Revolutionary friction powered plane

[matteo_galet]

I just felt the urgent need to inform everyone of you about this "revolutionary" plane that harvests energy from the air friction:

https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/business-jet-air-friction-power-2905135/?fbclid=IwAR1uk79-LH4-NT55QOBqA1wKzrvLCMdoFr5Mp3t0BrA-TdLoa1FBqwR_C-M

No.... just... no. 

[Domagoj T]

The faster it goes - the faster it goes!

From the designers website:
https://www.bonikowski.eu/work/eatherone

I enjoy all attempts to revolutionize flying. I have been thinking a lot about this lately, and what could happen if Airbus would like to create an electric plane. We all know that the main problem is the weight of a battery, but. The air is full of electricity, which can be recovered by the friction generated by the flying plane. In wings, during the flight, instead of fuel tanks, triboelectric nanogenerators can be installed, which, using the vibrations of the structure and friction generated by the bending of wings during the flight, can generate the energy needed to power several smaller electric motors. The energy efficiency of such systems is already large enough to be used in this kind of machine. In this case, the battery pack needed for carrying should only satisfy the need for takeoff and landing. The flight itself would be able to generate the energy needed to maintain it and most likely to charge the batteries.

[AVGresponding]

Well at least it's an imaginative spin on the perpetual motion engine...

The world would be a boring place if everyone understood the laws of thermodynamics   

[tggzzz]

"Friction" == "drag".

He should tell the gliding community of this revolutionary advance. In the middle of a race some contestents reduce the drag by wiping the splattered insects off the leading edge of the wing - while in flight Now they can add more insects instead

[SiliconWizard]

Note that some power could be generated positively and stored while increasing drag is a necessity (for instance for reducing speed, such as when you use airbrakes), but during a typical flight, that's such a small amount of time that it's probably not worth it.

[Cyberdragon]

Old planes used to have small wind turbines on them to generate power for radios and instrumentation, but obviously way less power than the propulsion.

[Domagoj T]

It makes no sense to install a permanent drag increase feature just for those rare occasions when you need air brakes and generate tiny amount of power. During normal operation engines provide plenty of it.
If for some reason all your engines shut down (mechanical damage, gremlins, Boeing software bug...) you are still not out of all electrical power generation since airliners have auxiliary power units (a small third or fifth engine, usually tucked away in the tail) that can generate all the electrical power an aircraft needs.
If that fails too, there are batteries that can sustain vital functions for ~20 minutes, but long before those are drained, a small windmill will deploy from the fuselage or a wing and generate enough power to run the essential instrumentation and maintain hydraulic pressure for control surfaces as long as the plane maintains about 200+ knots.

[tggzzz]

Note that some power could be generated positively and stored while increasing drag is a necessity (for instance for reducing speed, such as when you use airbrakes), but during a typical flight, that's such a small amount of time that it's probably not worth it.

Glider pilots are extremely well versed in storing energy for later use. They go fast when possible , losing energy proportional to the square of the velocity. Then, at the right moment (e.g. when they are in rising air) theysuddenly climb steeply for a hundred metres or so, converting kinetic energy into potential energy for later use.

Such flying is sometime referred to as porpoising along, since it is reminiscent of the way dolphins movements when frolicking.

It also considerably surprises powered pilots, who can only cope with flying straight and level

[WattsThat]

It also considerably surprises powered pilots, who can only cope with flying straight and level

And learn to fly by adding power when they misjudge their turn onto final

Landings are mandatory, take-offs are optional.

[tggzzz]

It also considerably surprises powered pilots, who can only cope with flying straight and level

And learn to fly by adding power when they misjudge their turn onto final

Landings are mandatory, take-offs are optional.

That's always worth keeping in mind.

Glider pilots are also used to rapidly adjusting when they find another pilot has just occupied the piece of grass they were expecting to use