Lifting off green: hybrid helicopters and solar planes.

 


It’s not just the automotive industry that is investigating new ways to power vehicles. Another patent held by aircraft manufacturer Airbus describes an innovative way to power the flight of helicopters: an electrical engine supports the power provided by the main combustion engine to enable variable control of the speed of one rotor. This allows energy consumption to be optimized depending on whether the helicopter is taking off, flying or landing. The system also stores excess electrical energy that can then be released to provide more power as needed.



Eventually, though, it may be possible for some aircraft to travel around the world without any kind of traditional engine power. That’s the goal of Solar Impulse, a long-range solar-powered flight project developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.

The project team has created an aircraft with the same wingspan as an Airbus A340 airliner that uses the sun to charge lithium polymer batteries via 11 628 photovoltaic cells on the upper wing surface. The batteries power a 10 hp motor and a twin-bladed propeller. Excess energy is stored during the day so that the plane can also fly at night. The aircraft has already completed extensive test flights in Europe and the USA lasting up to 26 hours, and a round-the-world test flight is planned for next year.


Posted by Muhammad Azim 

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