Looks more like a drone to me (ie, there's no useful load).
Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
181–190 of 220 posts
Re: Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
#182Looks more like a drone to me (ie, there's no useful load).
> "which is designed to stay airborne for weeks at a time in order to provide internet to users on the ground"
The hardware for this purpose doesn't require a heavy aircraft, I suppose.
Re: Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a 38' steel sloop with 400w of solar + a wind generator on-board. I'm not a full-time liveaboard, but I have been on-board for the last couple of months and you can definitely make it work. Sailing is labor intensive, but not in the ways you imagine. Navigation, docking and provisioning are all straightforward. Where it can sometimes feel like a full-time job is maintenance. Everything on a boat wants to break…
I learned a few years ago about barnacles, which by virtue of being unaerodynamic and super heavy if you let them form huge colonies on the bottom of your ship, can decrease fuel efficiency severely. I saw how much work maintanence was, I said 'nope!' I guess a house is similar in some ways. Shingles don't last forever, pipes get corroded. The salty sea though, it's a bit more unkind to things, aye?
I don't get why US houses are still built with shingles, they don't seem to last at all. Our houses are generally built with roof tiles (not mine, I've got a flat roof which will need to be redone every 25-30 odd years :/ ) which last for decades and generally only need a few replaced after heavy storms, maybe cleaned up if they look grimy.
Pipes are made from plastic and last decades, but they're generally not too hard to replace though.
I'd argue the biggest maintenance jobs to a house is keeping everything clean, basically the same as a boat. The other one would be painting every couple of years, and of course garden maintenance.
Re: Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's look at numbers. NYC->LDN great-circle distance is 5576 km. At altitude, that is (3959+547)/3959 * 5576 = 6346 km. Idealized path is thus 547 * 2 + 6346 = 7420 km. (Actually a bit less because the path is part of a polygon, not an arc.) Non-ideal path, for satellites not directly overhead, is more like 7900 km, worst case more. Still, transit time, light through vacuum, is Compare to fiber. Best ping time is 76…
that crap should be banned... if only rich folk can do these trades it is not fair for everyone else.
Who ever said it is fair?
There are many things rich people can do, poor cannot. You gotta have money, to make (real) money. Thats the harsh truth and most of us who do not have it, have to struggle hard, to make some wealth and very, very hard and be very lucky and gifted, to get rich by it (without negating all ethics).
Re: Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
#185Not mentioned in the article, but the li-ion batteries onboard the aircraft have a silicon nanowire anode thus achieving amazing energy density: https://www.amprius.com/2019/10/airbus-partners-with-amprius...
Do you know what sort of density and discharge rates they're talking?
Only the company's own marketing materials, but as a data point six years ago they partnered with a Chinese phone manufacturer to create a device with an absurd (at the time) 5800mAh battery:
https://www.gizchina.com/2015/04/27/bluboo-x550-will-feature...
They've made some improvements since, but the exact parameters haven't been disclosed.
Re: Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you know what sort of density and discharge rates they're talking?
Only the company's own marketing materials, but as a data point six years ago they partnered with a Chinese phone manufacturer to create a device with an absurd (at the time) 5800mAh battery: https://www.gizchina.com/2015/04/27/bluboo-x550-will-feature... They've made some improvements since, but the exact parameters haven't been disclosed.
Hmm, that seems interesting, but it's not very specific (Ah/g), so who knows what the actual capacity is... They do mention a 1.25A discharge rate, at least.
Re: Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
that crap should be banned... if only rich folk can do these trades it is not fair for everyone else.
Who ever said it is fair? There are many things rich people can do, poor cannot. You gotta have money, to make (real) money. Thats the harsh truth and most of us who do not have it, have to struggle hard, to make some wealth and very, very hard and be very lucky and gifted, to get rich by it (without negating all ethics).
Isn't some of the futility if that struggle due to the theft-by-design that central bank led inflation causes, along with their reliance on the government education systems continuing to fail to educate people on his money actually works?
Re: Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's look at numbers. NYC->LDN great-circle distance is 5576 km. At altitude, that is (3959+547)/3959 * 5576 = 6346 km. Idealized path is thus 547 * 2 + 6346 = 7420 km. (Actually a bit less because the path is part of a polygon, not an arc.) Non-ideal path, for satellites not directly overhead, is more like 7900 km, worst case more. Still, transit time, light through vacuum, is Compare to fiber. Best ping time is 76…
that crap should be banned... if only rich folk can do these trades it is not fair for everyone else.
That’s what public companies are for. Lots of not necessarily rich people pool their money to become one very rich entity
Re: Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a whole world there I do not know and don't really want to. What a strange world we live in.
Yes. You can think of it as automated stealing. Much of the inequity could be eliminated by imposing a per-transaction tax.
Then you get more smart people being pointed at "minimising the tax burden" instead of "doing things faster/better".
Re: Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing
#190This is great and points to how solar in some cases already can facilitate continuous operation without the need for refueling of planes, boats, cars, you name it. Expect this to grow as battery and solar cell tech develops further. My favorites atm are the yachts that are capable of sailing just about anywhere in the world without a drop of fuel. The price is prohibitive, but considering that you might not need a ho…
I've always been kinda fascinated by this solar yacht concept. I wonder now with post-covid remote working options and starlink if you could actually make it work. I do wonder though if sailing the ship is basically a full-time job in itself (navigation channels? Docking at foreign countries? Getting food etc?).
> I do wonder though if sailing the ship is basically a full-time job in itself
Someone should always be on watch if possible. It doesnt always happen as people do solo voyages. Open ocean most vessels would have transponders but if you're anywhere coastal you couldn't take the chance as smaller vessels don't always have and you can't rely on radar either.
I do think you could make it work though. Similar to van living. Plan your legs based on availability. You down time will be part maintainance etc.