researched this concept?

Answer: LAPCAT is an EU Framework program managed by the European Space Agency and includes 14 partners of which we are one. Our A2 vehicle design aims to capitalize on the technology of Skylon and its Sabre engines. LAPCAT 1 was a feasibility study which showed that the A2 had promise and was able to meet the payload/range requirement under practical operational constraints. In LAPCAT 2 we are now studying some of the technical aspects in more detail.


Question 9: Could you foresee a factory mass-producing Skylon and LAPCAT vehicles within a few decades? Could you see the production cost being reduced to the cost of a jumbo jet?

Answer: Skylon is much more likely to be developed than LAPCAT since it is such a large improvement (in every sense) over current launch vehicles. The initial production run is probably going to be smaller than civil jets due to the current low worldwide flight rate compared to Skylon’s capability. Our initial estimate for the Mk1 machine is for total worldwide sales of only 30 vehicles. For this limited run the production cost will be about 2.5 times a jumbo jet. However, increased production would reduce the cost correspondingly.


Question 10: Reaction Engines has done extensive testing on the benefits of contra-rotating turbines. What are the preliminary results from that research?

Answer: The research proved that contra-rotating turbines have no aerodynamic anomalies and can be designed by similar methods to conventional turbines. They are lighter than conventional turbines (with fewer stages) when the turbine drive gas has a high speed of sound compared to the compressor.


Question 11: Your company has designed an orbital base station. How difficult would such a station be to develop and launch? What logistics/maintenance would be involved in operating such a station?

Answer: The Orbital Base Station on the website was designed as part of Project Troy and is sized to provide an assembly facility for the human mission to Mars. This is a conceptual study which is part of the process of checking what future missions SKYLON can support, which, it turns out, is all of them. We have also looked at supporting Solar Power Satellites, nuclear waste disposal, human lunar missions again all looking good. This OBS will not be the first station to be built when SKYLON becomes operational and the details of the cost and logistics flow have only been looked at superficially. We are looking in more detail at smaller and more imminent space stations and the results of that study – which will answers the questions of cost and maintenance flow, will be ready in about a year.


Question 12: Describe the concepts of Reaction Engines space-based orbital transfer vehicle.

Answer: On the Website we have outlined the Fluyt stage which is a large orbital transfer vehicle, which would be based at a space base (like the OBS). Like the OBS it is a conceptual study intended to test the ability of SKYLON to undertake the most ambitious of future missions. There is also a much smaller SKYLON Upper Stage (SUS) with a propellant load of 7 tons, which is ground based and will be available at the start of SKYLON operations. The details of this stage should be made public in the next few weeks.


Question 13: How much funding has the British Government provided? Is Reaction Engines seeking any venture financing?

Answer: The UK government has contributed €1million into our current Technology Demonstration Program (split between the GSTP and TRP budgets). The balance of the funding (about 75%) has been raised through private investment.

Question 14: Assuming sufficient funding, how do you foresee these projects opening up space access in the next twenty years?

Answer: By reducing launch cost and increasing launch reliability space access will be transformed forever. Hopefully this will initiate a new space age where the economic returns from space based activities far exceed the initial investment.

Skylon Orbital Base Station study page

The Orbital Base Station is a design for an orbital assembly complex in low Earth orbit, functioning as an integral part of a space transportation system and enabling the construction and maintenance of vehicles for the exploration of the Moon and Mars. Orbital Base StationHome > Current Projects > Orbital Base StationAssembly Dock Structure

Construction of the OBS would be highly modular, with the outer shell made from 10m^2 panels, covered with a skin of aluminised Mylar. The structure would also provide tank farms for liquid oxygen and hydrogen propellants, accommodation for construction crews, and fuel cells to provide the base load power. Large doors at either end provide access for vehicles, while payload loading doors along the side enable cargo from docked SKYLON vehicles to be transferred using manipulator arms.

Hypersonic Weapons and Rockets

India and Russia have agreed to develop and induct a new hypersonic version of their joint venture 174 miles-range BrahMos cruise missile by 2015.

The new missile will be known as ‘BrahMos-2’ and will have a speed of over 6 Mach (around 3,600 miles per hour) with a striking-range of 174 miles.

