Electric planes are a great idea.

[Wilbur ★]

 

[Bikeguy]

That will buff right out.  

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

That's in the range of a million dollars going up in smoke, there...

[JerrySTL ★]

The Boeing 787 had issues with it's batteries overheating when it first came out.

[maddmaxx ★]

Some years ago there was a problem with volatile batteries on some airliners.  I believe that was a Boeing problem.  Boeing reinvented the construction of those batteries that used an additional material that melted as the batteries got hot and shut down the "fire/explosion" process.  It does result in a total loss of the battery however and it adds to the cost and maybe even the energy density of the battery so it hasn't gotten into general use yet.  It did solve the problem for airliners however.

See Jerry's thread above.

[Digital_photog ★]

I have 3 electric planes.  They make a loud buzz, are about 12 to 36 inch wingspan..  I can stand on the ground and they will fly from about 3 to 15 minutes.

 

[bikeman564™]

fossil fuels are evil🤐 or so I'm told

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

12 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

fossil fuels are evil🤐 or so I'm told

So is running. 

[Digital_photog ★]

8 minutes ago, Parsnip Totin Jack said:

So is running. 

I have too much pain to run now.  I hope my back is healed by New Years Day.  I'm sure Beretta does too.

 

[maddmaxx ★]

2 hours ago, Digital_photog said:

I have 3 electric planes.  They make a loud buzz, are about 12 to 36 inch wingspan..  I can stand on the ground and they will fly from about 3 to 15 minutes.

 

What planes do you have?

[jsharr ★]

[jsharr ★]

1 hour ago, maddmaxx said:

What planes do you have?

 

4 hours ago, Digital_photog said:

I have 3 electric planes.  They make a loud buzz, are about 12 to 36 inch wingspan..  I can stand on the ground and they will fly from about 3 to 15 minutes.

 

My wife must have one too then.  It is around 12" long and makes a loud buzz, but it does not have wings

[2Far ★]

12 minutes ago, jsharr said:

but it does not have wings

You sure? The one the sunshine committee sent her had them.

[2Far ★]

Just now, 2Far said:

You sure? The one the sunshine committee sent her had them.

Too soon?

[MickinMD ★]

Of course, the many gas tanks that blow up during accidents or leaked gas that catches fire are the alternative!

It's like showing a car crashing into a house and killing people and claiming the horse and buggy is the superior way to go.

[Razors Edge ★]

Just now, MickinMD said:

claiming the horse and buggy is the superior way to go.

Folks did for years (decades?).  

[12string]

Electric motors are far better propulsion systems than internal combustion - at least in cars, trucks, trains.

But the question for planes is this:  The electric motor benefit is 100% torque from 0 to max RPM.  Is this a benefit in planes?

[Razors Edge ★]

9 minutes ago, 12string said:

Electric motors are far better propulsion systems than internal combustion - at least in cars, trucks, trains.

But the question for planes is this:  The electric motor benefit is 100% torque from 0 to max RPM.  Is this a benefit in planes?

I doubt the "electric" bit is the problem. It is the battery (or storage) that is the challenge.  Weight is a real issue in an electric (and BATTERY) plane. 

[maddmaxx ★]

So far what I've seen for 1/1 aviation are a number of smaller low passenger count drone types.  Electric motors in multiples lend themselves well to speed control and make drone like stability relatively easy.  The biggest decision now is how many motors are necessary.  4 motor aircraft become unstable with the loss of any one motor.  Even in the film industry, drones with expensive equipment onboard tend toward 6 or 8 motor aircraft because they can retain control long enough for an emergency landing.

[jsharr ★]

15 hours ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

That's in the range of a million dollars going up in smoke, there...

If it has a Lucas wire harness, the smoke is cheap and easy to replace.
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/708324/791819.jpg

[12string]

59 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I doubt the "electric" bit is the problem. It is the battery (or storage) that is the challenge.  Weight is a real issue in an electric (and BATTERY) plane. 

I'm not concerned with the whole system, I'm just curious if that constant 100% torque has any benefit to the way an aircraft engine operates.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

3 hours ago, 12string said:

I'm just curious if that constant 100% torque has any benefit to the way an aircraft engine operates.

 

Far from being an aviation expert, I'm inclined to say probably not.  Air moving operations, such as a fan, are variable torque systems.  In other words, the torque varies with the speed of the fan and the amount of air it moves.  This is why variable speed drives applied to a fan motor provide energy savings.

In the end, the energy used by any fan (propeller) is determined by the amount of air it moves.  An electric motor driving a fan, having the ability to provide a constant torque output, I suspect will be of no advantage because the energy used will follow a variable torque curve.  

Here's a chart for a model airplane propeller.  You can see the variable torque nature of its operation because of the changing nature of the amount torque at varying rpm.  The change between low and high rpm is not a constant relationship (i.e., a straight line).  A motor having constant torque capability won't perform in a constant torque fashion because the energy required by the propeller doesn't follow a constant torque pattern.  Since the energy output to the propeller is variable, so too will be the energy input demanded by the motor.