Orville, Wilbur, and the Energizer Bunny
October 4th, 2006 by Grant in: TechnologyIn a wondrous feat of extracting the power of 160 ‘AA’ batteries and applying it to flight is a sign of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going.
Evidently, the Tokyo Institute of Technology was challenged to carry a 119 lb student aloft using only 160 “AA” sized batteries.
While aloft for only 59 seconds, the flight only reached an altitude of 2 meters. However this is a sign of things yet to come. Alternative fuels are promising for ground-pounding vehicles, but aircraft face challenges with alternative fuels do the added constraint of weight. Battery powered aircraft have been slow to develop due to the ability of small, lightweight batteries to retain and deliver the required amount of power for aeronautic propulsion.
Now it appears we’re knocking down those technological barriers as well! A notion Orville and Wilbur could surely identify with, embrace, and be proud of.
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October 12th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
That’s awesome. Its just a matter of time before we’re running everything off electrical power. Just wait and see! JT
October 18th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Ill second that - its awesome!