NASA Hypersonic Project
NASA has selected a Williams International high-speed turbojet as the turbine element of its Turbine Based Combined Cycle (TBCC) engine test rig, which will be used to evaluate technologies for potential future two-stage to orbit launcher concepts.

The TBCC is designed to integrate a turbine and ramjet/scramjet into a unified propulsion system that could be used to power the first-stage of a two-stage launch vehicle from a standing start on a runway to speeds in excess of Mach 7. The concept also is being evaluated by Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne as the ongoing Mode Transition (MoTr) program, which aims to fill the void left by the DARPA HTV-3X/Blackswift hypersonic demonstrator canceled in 2008. Unlike the NASA effort, MoTr is aimed at a propulsion system for potential high-speed strike/reconnaissance vehicles, and will include a running scramjet.

Blackbird Replacement?

Pratt & Whitney Co.'s rocket-motor division has been hired to work on a prototype for a combo jet turbine-ramjet propulsion system capable of moving a low-orbit military vehicle at hypersonic speeds.

Aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. signed a 10-month contract with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for preliminary design of a high speed accelerator for a turbine-based combined-cycle propulsion system, which could support flight up to Mach 6 -- six times the speed of sound.

Pratt said such a vehicle could be used for strike and reconnaissance missions. A vehicle such as this sounds like a replacement for the old Blackbird recon plane

MIT Makes iPhone App for Controlling UAVs and a Proposal to Combine with Electric and Hybrid Planes for Robotic Flying "Cars"

MIT Professor Missy Cummings and the MIT Research in the Humans and Automation Lab have successfully demonstrated how an iPhone could be used to control an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or UAV. Currently soldier carry suitcase-sized controllers.

The US military now has 7,000 unmanned aircraft and at least 10,000 ground vehicles.

(Part of an 18 page pdf newsletter), advances in autopilot technology combined with the relatively simple flight tasks required of UAS leave little
need for traditional pilots to operate the remote-controlled planes, argues MIT professor and former Navy fighter pilot Missy Cummings.

Better than Flying Cars
This technology is also an important step in automation to enable my vision of commuter UAVs. The commuter UAV would be unmanned in terms of the pilot, but would carry passengers in an air taxi service. If the piloting skills can be removed then we can have electric or hybrid planes and helicopters fly people from point to point over traffic. There are new two seat electric planes emerging with 100+ mph speed and 438 mpg equivalent efficiency. This could be the safer and more efficient replacement system for long commutes, that is faster and better than robotic electric cars.

There are almost 250,000 general aviation planes in the USA. Electric and hybrid planes in the $40,000-140,000 range will further expand those numbers. High volumes could bring the price down and numbers of these planes up.

Popular Mechanics reports on electric planes at the Oshkosh air show

Norgan aircraft is developing the Extremely Maneuverable Jet (EM–J), which will be able to take off and land similar to a helicopter because of rotors on each side of its fuselage. However, it will fly like an airplane, reaching a speed of 425 mph and a range of 1,600 miles, because of its two jet engines. It will be designed to carry two pilots and seven passengers. It is not electric powered, but it is something that could become another step toward iPhone air taxis. The state Department of Commerce has offered about $30 million in financial incentives toward the EM-J project.


2007 photo of some scale models of the Morgan Aircraft EM-J

There is $5 million research project awarded to Northrop Grumman for "Hybrid Electric UAV High Endurance Renewable Propulsion and Power System"

Spain's National Institute of Aerospace Technology has developed the first airplane-helicopter hybrid, an unmanned aerial vehicle that will be operational in 2010 and is designed to monitor borders and coastlines. The HADA, the first prototype of which will carry a cargo of up to 150 kg and will be able to remain airborne for 3-6 hours.

From Wired Danger Room, the lab’s current iPhone and small-UAV combo relies on GPS signals, so it only works outside. The kinds of users Cummings imagines — Marines and soldiers in urban combat, of course, but also everyday city dwellers looking to scope out the line at the local Starbucks — need bots that work indoors, where GPS signals can’t reach. Solving that problem is the thrust of Cummings’ follow-on project.

Her team’s solution: equip a small robot with LIDAR, fast-scanning lasers that can create quick, electronic models of any environment. Plus, giving the bot new computer algorithms for sending the models back to the iPhone, in the form of simple, graphical maps. Those algorithms were developed by Nick Roy and his team from MIT’s Robust Robotics Group.

