Comments on: What About Hybrid Airplanes?

By: Jackson

Jackson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:06:53 +0000

In terms of capturing energy from the jets hitting the runway, I suppose something like this could be implemented.:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4087518.ece

By: Ellery Celery

Ellery Celery — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:33:52 +0000

How similar is this carbon fiber to that used in high end bicycles? From what I understand, carbon fiber is extremely durable up to a point, but is notoriously inflexible and has a propensity for cracking and/or shattering under certain specific types of strain. Can anyone corroborate on this?

By: n2y2

n2y2 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:14:46 +0000

It would be intriguing to try and capture the energy of the jets hitting the runway and convert that to electricity to run the airport.

It could be based on similar technology to ocean wave generation – using the up and down motion to run a generator.

However… that is pie-in-the-sky thinking and would probably pose a danger to the landing planes.

By: n2y2

n2y2 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:09:17 +0000

Hybrid planes don’t make sense to me; at least not the same kind of hybrid as the Prius.

The real energy of conservation of the Prius is its ability to store the braking energy for later use (Where most cars discard the braking energy)

Since airplanes only brake for a few brief moments while they are on the ground (wheel and air brakes), the amount of stored energy could not possibly be greater than the extra cost and weight of implementing a hybrid system.