This is just cool science/engineering

[SunSurfer]

 

First ever plane with no moving parts takes flight

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/21/first-ever-plane-with-no-moving-parts-takes-flight?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

 

 

[scottishsurfer]

i do wonder just how well it will scale up the biggest issue i see with this as always is batteries and there resulting weight, still damn cool

though

[Eboot]

Cool

It’s happening all over: yesterday’s science fiction is today’s reality.

[Corey]

For our US friends, that's about 0.8 HP to fly a 5.4-lb plane in steady state.  I have no idea how efficient that is in terms of other propulsion sources, but that seems relatively poor.  Of course any early technology is horribly inefficient compared to refined systems.  

Neat idea.  I wonder how much efficiency can be gained?  That'll determine if it'll fly (ha!) or not in the free market.  Look for a $900 Dyson fan/insect zapper coming soon.  

[Neil Gendzwill]

4 hours ago, Corey said:

For our US friends, that's about 0.8 HP to fly a 5.4-lb plane in steady state.  I have no idea how efficient that is in terms of other propulsion sources, but that seems relatively poor.

From the article: "a thrust-to-power ratio comparable to that achieved by conventional systems such as jet engines."

[JRAZZ]

7 hours ago, Corey said:

For our US friends, that's about 0.8 HP to fly a 5.4-lb plane in steady state.  I have no idea how efficient that is in terms of other propulsion sources, but that seems relatively poor.  Of course any early technology is horribly inefficient compared to refined systems.  

Neat idea.  I wonder how much efficiency can be gained?  That'll determine if it'll fly (ha!) or not in the free market.  Look for a $900 Dyson fan/insect zapper coming soon.  

Not really terrible. Surprisingly good actually.

I think it's a cool demonstration even if the real use is not readily apparent. Certainly won't replace jets anytime soon but electric propulsion is a hot topic today. Everyone is trying to find ways to get away from fossils fuels.

[Beckmann AG]

Wright Flyer redux.

[lowrider]

3 hours ago, JVRazz said:

 Everyone is trying to find ways to get away from fossils fuels.

Unless you live in Alberta or Texas.

[bobble]

i'm skeptical on ionic wind propulsion... not sure how well ionic wind propulsion would work in our atmosphere especially with rain/snow. maybe it'll work out for a drone that is quieter than conventional drones. this technology has been around for almost 100 years and therefore i would think if this was a viable then something would've come along years ago.

here's a youtube video on making a similar device. i suggest substituting with titanal and report back what happens.

 

there's an interesting "pseudo-science" book called "The Hunt For Zero Point" written by Nick Cook who was a writer for Jane's Defense Weekly. i enjoyed the book in the same way i used to like watching the "X-Files". entertaining to read, be cool if true. its definitely on the fringe.

in the book, Cook writes about how in the 50's there were articles written by defense contractors about how gravity engines were just a few years away. then the articles noticeably disappeared. he's prompted to investigate why we don't have flying cars. after exhausting all of the main cliche's of this pseudo-science genre; e.g. Roswell, captured aliens, Tesla-Tesla-Tesla, Philadelphia Experiment, Area 51, Zero Point Energy, Nazis, and etc, he comes to the opinion that if anti-gravity technology was developed then it must be far too dangerous for us to use.

relevant to the OP and the ionic wind glider ... in the book, Cook devotes many pages to Thomas Townsend Brown who was a pioneer in the field of "electro-gravitics". around the 1920's, he somehow discovered by accident there was noticeable thrust when charging a capacitor to high voltages (20K - 500KV). i know something of electronics and i don't quite get how someone discovers that a capacitor has a tiny bit of thrust. anyways, he created a "gravitator" device that looked like rectangular plastic box. it was basically a capacitor with high dielectric withstand rating. it would exhibit a 1% weight loss or 1% weight gain depending on the polarity of a 100 kilo-volt direct current power source. he eventually refined the gravitator design into something that that resembled a small flying saucer and this occurred long was before flying saucers became a thing. 

in 1945, Brown demonstrated the gravitator device to the military but couldn't gain their interest. scientists who attended the demonstration were not impressed because  ionic wind was obviously generating the thrust -- not true anti-gravity. Brown however insisted that the thrust was not from ionic wind and was able to demonstrate that his device was capable of producing thrust even inside a vacuum chamber. no one seemed at the time interested because (1) the measured thrust was minuscule and (2) airplanes don't work well in a vacuum. he continued his research but nothing significant came of it except conspiracy theories with links to Tesla. anyways, to this day people are recreating Brown's experiments.

its almost 100 years since Brown and his gravitator device were first shown. recently NASA, has been evaluating the EM drive -- thrust using microwaves --  another electro-gravitic device. i'm not exactly sure if NASA has determined the EM drive works as advertised. be cool if it works out. maybe Brown was onto something...
 

[lordmetroland]

On 11/22/2018 at 2:53 PM, JVRazz said:

Everyone is trying to find ways to get away from fossils fuels.

The bastards will have to pry my six-burner Capital range from my cold, dead hands...

[JRAZZ]

[Corey]

3 hours ago, bobble said:

100 kilo-volt direct current power source. 

<snip>

its almost 100 years since Brown and his gravitator device were first shown. 

20 years ago another department at my small workplace was doing some experiments with this. No fires, but a few big zaps with minimal results. Looked super sketchy with minimal safety protocols. 

[softbootsurfer]

Awesome 

also, took us awhile to know, what a Wheel could do eh? 

[pauleleven]

The biggest problem would be battery, current energy to weight ratio is not very good even on the ground, this bottleneck could take between a decade and half a century to solve.

An example, the Tesla Semi, amazing machine, but also big batteries. Batteries are so proportionally big that someone did a calculation based on existing technology from Tesla and current legislation:

 

Basically battry weight eats into the amount of cargo the truck can carry, making the trucks less profitable than existing solutions, but with the rise of price of oil one day the margin for electric trucks will be better than oil trucks.