“The goal is that a small micro-UAV (we typically use quad-rotors) can enter a window or door and then map the world, both in 2D and 3D,” Cummings said. The 2D part, seen in the flight-test video above, isn’t too hard, but 3D will take her team at least until Christmas. You need 3D for displaying things like stairs, she said.

The MIT Research in the Humans and Automation Lab also has an software program for submarine commander situational awareness.

Carbon nanotubes without metal catalyst : Jets can be 90% composite and not just 40%

Nanoparticulate zirconia (ZrO2) catalyzes both growth of single-wall and multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and graphitization of solid amorphous carbon

UPDATE: Prior non metal catalyst work (H/T to reader at cheaptubes): In a process patented by NASA Goddard is the ability to produce bundles of CNTs without using a metal catalyst. Because Goddard’s process does not use a metal catalyst, no metal particles need to be removed from the final product, yielding a significantly better product in terms of quality and purity at a dramatically lower cost.
END UPDATE


Researchers at MIT have for the first time shown that nanotubes can grow without a metal catalyst. The researchers demonstrate that zirconium oxide, the same compound found in cubic zirconia "fake diamonds," can also grow nanotubes, but without the unwanted side effects of metal.

This can help make it easier to use carbon nanotubes to strengthen carbon fiber products. Carbon fiber is about 50,000 tons/year and carbon nanotubes are about 600-800 tons/year. Using some carbon nanotubes to increase the usefulness of carbon fiber helps to stretch out the currently still expensive and more rare carbon nanotubes. Non-metal catalyzed production also means less cancer causing worries for biomedical applications.

The implications of ditching metals in the production of carbon nanotubes are great. Historically, nanotubes have been grown with elements such as iron, gold and cobalt. But these can be toxic and cause problems in clean room environments. Moreover, the use of metals in nanotube synthesis makes it difficult to view the formation process using infrared spectroscopy, a challenge that has kept researchers in the dark about some of the aspects of nanotube growth.

One of the most exciting implications of the finding is that it means that carbon fiber and composites, used to make different types of crafts, could be strengthened by nanotubes. "Composites are durable, but fail under certain loading conditions, like when plywood flakes and splinters apart," says Stephen Steiner, an MIT graduate student and the study's first author. "But what if you could reinforce composites at the microlevel with nanotubes the way that rebar reinforces concrete in a building or a bridge? That's what we're trying to do to improve the mechanical properties and resistance to fracturing of carbon composites."

Steiner says the reason that planes like Airbus' A380 and Boeing's new 787 are made of only 40 percent composites and not 90 percent is because composites aren't strong enough for all parts of the craft. But if they were bolstered by nanotubes, then the planes could be made of more composites, which would make them lighter, and less expensive to fly because they wouldn't need as much fuel.

The findings are already impressing researchers in industry. "This innovation has far-reaching implications for commercial productions of carbon nanotubes," says David Lashmore, CTO of Nanocomp Technologies Inc., a company in Concord, N.H., that was not involved in the research. "It for the first time allows the use of a ceramic catalyst instead of a magnetic transition metal, some of which are carcinogenic.

Wardle suspects that more oxide-based catalysts will be found in the coming years. He and his team will focus on trying to understand the fundamental mechanisms of this type of nanotube growth and help to contribute more types of catalysts to the nanotube-growing arsenal. While the researchers don't have a timeline, they suspect that it would be easy to commercialize the process as it's simple, adaptable and, in many ways, more flexible than growth with metal catalysts.

Hypersonic Plane Update on the X-51 Waverider and Falcon Scramjet

X-51 Waverider


The Boeing X-51 WAverider will be undergoing testflights at the end of 2009 and into 2010 The tests are to try and fly hypersonic for 5 minutes instead of previous tests that lasted for a few seconds of hypersonic flight.

The Waverider, a.k.a. the X-51, is designed to fly more than six times faster than the speed of sound on ordinary jet fuel.

The WaveRider stays airborne, in part, with lift generated by the shock waves of its own flight. The design stems from the goal of the program — to demonstrate an air-breathing, hypersonic, combustion ramjet engine, known as a scramjet.

