An electrically powered machine, that produces more electricity than it uses, is a perpetual motion machine, even if it flies.
Solar powered aircraft fly, only through the use of the best conducting wire, the strongest rare earth permanent magnets and solar cells with the highest power to weight ratio, not to mention an extremely aerodynamic shape, a extremely small payload capability, and safety margins that are non-existent ( not to mention more than a few prayers ). All it takes is one thing to go wrong, and it falls out of the sky. I know they are around I just don't think they are going to amount to anything other that aerial reconnaissance or temporary communications relay platforms for an very long time. It doesn't matter how many solar cells you put on a aircraft, it not going to be aerodynamic fit enough, to fly into the middle of the jet stream, with a couple of wind turbines on it. Once ' room temperature supper conductor wire ', becomes an everyday item, then there is a chance, but, only a chance. I'm not going to hold my breath. Every time I see someone promoting something like Helios as the next step, I have to wonder, what is the ecological cost of such an item? What is the ecological cost of making " More than 62,000 bifacial solar cells " , when all it takes is a single bad electrical connection, a bit of radio interference ( static ), to turn it in to expensive ( but useless ) rubble ? If you want innovation, as far as long distance and endurance is concerned, look the company that has set the standard for long endurance flights - Scaled Composites, and the next record breaking aircraft GlobalFlyer. 1 man. Solo. Around the world. Non-stop. Greg H. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Martin Klingensmith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 18:01 Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Wind Turbines > Solar glider/airplanes do :) > -- > -- > Martin Klingensmith > http://infoarchive.net/ > http://nnytech.net/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
