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Thread: EVTOL... ultralight... I would like to discuss this with interested members

  1. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by rwanttaja View Post
    Shoot, dude...when has fear of writing a long post ever stopped ME? :-)

    Your stuff is a pleasure to read, and I'm glad you bring your expertise here. It's a refreshing change from guys who say, "I'm agin' it 'cause Joe Smedlap on GoofyTheoryOfTheWeek.com says it'll curdle the milk and bring on global armageddon!!!"

    Ron Wanttaja
    Thank you for the info... I am glad to see there is interest in this and hope it will continue...

    I based my EVTOL ultralight design on using an electric or hybrid electric power system. These power systems and battery systems are already in use with huge leaps forward being made constantly due to the Government back programs, current business ventures, start up companies and etc.. I have no doubt that this tech will trickle down to civilian aviation and ultralights. Not a question of "if" but "when" I would love to see this available to every individual ultra light enthusiast.
    This design can operate (take off and land) as a conventional ultralight airplane or take off vertically, transition to conventional airplane mode and then back again for vertical landing or take off vertically and land as a conventional ultralight airplane. The construction of the full size prototype is moving along nicely with only some minor alterations needed so far. If you are reading this and know of any companies that offer flight controls, power systems, hardware, software, etc. pertaining to EVTOL operation... please pass it along. I appreciate all the info I can get. Thank you all again

  2. #22
    Hello justsomeguy,

    I am also interested in EVTOL (ultralight helicopters) and have expertise in power electronics but am lacking in the aerodynamics area. I am also lacking in knowing how to exchange information via forums. That is, how do I provide my email address or phone number without broadcasting it to China? I will be happy to help wherever I can.

  3. #23

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    "how do I provide my email address or phone number without broadcasting it to China?"

    Hi Jim, if you click on anyone's underlined name just below the blue bar and date of a post, you will see the option to send a private message. Only the recipient will see it.
    "Don't believe everything you see or read on the internet" - Abraham Lincoln

  4. #24

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    I am a mere high school student with an overfunded science fair project, but I made a passenger-capable eVTOL hexacopter if you're interested in the documentation.

    I wrote out a procedure for building it in my scientific paper here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

    Ethan


  5. #25

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    I read your 82 pages, or more accurately skimmed through them. They made my head spin about as fast as one of your rotors. I'm impressed and more so when you claim this is a science project in HS.

    As an old Army helicopter pilot, I'm puzzled as to what mechanism is in place for a total propulsion failure and how the pilot would handle that when you are at an altitude higher than what you would feel safe falling from. I'm certainly familiar with the procedures in single and dual rotor helicopters but I see no relationship to those emergency procedures relative to a hex or even quadcopter. You cite an example of two motors failing on opposite sides and the control algorithm handling that but what if you had two go out adjacent to each other on a hex configuration? Is the plan to install a BRS to mitigate partial or complete thrust failure?

    I wish you luck and no doubt you'll be going places

  6. #26

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    Actually Ron, this statement "In comparison, a gentleman traveler may board a train in New York and arrive refreshed in Chicago a day later, enjoying a comfortable berth in a Pullman, dining luxuriously, smoking the odd cigar, a Wright aeroplanist and his ground caravan carrying gasoline, bamboo, linen, engines, and mechanics would be barely approaching the New York State borders" doesn't sound so bad in view of what's been happening to air travel. I started in the industry in 1965 and knowing what I know now wouldn't recognize what the Egalitarian Airline has turned into.

  7. #27
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by saber25 View Post
    Actually Ron, this statement "In comparison, a gentleman traveler may board a train in New York and arrive refreshed in Chicago a day later, enjoying a comfortable berth in a Pullman, dining luxuriously, smoking the odd cigar, a Wright aeroplanist and his ground caravan carrying gasoline, bamboo, linen, engines, and mechanics would be barely approaching the New York State borders" doesn't sound so bad in view of what's been happening to air travel. I started in the industry in 1965 and knowing what I know now wouldn't recognize what the Egalitarian Airline has turned into.
    My dear Saber, there's a rather easy cure for that. Let me describe my typical airline flight:

    I arrive early at the airport, due mostly to ground traffic and parking difficulty.

    When I check in with the airlines, I bypass the long lines and go to the ticket counter with only a few people waiting. I usually check my bags, since I hate lugging them all over the airport. No charge to check the bags.