"We built a vehicle around an engine," said Joseph Vogel, the X-51 project manager with Boeing, which is building a series of four test planes under a $246.5-million program managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.

NASA tested the concept in 2004, breaking the record for a jet-powered aircraft with a speed of Mach 9.6, or nearly 7,000 mph. But the vehicle, known as X-43, only flew for a few seconds and its copper-based engine was not designed to survive the flight.

The X-51 engine, made by Pratt & Whitney, is made from a standard nickel alloy and is cooled during flight by its own fuel. The program's goal is to fly for about five minutes. The military has its eye on high-speed cruise missiles as well as space vehicles that wouldn't need carry-on oxidizers. The space shuttle, for example, carries both liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, to power its main engines.

The WaveRider's first flight is scheduled for October over the Pacific Ocean. It will be carried into the air by a B-52 bomber, then released at an altitude of about 50,000 feet. A solid-rocket booster will ignite and speed it up to about Mach 4.8 and if all goes well, the aircraft's engine will take over from there, boosting the speed to more than Mach 6.





Falcon Hypersonic Flow Tests Done


There were ground tests of hypersonic flow up to mach 3 and future tests will go up to mach 4. This is to show that a combined ramjet and scramjet combination can work with ramjet power up to a speed where the scramjet can take over.

The Falcon hypersonic program page

Terrafugia Transition: Has working roadable Plane

The Transition "Personal Air Vehicle" is expected to be released in late 2009 and has just shown its operational prototype.

The estimated purchase price is $148,000. Owners will drive the car from their garage to an airport where they will then be able to fly within a range of 100 to 500 miles (800 km). It will carry two people plus luggage and will operate on a single tank of premium unleaded gas. It will have a 115 mph cruising speed.

With the Transition® development program still on schedule, Terrafugia's order book continued to grow at the show. The Transition® Proof of Concept begins its powered testing program, including drive, taxi, and flight testing, after returning to Terrafugia's Prototype Development Facility in Woburn, MA.

They responded to many doubters at Xconomy.com in May, 2008

The real market for these vehicles is solidly in the hundreds of units per year. So they are not replacing cars but light sport aircraft. They are toys for the wealthy. This is an airplane first, and not a replacement for anybody's car.

There is a market for general aviation, so the question is what can we do to make it better, to make it safer. And I believe we're doing a lot to make it safer.

They are not competing with cars yet.

They are selling a vehicle that uses super-unleaded automobile gas, and that will get about 27.5 miles per gallon flying at 115 miles per hour, which is better mileage than most cars get on the highway right now, and at nearly twice the speed. So from a fuel-economy perspective, it's actually one of the greenest planes out there. And the Transition is such a light vehicle that the mileage should be
quite good on the road. We are expecting between 30 and 40 miles per gallon.

Potential Competitors are still flying models
X-hawk

They are flying big models and appear to be well funded and expect to be selling in 2010. They will be selling pricey $3 million vehicles that are more maneuverable and able to go where helicopters cannot for special jobs like building evacuations and medical evacuations. X-hawks can fit and fly in places too tight for helicopters. X-hawk has no exposed rotors that make it dangerous or impossible for helicopters to maneuver in complex urban and natural environments.

X-hawk would have
* Max speed: 155 mph (248 kph)
* Max altitude: 12,000 ft
* Endurance: 2 hrs of flight time



Urban Aeronautics' X-Hawk is a VTOL aircraft which operates much like a tandem rotor helicopter, however it doesn't have the exposed rotors which make helicopters dangerous for personal use. This is accomplished by containing the rotors in large 'ducts' which make up most of the body of the craft; the requisite decrease in rotor size also decreases fuel efficiency. The X-Hawk is being developed by Urban Aeronautics, and is being promoted for rescue and utility functions.It is expected to be available for about $3 million around 2010.

The Panda model is 1.5 meters in size.

PAL-V One
PAL-V Europe BV: the PAL-V ONE is a hybrid of a gyrocopter with a motorcycle.
They must raise more money - a concept vehicle -they are flying models - motorcycle converts into a plane. It does not need to file a flight plan (flies below 4000 feet).
Short Takeoff and landing (STOL) 165 feet takeoff. 16 feet to land.


