Solutions for Longe Range Powerplant System
 

If anyone has looked into long range UAV solutions they have most likely came across the two most prominent problems.
1. The physical range you can fly the aircraft with a remote control
2. The physical range the aircraft can endure. For example: With Nitro, Gas, or Electric.
At the current point I have looked into solar panels... I figured out that they are possible for rc flight but are not highly practical. Solar powered rc aircraft would be limited to daytime, of course, and would not provide substantial power for the current electric sucking motors.
I have looked into and discovered a new electric motor technology that is actually quite simple and much more efficient than the current leading electric motors. It is confidential to me so I'm not going into extreme details but what I will say is that it is probably as close to free energy as you can get without it being free energy. The highly efficient electric motor couples permanent magnets with one or two pulsing electromagnets in a series of spirals. The PMEMM's (as I call them Permanent Magnet and Electro-Magnet Motors) could provide much more power with the same amount of energy, for say from a solar panel.
With both greatly unventured factors, one being the control range factor and the other being the flight endurance factor, I plan on executing a 2,600 mile round trip flight with a small homemade Adam A-500 style foamboard plane at low altitude over the west U.S. this July.
Thoughts anyone?

RE: Solutions for Longe Range Powerplant System
 

Hi!

I have two questions:

1.What do you think the efficiency of a high quality brushless motor and controller combined is?

2. What do you think the efficiency of a high quality, properly sized and pitched propeller is when at cruise speed?

Regards -
Q

RE: Solutions for Longe Range Powerplant System
 

I don't think brushless motors in particular are inefficient at all. At the current point they are all we really know. But if greater range wants to be achieved, even greater than what can be accomplished now (With highly efficient conventional electric motors), then something new needs to be implemented. Look at how slowly many figure anew staying closed minded. Only a sparce amount of people are going to seek into the future and I would be greatly honored to be one of them. And for the sake of aeronautics and aerospace, too, you know.

RE: Solutions for Longe Range Powerplant System
 

Well my point in asking is that if motor/controllers are not presently very inefficient, then even a new type of 100% efficient motor/controller would not make a significant contribution to your efforts. As an example, if we assign a number to the best present day efficiency of say ~85%, then there is only a 15% possible gain left to conquer. Assuming that we are all humble enough to not believe that we can create a 100% efficient motor/controller, then this might leave say, a net 10% left to a better mousetrap. 10% is not going to be an enormous impact on range or anything else because it implies a maximum improvement of, well 10%.

In fact, I would venture that typical propeller efficiency is typically worse than typical motor/controller efficiency. Particularly so in smaller propellers as is used on small and model aircraft. So any motor efficiency gain would be partially overshadowed by propeller losses.

Q

RE: Solutions for Longe Range Powerplant System
 

It is interesting you should bring up the notion of the propeller efficiency. Lately, I have idealized of a new propeller concept that could be a little more efficient, primarily because it would spin. I call it the sine wave propeller. Hence the name, it would move like ocean waves inside a tube, sort of like how your esophagus performs peristaltic movements.

RE: Solutions for Longe Range Powerplant System
 

I have actually seen something similar to what your describing used in raceboats as props, something worth looking into.

RE: Solutions for Longe Range Powerplant System
 

The question is whether it could prove revolutionarily efficient to propulsion systems in the air.

RE: Solutions for Longe Range Powerplant System
 

As with anything, build it and they will come. [8D]

RE: Solutions for Longe Range Powerplant System
 

What can you use for electronics, Is there  a system out there that can do 20km. away flights?