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CanoMod . A Main Hobbies . Boca Bearings

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Main Discussion > Hybrid RC Helicopters Is It Possible
 
 
HeliMan08
Heliman
Location: PA

Just wondering if they make Hybrid cars shoud they make Hybrid RC Helicopters. RC Helicopters that fly cleaner and admit less fuel admissions. But if this was true would it effect the performance of a RC Helicopter its just a question beacuse we are trying to keep the earth clean.
05-12-2008 09:00 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Mark C
Key Veteran
Location: Houston, TX - USA

Dude! If my RC helis ran on baby seals I'd still own 10 of them.

I commend your sensitivity to mother earth but there are much MUCH MUCH MUCH bigger fish to fry than RC Helis when it comes to cleaning up the enviornment.

Mark C.
05-12-2008 09:12 PM
 
 
gian
Senior Heliman
Location: AZ

Fly electric (I see you do). Cleaner and tons of immediately available power.
05-12-2008 09:12 PM
 
 
marked23
Veteran
Location: Lynnwood, WA

That might be an interesting project given the recent fast-charge batteries.

Set up an engine to power a generator/alternator that charges a bank of a123 batteries. The heli flies off an electric motor powered by the a123 batteries which are kept charged by engine/generator.

So long as you don't use the power from the battery faster than the generator can replenish it, you can fly until you run out of fuel and also deplete the battery. Maybe an OS32 could keep the batteries charged on a trex-600e. And maybe you could get a 20minute flight out of it.

I doubt this could ever be more efficient than just the engine alone with a governor. But it would be real science to figure that out.

-Mark
05-12-2008 09:17 PM
 
 
helimatt
Key Veteran
Location: Lafayette, IN

On for instance a Trex600 example- carry a bigger battery to match the OS32/generator/circuits/fuel system weight, and you could probably fly for 20 min easily with less complexity.

Generators of this size are inefficient, so the hybrid model does not work well on a model heli. Some guys do run a small generator to recharge the control system battery- don't know how much power this robs but we could easily calculate it. I'll put some numbers on these things and see what I come up with.

Solar/wind center for ground recharging the lipos- now that has potential. Still, need a big solar cell bank.

Never, ever, ever, ever give up.
05-12-2008 09:37 PM
 
 
jschenck
Elite Veteran
Location: La Vista, NE.

Quote 
Fly electric (I see you do). Cleaner and tons of immediately available power.

That depends on where your electricity came from.

Some how I doubt the CO2 emissions are very high. Pretty sure mother earth cried more on the drive to the field than during the flight. Also when a lipo lets its magic smoke out I don't think that's very good for anything - don't breath that stuff.

Not saying electric heli's are bad, I like my Trex but I don't think it's helping the environment vs. flying nitro.

As far as a hybrid drive system, remember there is a serious weight penalty. I remember hearing about some guys taking the battery system out of their Prius so they could get better gas millage (freeway I assume).

...yep...
05-12-2008 09:47 PM
 
 
gian
Senior Heliman
Location: AZ

Quote 
That depends on where your electricity came from.
What'cha need is a fuelcell. (Electric )
05-12-2008 09:49 PM
 
 
gian
Senior Heliman
Location: AZ

Another quick one- Can anyone tell me what the chemical components of burnt model fuel are? I had read, (some years ago,) that we are basically fertilizing our fields by flying our helis.
05-12-2008 09:50 PM
 
 
jschenck
Elite Veteran
Location: La Vista, NE.

exactly - An all electric car sounds fine until I drive by the electric plant burning coal and/or the nuclear plant that doesn't know what to do with it's waste. It still might be a good idea because of the controls on the coal plant and nuclear plant vs. the maintenance of an individual's car but you need to look at the whole picture. "Is it REALLY better for the environment" and another good question "Is this the most effective way of spending money to help out the environment"

Example, it might be much better for the environment to give 5,000 tax credit toward a new economy car to all 20 year old junk trucks that are brought to the metal recyclers. This would lower the demand for fuel and lower emissions per gallon burnt.

another thought, take a look at what we feed our cattle. They produce copious toxic emissions - perhaps it could be controlled with a bunch of beanos? with more of an environmental impact than many give credit for.