It has 3 wheels and a top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph) on land and air. It can run on petrol, biodiesel or bio-ethanol and will cost $US75000. The vehicle has a very short take of and vertical landing capability. At less than 70 decibels it is quieter than a helicopter due to the slower rotation of the main rotor. The PAL-V ONE has one seat.

Airborne, the PAL-V ONE flies under the 4,000 feet (1,500 m) floor of commercial air space. The PAL-V ONE is highly fuel-efficient and powered by an environmentally certified car engine. It would run on petrol like a conventional car and can reach speeds of up to 200 km/h both on land and in the air. It can be driven to the nearest airfield or helipad and, because it flies below 4,000 feet, can take off without filing a flight plan. 30km/liter fuel efficiency.

Gress aerospace - flying models but have interesting concept.


Dual fan VTOL can fit in DOT max 8.5 feet width for ground vehicles. It does not transform. The vehicle is just small for one person. A single seat helicopter is 20 feet wide. The Gressaero plane would have twice the speed and range of a helicopter.

A UAV that could lead top robotic human VTOL flight
The Northrop Grumman MQ-8B vertical takeoff and landing UAV will get deployed in low volume.

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation's $13.6 million for the procurement of long lead items, in support of the low-rate initial production of MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV). There should be nine purchased and operating in 2009.

The MQ-8B features four-blade main rotor, in contrast to the larger-diameter three-blade rotor of the RQ-8A, to reduce noise and improve lift capacity and performance. The four-blade rotor had already been evaluated on Fire Scout prototypes. They boost gross takeoff weight by 500 pounds to 3,150 pounds (by 225 kg to 1,430 kg), with payloads of up to 700 pounds (320 kg) for short-range missions.

FURTHER READING
The Transition is being designed to be a factory certified Light-Sport Airplane.
Two seats, side-by-side.
GTOW: 1320 lbs (600 kg)
Fuel: Super-unleaded autogas
Fuel Capacity: 20 gal (120 lbs / 54 kg)
Fuel Consumption (75% power): 4.5 gph
Engine: 100 hp Rotax 912 S (four-stroke)
Vs = 45 kts (51 mph, 83 km/hr)
Vr = 70 kts (80 mph, 130 km/hr)
Cruise Speed: 100 kts (115 mph, 185 km/hr)
Range: 400 nm (460 mi, 740 km)
Takeoff Distance over 50 ft obstacle: 1,700 ft (520 m)

Cheap, recyclable ultrastrong magnets that will enable smaller, more powerful engines

Ultra-strong, high-temperature, high-performance permanent magnet compounds, such as Samarium Cobalt, are the mainstay materials for several industries that rely on high-performance motor and power generation applications, including the Department of Defense (DOD) and the automotive industry. Until now, producing Samarium Cobalt has been a difficult and expensive multi-step process. Northeastern University researchers have broken new ground with an innovative invention of a rapid, high-volume and cost-effective one-step method for producing pure Samarium Cobalt rare earth permanent magnet materials.

To create a field
with the strength of 100 mT (1,000 G) at a 1 mm distance from the pole, a barium ferrite magnet must be around 25 times larger than a samarium-cobalt magnet.

Smaller and more powerful motors will make wheel motors more practical. Wheel motors can reduce losses in a car by 30-40% by have no transmission to wheel power losses.

Samarium-cobalt (SmCo) magnets are produced by pressing powdered alloys to shape and then sintering them in a furnace. This powder can also be mixed with polymer binders to form bonded magnets.

SmCo exhibit excellent thermal qualities with several grades designed specifically for use up to 570°F. For high-energy material, SmCo offers the best resistance to temperature. Until this development sintered samarium-cobalt has commonly beenused in stepper motors for robotics and aerospace as well as motors for magnetic pumps and couplings. But high costs confined it to small or thermally demanding situations. This low cost breakthrough will enable widespread use. Engines and generators can be made smaller, lighter, more efficient and reliable. Compact, high-power motors without field coils will be made common.

Electron Energy Corporation already makes and sells existing Samarium Cobalt magnets with some over 1 Tesla and 30 megagauss of energy. Samarium-Cobalt (SmCo) can achieve a maximum of 225 kJ/m**3. Samarium Cobalt batteries were used for Nasa's Deep space one space probe which used an ion engine.

