The Aviation Thread [Contains Lots of Awesome Pictures]

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Funky Blue paint scheme FTW
 
what is the future of air travel?

it just occured to me today.... obviously crude oil will run out one day, whether it be that we used up all the supplies or simply cant drill the remaining fields (due to technical or economic issues), so that means no more jet fuel, and until then....coupled with the green movement/green taxes, the price of that fuel an the price of your ticket will go up.

now with cars we've already seen battery power, we've seen hydrogen fuel cells........ but what about aircraft? when theres no jet fuel to burn what are the turbines gonna run on? i know gas turbines are quite fuel flexible....biofuels? what if that wont work?

whats the aero industries equivalent of the hydrogen fuel cell?
 
I'm sure a bio ethanol/hydrogen variants can be developed with the rating of A1 jet fuel. There's just no drive atm. considering the Koenigsegg is more powerful on the green stuff, it can be derived that a more powerful engine can b acquired using that sort of fuel, which and then you can derate that to use less than current. and what with reduced gallons/mile on every new aircraft, fuel will be something that amateurists and historic planes will use.

That or we'll all go thorium reactor. :p
 
Biofuels do work. Airbus has already tested aircrafts burning biofuels before.

In terms of stuff like UAV's, its not too big a stretch of the imagination to see solar panels integrated into the airframe design to increase endurance, and there's no reason why fuel cells can't be designed for propeller aircrafts.
 
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what is the future of air travel?

it just occured to me today.... obviously crude oil will run out one day, whether it be that we used up all the supplies or simply cant drill the remaining fields (due to technical or economic issues), so that means no more jet fuel, and until then....coupled with the green movement/green taxes, the price of that fuel an the price of your ticket will go up.

now with cars we've already seen battery power, we've seen hydrogen fuel cells........ but what about aircraft? when theres no jet fuel to burn what are the turbines gonna run on? i know gas turbines are quite fuel flexible....biofuels? what if that wont work?

whats the aero industries equivalent of the hydrogen fuel cell?

Spooky timing. Discovery Turbo did an all day stack of "Classic British Aircraft" yesterday and one episode featured the Vampire. They interviewed a guy who used to work on them who said the engine would pretty much run on any liquid that would burn, including cooking oil IIRC.

Conclusion, if we want to fly anywhere in the 22nd century then we'll all have to give up eating chips.
 
Spooky timing. Discovery Turbo did an all day stack of "Classic British Aircraft" yesterday and one episode featured the Vampire. They interviewed a guy who used to work on them who said the engine would pretty much run on any liquid that would burn, including cooking oil IIRC.

Conclusion, if we want to fly anywhere in the 22nd century then we'll all have to give up eating chips.

I've heard stories of turbine engine (either for turboprop aircraft or for helicopters, don't remember) running on Vodka :lol:

I also talked with an helicopter pilot who told me they are allowed to run a certain number of hours on ordinary car fuel.
 
I've heard stories of turbine engine (either for turboprop aircraft or for helicopters, don't remember) running on Vodka :lol:

I also talked with an helicopter pilot who told me they are allowed to run a certain number of hours on ordinary car fuel.
Was it a real helicopter pilot or one who likes to play in a Robinson R22/R44 on weekends? If so google MOGAS. It's been used for a while, indeed with limitations.
 
Was it a real helicopter pilot or one who likes to play in a Robinson R22/R44 on weekends? If so google MOGAS. It's been used for a while, indeed with limitations.

Well, any rated pilot are real pilots in my book, even the ones who only play with small Robinsons on weekends, but it was indeed a commercially rated B206 pilot. But that conversations happened more than 10 years ago, so the details are flaky.
 
I imagine hydrogren will be explored as an aircraft fuel. Air-breathing, hydrogen fueled rockets are currently being developed, and if a suitable storage method can be created, it would become much more attractive for turbojet/fan engines.

Airbus has been testing running A380's on a mix of biofuel and jet fuel and are developing the infrastructure with Qantas to produce large amounts of biofuel. So obviously, we will see pretty quickly whether or not biofuels...take off.

Wherever the industry goes, any move away from standard fuel would be great. Reduce costs and emissions while possibly increasing efficiency.
 
what is the future of air travel?

it just occured to me today.... obviously crude oil will run out one day, whether it be that we used up all the supplies or simply cant drill the remaining fields (due to technical or economic issues), so that means no more jet fuel, and until then....coupled with the green movement/green taxes, the price of that fuel an the price of your ticket will go up.

now with cars we've already seen battery power, we've seen hydrogen fuel cells........ but what about aircraft? when theres no jet fuel to burn what are the turbines gonna run on? i know gas turbines are quite fuel flexible....biofuels? what if that wont work?

whats the aero industries equivalent of the hydrogen fuel cell?

The US Air Force (and the Soviet Air Force) tested nuclear-powered planes, with nuclear reactors on board. As far as I know, shielding was a big issue and the US, at least, never actually used their reactors to power the plane itself.
 
IIRC Lockheed did some investigation of hydrogen back in the early 1970s and might even have ground-run a TriStar on hydrogen. The big issue was around the weight penalty for the hydrogen storage (i.e., the weight of the tanks required to hold the pressure as compared to the basic 'container' required for Jet-A).

Steve
 
Fuel Cell:

Enjoy your Antares DLR-H2. Also comes in pure electrical form, without wing tanks.

I'm not sure a plane is pretty if it has an aspect ratio above 1/15...
 
IIRC Lockheed did some investigation of hydrogen back in the early 1970s and might even have ground-run a TriStar on hydrogen. The big issue was around the weight penalty for the hydrogen storage (i.e., the weight of the tanks required to hold the pressure as compared to the basic 'container' required for Jet-A).

Steve

There is also the issue with the amount of hydrogen that can be carried. While hydrogen is a better fuel pound for pound, because it is so less dense, not nearly as much can be carried as traditional hydrocarbons.
 
what is the future of air travel?

it just occured to me today.... obviously crude oil will run out one day, whether it be that we used up all the supplies or simply cant drill the remaining fields (due to technical or economic issues), so that means no more jet fuel, and until then....coupled with the green movement/green taxes, the price of that fuel an the price of your ticket will go up.

now with cars we've already seen battery power, we've seen hydrogen fuel cells........ but what about aircraft? when theres no jet fuel to burn what are the turbines gonna run on? i know gas turbines are quite fuel flexible....biofuels? what if that wont work?

whats the aero industries equivalent of the hydrogen fuel cell?

USAF is currently beginning to source fuel from refined bituminous coal as part of a plan to reduce their dependence on the people they spend so much time blowing up. From what I remember, the C-17 was the first airframe certified, and the goal is to have the entire fleet certified to run on the shit by the end of 2011.
 
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