On Feb 27, 2:10*pm, wrote:

Along those lines, I'm very excited about Eestor. I hope they can
produce what they say they can. The power-to-weight ratio would be a
huge advantage for electric aircraft.- Hide quoted text -


Ultracapacitors have some amazing advantages (especially in terms of
cycle time / recharge time)... But even these new ones by companies
like AltairNano and EEStor are turning out to have disappointing
problems or real-world constraints (i.e. much lower useable voltages
or lifetimes compared to the "on-paper" specs and energy density).
EEStor has missed milestones for over a year (2007 stuff was pushed to
mid-2008, and recently pushed back again to mid-2009)... Not a good
sign! http://earth2tech.com/2008/12/26/ees...tones-in-2008/

I personally believe that Lithium Battery technology is the more
likely avenue for progress - since batteries can be dropped into
existing systems without having to re-wire them (to accept capacitor
discharge pulses or other unique systems). Plus, there are several
different avenues of serious research into lithium battery technology
(Yi Cui's group is just one of them) - so the likelihood of at least
one of them coming to market with a viable product is pretty high...

Take care,

--Noel