The 2006 Progress Report for Automotive Propulsion Materials Program for the Freedomcar project explained the benefits of a strong permanent magnet


The Freedomcar project looked at superconducting magnets, which are stronger then Samarium Cobalt magnets but need cooling.

Permanent magnets are used in the traction motors of hybrid electric vehicles because of their superior magnetic properties (energy product) compared with other permanent magnets. Higher-strength magnets are desired because they would enable manufacturers to reduce the size, weight, and volume of the traction motor and thus increase the fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

A major component of the HEV is the electrical machine (traction motor) used to drive the wheels. The traction motor employs a number of permanent magnets (PMs). Energy product is directly proportional to the energy stored per unit volume of the magnet; the torque produced by a PM electric motor is approximately proportional to the energy product of the PM. Increasing the energy product of the PM will proportionally increase the torque. Therefore, increasing the energy product will reduce the weight and size of the PM required to generate the same torque. Furthermore, reducing the weight and size of the PM may reduce the size of the entire motor required to generate the same torque. This will further reduce the overall weight of the motor and increase the mileage of the HEV.

Typical performance requirements for linear drive motors are (BH)max = 40 MGOe (320 kJ/m3) and Hc = 2 Tesla (1.6 MA/m). It is the objective of this study to increase the energy product by using stronger magnetic alignment Figure 2. Energy product vs coercive field for various fields generated by the SCM while maintaining the same coercive field (by raising the operating applications. point vertically in Figure 2). So far, NdFeB magnets show the highest value of remanence Br and energy product (BH)max, and samarium-cobalt magnets exhibit the highest coercive fields, Hc.

The direct chemical synthesis process is able to produce Samarium Cobalt rapidly and in large amounts, at a small fraction of the cost of the current industry method.

Samarium Cobalt magnets are superior to other classes of permanent magnetic materials for advanced high-temperature applications and the Northeastern invention goes beyond the currently known fabrication process of these nanostructured magnets. Unlike the traditional multi-step metallurgical techniques that provide limited control of the size and shape of the final magnetic particles, the Northeastern scientists’ one-step method produces air-stable “nanoblades” (elongated nanoparticles shaped like blades) that allow for a more efficient assembly that may ultimately result in smaller and lighter magnets without sacrificing performance.

This revolutionary invention is anticipated to not only revitalize the permanent magnet industry, it has the potential to bring major changes to several federal and commercial industries, including its potential to impact the size, weight, and performance of aircraft, ships, and land-based vehicles, as well as contribute to more efficient computer technologies and emerging biomedical applications.

“This work represents the most promising advance in rare earth permanent magnet processing in many years,” said Laura Henderson Lewis, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University and a collaborator on this project. “I expect it to revitalize international interest in the development of this important class of engineering materials.”

FURTHER READING
A turbogenerator study which used permanent magnets to make parts of a generator smaller and more efficient.

Cheap, strong permanent magnet can help make more powerful in wheel motors.

Different kinds of permanent magnet engines are analyzed and compared in this 123 page Oak Ridge National Lab study for the Freedomcar project

EEStor update from MIT Technology Review

EEStor has manufactured materials that have met all certification milestones for crystallization, chemical purity, and particle-size consistency. The results suggest that the materials can be made at a high-enough grade to meet the company's performance goals. The company also said a key component of the material can withstand the extreme voltages needed for high energy storage. Representatives of the company said in a press release that certification data proves that voltage breakdown of the aluminum oxide occurs at 1,100 volts per micron--nearly three times higher than EEStor's target of 350 volts.

EEStor claims that its system, called an electrical energy storage unit (EESU), will have more than three times the energy density of the top lithium-ion batteries today. The company also says that the solid-state device will be safer and longer lasting, and will have the ability to recharge in less than five minutes. Toronto-based ZENN Motor, an EEStor investor and customer, says that it's developing an EESU-powered car with a top speed of 80 miles per hour and a 250-mile range. It hopes to launch the vehicle, which the company says will be inexpensive, in the fall of 2009. At the EESU's core is a ceramic material consisting of a barium titanate powder that is coated with aluminum oxide and a type of glass material.

