On Jun 26, 10:23 pm, Orval Fairbairn
wrote:
In article .com,
Dancing Fingers wrote:

Hi Guys,
I remember years ago Kitplanes did a series on the potential for
batterry-powered aircraft. Recently, I watCHED Future Cars on the
Discovery channel and this guy had developed a car that ran on
compressed air. This seems like a more viable fuel for aircraft then
batteries. Has anybody looked into it?
just curious.
Chris

You ned either:
1. a very long hose attached to a compressor or

2. a filament-wound balonium/unobtanium air tank filled with air
compressed to 100,000,000 psi.

Otherwise, you just can't carry enough compressed air around to make a
practical vehicle.

The "Future Car" ranks right there along with Moller's "Skycar," in that
it is all vaporware.

I certainly don't think that compressed air would power a airliner but
it might be viable for small commutter flights. It seems like the
heat issue would only be an issue on the ground, during refueling,
although cabin heat would be a challenge. I was really wondering if
anyone had ever calculated the energy per cubic foot compressed air
can hold, relative to gasoline, diesel and hydrogen. There's a new
engine being developed, the Quasiturbine, that would be perfect for
this application.
For what it's worth.
Chris