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Project OpenSky Takes Off
Jesrad writes "As was reported two years ago on Slashdot, japanese artists, students and engineers under the lead of Kazuhiko Hachiya have taken upon themselves to build a real-size, fully functional Mehve (japanese website), the small jet-powered glider flying wing ridden by anime heroin Nausicaa. They have made a lot of progress, and are now test-flying the full scale, yet unpowered model by tow-launching it along with its thrilled pilot. They're having a lot of fun, too, judging from the movies of the testing sessions."
In think that you may have meant 'heroine' instead of 'heroin'.
You would have to get FAA clearance to fly it if it does not fall under the classification of an ultralight aircraft.
Schrödinger's cat is not amused—maybe.
Anyone who's seen the opening sequence from "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind ) can understand the type of flight experience they are trying to produce here.
The freedom with which Nausicaa sails around the skies on a flying machine light enough to carry yet strong enough to carry out some hairy aerobatics has figured in many a daydream. Hayao Miyazaki takes our daydreams and puts them on the big screen.
Of course the reality of FAA regulations and principles of aerodynamics tend to get in the way of truly realizing the dreams but I give kudos to these guys for trying.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
Fuel density:
Kerosene (Diesel fuel): 11,000 watt-hours per liter, 13,000 watt-hours per kg
Typical ultralight engine: 30,000 watts
Assuming you are running at full throttle all the time (fairly unlikely):
a 10 liter tank will last you 3-odd hours and weigh right around 12 kg. Most ultralights have a fuel capacity between 8 and 35 liters.
Does the math work out better for you now?
It just has to be slow (100 mph I believe). . .
.and weigh less than 200 lb (100 kg).
That would kilometers/hour. 55 knots. 63 mph.
. .
155 lbs. for unpowered craft; 255 lbs. empty (maximum fuel load of 5 gal.) for powered craft.
KFG
They're close to skin color, so unfortunately it isn't terribly obvious. This isn't that kind of anime. Sheesh.
FAQ
Sorry... the link is here
The result is that homebuilt aircraft are more likely to have safety features (e.g. modern auto engines,
Gotta stop you right there. Automobile engines and aircraft engines are very different beasts for very good reasons. Automobile engines normally run at 20% of rated power with occasional bursts to 80% rated power and only the rarest burst to 100% rated power. Aircraft engines normally run at 80% rated power and will routinely spend several minutes at 100% power during each flight (takeoff and climbout). That critical "expected normal load" results in a very different engine design.
If you try to put an automobile engine in an airplane without substantial redesign to account for the different expected loads, you're basically guaranteeing premature catastrophic failure.
The result is that homebuilt aircraft have as good a safety record as commercially built designs.
Check your facts. Homebuilts have a much higher accident rate per flight-hour. Still pretty low, though.
Regards,
Ross
Well - sort of - in the animated movie, the jet is used only occationally (liftoff etc)
and the wing is often used as a glider.