EEStor claims momentum is building and that they'll start coming out with information about the company's progress on a "more rapid basis." Plans are also under way for a major expansion of EEStor's production lines. "There's nothing complex in this," he says, pointing to his past engineering days at IBM. "It's nowhere near the complexity of disk-drive fabrication."

If EEStor is successful, their technology could be used to extend the range, capacity or other performance metrics of electric planes. Current electric planes have a range of about 100 miles. Tripling range would be 300 miles. Alternatively a shorter range with more passengers is also possible. 4 people instead of two people at about 100-150 mile range.

Hybrid electric planes can go 720 miles.

Hybrid plane with double Prius fuel efficiency.

Mark D Moore of NASA had a presentation at the Electric aircraft conference and described a hybrid plane that could achieve 720 mile range and 100mpg with a speed of 80 knots (92.2 mph)

The plane could fly from San Francisco, CA to Salt Lake City, Utah in less than 8 hours (using 8 gallons of gas) or from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less 4 hours (using 4 gallons of gas).

The proposal is to slightly modify a newly introduced electric sailplane by having several small electric engines for more safety and to add a compact combustion engine for more range.

The electric sailplanes and motorized gliders were discussed on this site as 438 mpg equivalent super-commuter planes with 100 mile range.

Electric planes are flying now. The Pipestrel electric glider plane exists now. The lightweight gas engines exist now.

The Pipestrel Taurus Electro, motorized electric glider plane, flying in the air. More photos of the Pipestrel Electro are here


The Pipestrel Electro will soon have a better continuous operation electric engine.

Lightweight gas engines are listed here.

The engine for the Raytheon Killer Bee UAV only weighs 16 lbs and can get up to 25HP.


The Revetec X4V2 is 105 kg and gets up to 87HP.

RadMax rotary engine is 42 lbs and 40 HP.

Integrating working engines with working electric planes. Iterate designs and build to perfect but the engineering is very close to creating working prototypes. It will then be a matter of scaling up production.



There are many experimental electric plane designs










All electric planes will get better range with expected improved technology

FURTHER READING
The small engines suitable for these light planes are also ideal for powering the DARPA exoskeleton, which would make real life iron men. Strength is boosted ten times.

CNET had coverage of the Pipestrel electro airplane

The glider weighs little more than 700 pounds and costs $133,000.

Richard Jones, a technical fellow at Boeing Phantom Works. The research group is designing a plane-car hybrid to travel up to 300 miles at a time. Jones believes that by 2030, precision navigation systems could make it easier to pilot a compact plane than to drive a car.

Engineer Greg Stevenson displayed a two-cycle diesel engine that weighs 18 pounds and can run on biofuels.

The Speculist has a take on making the electric/hybrid flying planes convert into cars by having the wing section detach. The electric/hybrid car would be like the lightweight Aptera three wheel car.

The future of fast long range commuting: 438 mpg Commuter UAV

A better and faster path to efficient personal flight is emerging now. UAV guidance can fly and land planes without human pilots. There are new two seat electric planes emerging with 100+ mph speed and 438 mpg equivalent efficiency. This could be the safer and more efficient replacement system for long commutes, that is faster and better than robotic electric cars. This site has previously discussed transforming transportation with robotically driven electric cars in cities. Robotic UAV piloting would be added to create a scalable, environmentally friendly transportation system. The planes and the passengers could have parachutes or advanced airbag systems in case of failures. The lower speed of 100 mph would be comparable to car safety challenges. The glider like characteristics would make safety issues far easier to deal with as well.

The World's cheapest autopilot is about $110 add a FMA Co-Pilot for stabilization, a Hobbico SuperStar plane, some servos, and a 6-Channel radio system, and you have all the parts for a $440 unmanned aerial vehicle.

Security is not that much of issue for light robotic electric planes
The planes cannot carry much weight. If one were to load them with explosives then one would get similar effect with several large, cheaper robotic model planes.

Large RC model planes as big or bigger than as a person. Remote control model planes with 50kg of payload are not uncommon.

RC model plane with 21 foot wingspan

Security is not radically reduced and not changed much from carbombs.

The light gliders could have assisted short takeoff launching systems, which would be easy because they are so light.