Or what about all those dang volcanoes.

Anyhow - not to get too far off track. It'd be interesting to see a small hybrid system but not for the environment feel goodness, just from the technical and mechanical aspect.

...yep...
05-12-2008 10:00 PM
 
 
gian
Senior Heliman
Location: AZ

Life's a "catch-22", hey?!

HeliMan- I hope I didn't shoot you down. If you come up with the RC Hybrid Heli, I'll buy one. As another asside, there have been great developments in the miniature fuelcell. If I stumble upon a link, I will post.
05-12-2008 10:04 PM
 
 
HeliMan08
Heliman
Location: PA

Thank You GIAN For Your Support I Will Look Into Researching It And If I Come Up With Any Ideas I Will Let You Guys Know Thanks Agine.
05-12-2008 10:12 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
HeliMan08
Heliman
Location: PA

My idea is to get a solar panel powerfull enough to power a electric RC Helicopter most likely not possible you need a pretty big solar pannel to do this.
05-12-2008 10:14 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
gian
Senior Heliman
Location: AZ

I've also read about "solar paint" and flexible solar panels, which might be used to construct a fuselage and blades. Still, I think we'd be hard pressed to find our kind of high-power output from a solar source... for now, anyway. A great first step will be to use an alternate charging source- like a wind turbine or solar. Good luck in your research!

P.S. There are EXCELLENT resources available on constructing your very own wind turbine for battery charging.
05-12-2008 10:29 PM
 
 
davidjc
Heliman
Location: Kentucky

HeliMan08
You need to lay off of those recreational drugs!
05-12-2008 10:31 PM
 
 
gian
Senior Heliman
Location: AZ

david- Why quit a good thing!?
Anyway, without innovators, where would we be? I agree that it is not currently likely to have a heli purely powered by solar. But, the technology is certainly advancing!
05-12-2008 10:47 PM
 
 
payne1967
Veteran
Location: warwick uk

i'm doing my bit
i charge my starter battery with a solar panel
but run 30% nitro in the heli

anyway its water vapour that comes out of the heli, just look at the rust you get on the rear bearing if you leave it stood to long without getting all the fuel out and using after run oil
05-12-2008 11:05 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
wlfk
Veteran
Location: uk

The figures for running helicopters from solar power really don't work out.

Even if you did invest in a massive solar charger, this would actually be bad for the environment because it would take a lot of energy to make and would only be actively used for a very small proportion of its 20 year lifespan. Even if you stick the same solar panel on the roof of your house, it is likely to take several years to 'break even' in energy terms - and that's running continuously during daylight hours.

Where it could make both environmental and economic sense would be charging a big communal lead-acid battery at a flying field - if there's a club shed so it could be made relatively secure. You could get away with a much smaller solar panel, and you wouldn't need to wire the battery into the mains.

I don't think we'll be running our helicopters directly from solar any time soon. Even my 450 would take several square meters of solar panel to run in 'real time'. Perhaps a super-efficient experimental heli might work, but I bet it won't have much of a climbout.

Best thing most people could do would be to insulate their homes better and avoid unecessary flights/cars that are too big. R/C helicopters don't really come into it.

K

A bit like a kite, but 500 times more expensive
05-12-2008 11:25 PM
 
 
Spitfire1
Senior Heliman
Location: Perth Australia

at first I thought this idea of running heli by solar was complete nonsene, but I could see the possibility of chargeing you lypo with a solar panel, maybe just take a few days or so to wait for your next fly.

Even us oldies can Heli. Chris. Perth Australia
05-13-2008 04:28 AM
 
 
midwestpilot
Elite Veteran
Location: Crystal Lake, IL

baby seals..

now that was funny

In life there is no spacebar!

Rich Erikson AMA 6175
05-13-2008 04:29 AM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
gian
Senior Heliman
Location: AZ

Ok- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=552NcxKHufY
"big brown baby seal eyes for headlights"
Sorry to be off-topic, but I think it suits...
05-13-2008 04:59 AM
 
 
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