Solar powered/hybrid electric motor glider - it's a bubble!!

EMF

EMF

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Ok this is a stretch- but it's gorgeous!!! It's only a design, a concept, but it's exciting just to look at. I wonder if it will ever be built? Where's that guy from Virgin Airlines when you really need him? :)
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1855/69/

A design for an ultra-environmental aricraft just won the top prize at the prestigious Lucky Strike Junior Designer Award. Roland Cernat, who just graduated from the University of Applied Sciences Schwäbisch Gmünd / Germany created the airplane with the environment in mind.

First, once in the air, it can travel entirely fuelessly, much like other ultra-light gliders. It can tuck away it's tiny propellers for 100% aerodynamic flight. But when it needs an extra boost, generally for take-off, the glider's propellers unfurl, driven by a small electric motor that is powered either by an on-board generator or by thin film solar panels on the planes wings and tail.

We've seen other ultra-lights that get good gas mileage, but every component of this plane was constructed for minimal environmental impact.

The cockpit is constructed entirely from a new kind of plastic that can be melted and re-molded infinitely for cradle to cradle use. It also allows the entire body of the airplane to be clear. And though some (including myself) might this find extremely disconcerting, others would love the experience.motorglider1.jpg
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You can recall some years ago Paul Macready built an entirely solar-powered aircraft - the solar challenger - it was largely derived from his earlier human-powered plane the Gosamer Condor that successfully flew across the English channel. Both planes were frail, extreme-low speed aircraft with huge wingspans that were usable only in very light winds.

There is a guy who is building and selling lithium powered electric trike-type ultralights. They are expensive compared to the gas versions though. http://www.electraflyer.com/
 
Lowell said:
What do the wingtips do?
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They reduce the wingtip vortices that standard tips create.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingtip_device

Fig028.jpg
 
I'm familiar with wing end plates, especially as they apply to racing cars, but had never seen 'bubble blower' loop wing tips.
 
PJD mentioned the Gossamer Condor which flew the English Channel powered by a highly athletic cyclist. When I saw it, I thought what a good idea it would be to fill the wings with helium to reduce the effort required to get airborne and so bring that type of travel within the scope of normal mortals. However, I suspect that the volume of Helium needed to give sufficient lift would be greater than the wing volume. There was a Youtube video of an French airship, raised by helium and propelled by a cyclist turning propellers. Lost the URL for the moment.
 
I know the one you mean, but can't remember the name. I did rememebr the name of another, built for Galliger for one of his shows back in the '80's called the White dwarf.

if they can build electric plains and paragliders, why not a blimp? it wouldn't take much power to propell if an average Coke snorting Hollywood Comedian with a beer gut could power one
 
Did you guys see this ultralight? It looks like it uses a Mars or Etek motor, not sure which battery they use, but 5.6 KWH costs $8500.

tech3.jpg
 
Here's a list of "self-launching" sailplanes. They are well-known with tiny 2-stroke engines and folding propellors, but the electric version is a new wrinkle. For those with a big budget, there's no reason the solar PV panels charging a lithium battery wouldnt work.

http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/zwfmot.htm
silent2targa_2.jpg


Nasa has a "high endurance" upper atmosphere data-gathering UAV thats PV-electric. batteries power it at night, and it flies above the clouds so it has consistent daytime power gathering. Here's another list with solar-PV UAVs

http://thefutureofthings.com/articles/51/solar-uav-to-set-a-new-world-record.html
 

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