The Pipestrel electric plane can takeoff with less than 100 meters of runway. An enhanced launching system could reduce the takeoff distance to 50 meters or less. The electric planes have to reach less than 100mpg to takeoff.

UAVs prove that robotic flight can be safe.

Longer range in Future
Improved electrical power sources will eventually allow longer range and higher speeds for electric planes, which would eliminate the need for more expensive high speed trains and transform long range aviation. High speed rail takes many years and billions of dollars to build.

Popular Science discusses a contest to make 100 mpg personal airplanes.


Greg Cole is building a two-seat electric plane called the Goshawk that he estimates will travel at an average speed of 102 mph and get the equivalent of 438 mpg.
The biggest obstacle is packing enough on board. Cole’s Goshawk can hold only enough lithium-ion batteries for a one-hour flight. This is still 100 mile range which is enough for a fast commute, especially with a battery swap/recharge upon landing.

Greg Coles company is Windward Performance, which makes the $41,000 Sparrowhawk sailplane.

The Goshawk was shown at the 2008 electric airplane symposium. the Goshawk would cruise at 115 knots on 21 horsepower.


And later in 2008, Slovenian plane-maker Pipistrel will begin selling its Taurus Electro, a glider that uses an electric motor on takeoff. “Electric propulsion is where it’s at,” Moore says. The clearest benefit is efficiency. Whereas piston engines extract about 20 percent of the energy in gas, electric motors use at least 90 percent of the power stored in batteries.

The Pipestrel battery-powered, self-launching motorglider would allow climbing to 6000 feet in a side-by-side seating, two-place aircraft on only 70 cents worth of electricity, soaring at a 40:1 glide ratio, and then recharging in less than 2 hours.



The Pipestrel motorglider would be powered by the AK30K016 electric motor, which weighs 14 kg, generates 30kw, 1800 RPM, 200Nm at 95% efficiency.





The Pipestrel motorized glider has 46kg of lithium batteries that store 6kwh of power.


Second engine is even lighter and made for continuous operation.

Plenty of Space in the system for all commuters

Consider the example of Toronto, which has 16 lanes for some highway sections (including feeder highways)

The area and density of Toronto:
City 630 km² (243.2 sq mi)
City 2,503,281
Density 3,972/km² (10,287.4/sq mi)

So for each cubic kilometer if everyone had a flying electric plane and had them all
flying at the same time. Assuming even one per child.
40 levels (25 meters between elevations, 11 story building in between each level)
100 planes on each square kilometer level. 10 rows of 10 planes. 100 meters between each plane.
A football field in between planes.
Only one cubic kilometer layer. Nothing flying below 1000 feet (except when landing or taking off) or above 6000 feet. Higher levels for larger planes.
Plenty of volume for each plane. Everyone in a car would gridlock the city. Travel in different directions can easily be split.


A fully utilized electric plane commuter system would be like a very sparse and roomy version of the 5th element. Plus the vehicles look more light plane like instead of like cars.

Even more space with less density out in the burbs and metro areas.
Urban 1,749 km² (675.3 sq mi)
Metro 7,125 km² (2,751 sq mi)
Urban 4,753,120
Metro 5,555,912

Overcrowding of electric planes will not be a problem for a long time, because it has to get popular and the planes have to be built and the factories for the planes have to be built. (decades)
Any building to building service would require vertical hover capable versions.
Parking would be an issue well before.

Licensed pilots would be a stepping stone situation until robotic flight is mainstream. Although good robotic would be the preferred option to make this the safest high volume transportation alternative.

Sport pilot licenses would be enough. 3 hours of dual training over 60 days and 20 hours of flight time.

Once someone was flying themselves for commuting or other purpose, then racking up the flight hours for a private pilot license would be easy.

There are almost 250,000 general aviation planes in the USA

So electric and hybrid planes in the $40,000-140,000 range will further expand those numbers. High volumes could bring the price down and numbers of these planes up. The growth could be faster than electric cars and closely trace the volume of hybrid cars.


FURTHER READING
Micropilot is leader in small UAV autopilots

- World’s smallest UAV autopilot; 28 grams, 4 cm by 10 cm
- GPS waypoint navigation with altitude and airspeed hold
- Completely independent operation including autonomous takeoff, bungee launch, hand launch and landing

The US Army is starting an ambitious UAV procurement program.