    Going to the gates, I only have a couple minutes wait in the TSA line, and don't have to remove my belt or shoes (TSA Precheck).

    Got time before the flight? I typically fly Alaska, and they have a free separate waiting lounge. Free breakfast/snacks, free coffee and soft drinks, comfortable individual chairs (not the long attached string of hard plastic seats), free WiFi. Service staff available, clean restrooms.

    Stroll out to the gate when flight time comes. Always the first non-family, non-handicapped group to board. Overhead bins are wide open. Sit down in a well-cushioned seat, typically 21-22 inches wide instead of the usual 17. No chance of a center seat; just aisle or window. Legroom is about 36 inches, about six inches more than normal...if I stretch my legs, my ankles touch under the seat in front of me. Overhead bins are large; almost never have to tuck anything under the seat in front of me.

    The flight attendant offers me a free drink, and I happily take it. One leaves a cup of nuts on my tray. One FA for about 24 passengers, vs the normal 50 or 60 passengers per FA. We've got our own bathroom, too. The pilot occasionally will come back and chat. After takeoff, there's a choice between two free meals, still with free drinks. Meals sometimes include a hot chocolate-chip cookie.

    After landing, I'm nearly the first one off the airplane. Bag is usually one of the first to reach the carousel, typically with a "PRIORITY" tag attached.

    The secret? Most people pick their flights based on the cheapest airfares. I pick mine based on the most comfort.

    Yes, I'm describing flying first class. Sure, this might be similar to the description of coach-class travel in the '60s, but back then, you paid the EQUIVALENT of today's first-class airfare to get on the airplane.

    Next trip you take...look at the first class fares. I've found for some airlines, the first class ticket can be as little as $200 more than a coach class. Delta is an especially good value for first-class fares...I once snagged one for only $80 more than coach. Delta doesn't have the free first-class lounges that Alaska does, though, and the Alaska first class fares are a bit more.

    Most people aren't willing to PAY for comfort. Airlines cater to these folks by cramming seats together, charging for baggage, and cutting out amenities. The people flying get what they say they want (cheap air fares) but complain about the environment. It's like someone eating at McDonalds and complaining that the Filet Mignon was dry and tasteless......

    Ron Wanttaja
    Last edited by rwanttaja; 03-13-2023 at 12:43 PM.

  8. #28

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    Touche Ron,

    You describe what it used to be while flying on a pass as an employee many years ago. Having spent a career flying ahead of first class however, I've noticed a steady decline in passenger civility which isn't always reflected by the cost of a ticket. Years ago while deadheading on a DC-10 in first class, the moron sitting next to the forward bulkhead dressed in baggy shorts, flip flops and tank top, rested his hairy feet up on the bulkhead for the rest of first class to admire for the remainder of the flight.

    Getting back to the subject of electronic flight, it'll be interesting to sit in on the Captain's briefing concerning extra battery capacity to handle anticipated holding and perhaps deviation to the far off alternate. I know, I've had that discussion with my crew when it came time to add to the dispatch fuel because their weather prognostication seemed a bit too optimistic.

    "Check six" Saber 25.

  9. #29

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    Moving on to electric helicopters I am really interested in the MiroCopter, will likely buy one after I have had a chance to examine it in detail. I have spent some time thinking about the challenges of making it electric. Aside from drive and structural changes, the motor control needs to be customized to take into consideration the torque control required to engage the rotors without damaging them. Electric motors have maximum torque at about zero RPM and accelerate quickly with no or minimal load. Rotor systems have a lot more mass than props, wear items, and things like dampers to reduce shock on the blades. Torque needs to be controlled by the motor controller not the pilot.

  10. #30
    FlyingRon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by steve View Post
    Didn't Mercedes just test drive their new EV over 600 miles on a charge? I remember a coworker boasting he burned 0 gas driving his Nissan Leaf to work and home, a staggering distance of 36 miles. He could make it to work and back the next day, too. But he had better not forget to charge the car else he'd be walking to the bus stop on day 3. And that was maybe only 7 years ago.
    I used to drive a Volt. It had just barely enough range to make it from my house to my hangar at CJR. I knew I was driving efficiently if I got there on the battery charge. Drive a bit too fast, and I wouldn't make it. I'd pull the plane out, put the car in and let it charge while I was gone. Then I'd have enough to see if I could get home.

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