Future of aviation, or flash in the pan??

The nine px Alice prototype suffered a setback in Arizona as a fire on
the ground damaged the plane significantly, ahead of planned taxi tests.

https://www.flightglobal.com/air-tra...136327.article

In other electrifying news, a U.K. company is working on another
electric conversion of a small commuter airplane, this one featuring an
innovative turbine powered generator tucked inside the fuselage to top
up the batteries on those long flights. So it will be powered by
electricity, JET-A, and a $12 million government grant.

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/...tric-airliner/

On 1/23/20 7:17 PM, kinsell wrote:
The nine px Alice prototype suffered a setback in Arizona as a fire on
the ground damaged the plane significantly, ahead of planned taxi tests.

https://www.flightglobal.com/air-tra...136327.article


In other electrifying news, a U.K. company is working on another
electric conversion of a small commuter airplane, this one featuring an
innovative turbine powered generator tucked inside the fuselage to top
up the batteries on those long flights.Â* So it will be powered by
electricity, JET-A, and a $12 million government grant.

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/...tric-airliner/



Link to some of the video for those without a FB account:

https://prescottenews.com/index.php/...gional-airport

Good to run those tests at night so you can see the fire sooner.

On Friday, January 24, 2020 at 8:58:27 AM UTC-8, Steve Leonard wrote:
Good to run those tests at night so you can see the fire sooner.

Somehow that just reminds me of when I was doing maintenance runs of a MD 520N helicopter in front it's rather large hangar and large taxiway. The hangar owner from across the taxiway came over and told me to shut down because the helicopter was making too much noise, at the airport. I tried so hard not to laugh at him but a chuckle still escaped.

On 1/24/20 9:58 AM, Steve Leonard wrote:
Good to run those tests at night so you can see the fire sooner.


Good point. But if the main battery ever lit up (8200 lbs of
lithium-cobalt) it ought to make quite a bonfire.

On Friday, January 24, 2020 at 12:13:49 PM UTC-5, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
On Friday, January 24, 2020 at 8:58:27 AM UTC-8, Steve Leonard wrote:
Good to run those tests at night so you can see the fire sooner.

Somehow that just reminds me of when I was doing maintenance runs of a MD 520N helicopter in front it's rather large hangar and large taxiway. The hangar owner from across the taxiway came over and told me to shut down because the helicopter was making too much noise, at the airport. I tried so hard not to laugh at him but a chuckle still escaped.

Back in the mid 1980's, a military spouse, who lived on the same base where I was stationed, complained of jet noise - at a USAFE base in Germany.

Ray

On Friday, January 24, 2020 at 9:21:41 AM UTC-8, kinsell wrote:
On 1/24/20 9:58 AM, Steve Leonard wrote:
Good to run those tests at night so you can see the fire sooner.


Good point. But if the main battery ever lit up (8200 lbs of
lithium-cobalt) it ought to make quite a bonfire.

But the weight efficiency of those LiCo bats is phenomenal. Let's see, 900KWH is the same energy in......154 lbs of Jet-A. Not sure how much energy is in 8200 lbs of LiCo if you light it on fire though.

On Friday, January 24, 2020 at 11:19:09 AM UTC-8, jfitch wrote:

...Let's see, 900KWH is the same energy in......154 lbs of Jet-A. Not sure how much energy is in 8200 lbs of LiCo if you light it on fire though.

Fully-charged lithium battery fires generally release as heat 1.6 times the stored electrical energy over the course of the runaway. So it'd be about like 250 lbs of Jet-A.

On 1/24/20 1:07 PM, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Friday, January 24, 2020 at 11:19:09 AM UTC-8, jfitch wrote:

...Let's see, 900KWH is the same energy in......154 lbs of Jet-A. Not sure how much energy is in 8200 lbs of LiCo if you light it on fire though.

Fully-charged lithium battery fires generally release as heat 1.6 times the stored electrical energy over the course of the runaway. So it'd be about like 250 lbs of Jet-A.


What ever the number is, it can pack a punch. Relevant stuff starts
about 5:00


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvkEpstd9os&t=1326s

On Friday, January 24, 2020 at 12:21:41 PM UTC-5, kinsell wrote:
On 1/24/20 9:58 AM, Steve Leonard wrote:
Good to run those tests at night so you can see the fire sooner.


Good point. But if the main battery ever lit up (8200 lbs of
lithium-cobalt) it ought to make quite a bonfire.

Somehow flying that thing makes me think of the guy riding the H-bomb in Doctor Strangelove.

I do hope they find safer battery chemistries before long. LiFePO4 is much safer, but the energy density is even poorer and the cost even higher.