Harbour air electric float plane

[FastFarmer]

Pretty cool that they converted a Beaver to Electric, neat how old and new come together and the history and legacy of the best bush plane made lives on. A big radial firecracker to an electric motor of some kind.

 

[catalac]

Everything electric until we run out of easily accessible lithium.

 

[FastFarmer]

Everything electric until we run out of easily accessible lithium.

I cant imagine how much bigger they could make the hole for the mine to get this out of the ground or how many more mines they can start up to support that amount of EV units...

 

[DaveB]

I cant imagine how much bigger they could make the hole for the mine to get this out of the ground or how many more mines they can start up to support that amount of EV units...

As long as they don't find lithium in Alberta, the battery makers will be fine....

 

[lilduke]

As long as they don't find lithium in Alberta, the battery makers will be fine....

lots in northern Quebec I hear.

 

[NoBrakes!]

I think the solid state battery tech will be the start of a BIG technology "S" curve. Tesla is working on Goodenoughs stuff already

 

[Cdnfireman]

Why don’t you think batteries will work?

A battery airplane would be the toughest application for a battery. A fan/propeller is a unique load to a power plant because the faster it spins the more power it requires in a directly linear relationship. There’s no ability to coast or take advantage of regenerative braking to help recharge the battery. The load remains constant while the battery becomes weaker, and unlike a car where you can slow down to conserve the battery, there’s a point with an aircraft where you can’t reduce power without crashing. In addition, a headwind or inclement weather would directly increase the load and reduce the range of the aircraft, and any delay in being able to land for whatever reason could result in disaster.
All good if every flight is within a strict set of parameters for time, distance, weather and load. I’m betting that this battery airplane will be used very little for those reasons.

 

[Couch]

A battery airplane would be the toughest application for a battery. A fan/propeller is a unique load to a power plant because the faster it spins the more power it requires in a directly linear relationship. There’s no ability to coast or take advantage of regenerative braking to help recharge the battery. The load remains constant while the battery becomes weaker, and unlike a car where you can slow down to conserve the battery, there’s a point with an aircraft where you can’t reduce power without crashing. In addition, a headwind or inclement weather would directly increase the load and reduce the range of the aircraft, and any delay in being able to land for whatever reason could result in disaster.
All good if every flight is within a strict set of parameters for time, distance, weather and load. I’m betting that this battery airplane will be used very little for those reasons.

Sorry you're off the mark ....lift is determined by the shape of the foil (blade) and attack angle ....spinning faster does not directly equate to greater power requirement ....

 

[Couch]

Just like fuel powered ic engines they are limited by amount of fuel on board ...excepting possibly military jets capable of refueling in the air ....

 

[acesup800]

Sorry you're off the mark ....lift is determined by the shape of the foil (blade) and attack angle ....spinning faster does not directly equate to greater power requirement ....

It does on fixed prop planes.

 

[sho]

As long as they are destroying the environment in poor countries the environmentalists won’t say a word.

 

[MK4TDI]

I think the solid state battery tech will be the start of a BIG technology "S" curve. Tesla is working on Goodenoughs stuff already

I was reading into that the other day, some pretty interesting stuff, and could really change the battery world.

 

[Couch]

It does on fixed prop planes.

Yes .. True but cdnfire was making mixed generalizations ....electric motor was doomed because of available battery capacity limitations - same holds true for an ic with a fuel tank. Most props - planes / ships / wind turbines are controlable pitch ....small boats / small prop planes / small turbines are fixed for sake of simplicity and lower upfront cost with trade off being that their efficient operating paramiters are much more limited.

 

[Cdnfireman]

Yes .. True but cdnfire was making mixed generalizations ....electric motor was doomed because of available battery capacity limitations - same holds true for an ic with a fuel tank. Most props - planes / ships / wind turbines are controlable pitch ....small boats / small prop planes / small turbines are fixed for sake of simplicity and lower upfront cost with trade off being that their efficient operating paramiters are much more limited.

And with the new battery plane being a converted beaver, it likely has a fixed pitch propeller, so the facts are the same. A fossil fuel aircraft has the ability to produce max power at a constant rate up until the fuel runs out, the bottom half of the tank lasts as long as the top half. The same cant be said of a battery.

 

[acesup800]

And with the new battery plane being a converted beaver, it likely has a fixed pitch propeller, so the facts are the same. A fossil fuel aircraft has the ability to produce max power at a constant rate up until the fuel runs out, the bottom half of the tank lasts as long as the top half. The same cant be said of a battery.

Well, that is where I disagree. It is highly likely it is a variable pitch prop as any aircraft other than very light cheap aircraft have variable pitch. Variable pitch are substantially move efficient and all previous beavers were variable pitch so it would be safe to assume the same for the new electric one.

 

[Pistonbroke]

And with the new battery plane being a converted beaver, it likely has a fixed pitch propeller, so the facts are the same. A fossil fuel aircraft has the ability to produce max power at a constant rate up until the fuel runs out, the bottom half of the tank lasts as long as the top half. The same cant be said of a battery.

No way is this plane going to have a fixed pitch prop. They will use the variable pitch in concert with the power curve of the electric motor for best performance in various stages of flight, and likely reverse thrust for braking and taxi manoeuvres.

 

[Couch]

And with the new battery plane being a converted beaver, it likely has a fixed pitch propeller, so the facts are the same. A fossil fuel aircraft has the ability to produce max power at a constant rate up until the fuel runs out, the bottom half of the tank lasts as long as the top half. The same cant be said of a battery.

An electric motor can generate max power till energy is depleted ... no difference ....when the "fuel" is gone its gone regardless whether speaking of aviation fuel or electric charge ...

Currently, energy density of conventional fuel is greater per unit of weight than equivalent capacity of battery storage for the same weight but the tech is getting better. Electric motors have also continue to improve significantly - more power/torque for given size /weight and have significantly longer service life between overhaul ...ic engines not so much as the tech is essentially unchanged for last 70 years ...turbos / supers / fuel injection ..... biggest gains due to improved manufacturing and electronics .... It may be that the IC motor has had its day .....but they're still a thing of incredible engineering

 

[Cdnfireman]

An electric motor can generate max power till energy is depleted ... no difference ....when the "fuel" is gone its gone regardless whether speaking of aviation fuel or electric charge ...

Currently, energy density of conventional fuel is greater per unit of weight than equivalent capacity of battery storage for the same weight but the tech is getting better. Electric motors have also continue to improve significantly - more power/torque for given size /weight and have significantly longer service life between overhaul ...ic engines not so much as the tech is essentially unchanged for last 70 years ...turbos / supers / fuel injection ..... biggest gains due to improved manufacturing and electronics .... It may be that the IC motor has had its day .....but they're still a thing of incredible engineering[/QUOTE

Electric motors are definitely less complicated and should theoretically last longer between overhauls than a IC prime mover. They do not however generate maximum power on a depleted battery. An electric airplane on final approach with a depleted battery would have great difficulty doing an emergency go around at max power to avoid something, whereas a recip or turbine would have no problem as it doesn’t matter how much fuel is available in the tank as long as there’s enough to last for the increased power demand.
If you don’t think that’s the case, try cranking your diesel truck over with a battery at 20% or try driving a 3” screw into a post with your battery drill with one bar on the battery indicator. Battery powered anything is fine until the battery is depleted. The laws of physics can’t be ignored because you’re using green energy. If that airplane has an immediate demand of 500hp to stay in the air and there’s only the equivalent of 250hp left in the battery, it’s screwed.

 

[Cableguy]

definitely variable pitched prop

 

[DaveB]

definitely variable pitched prop

Definitely. I’m a very good pilot. Quantas.