$1 billion BMS Ooops...

Moshe Braner wrote on 3/7/2021 2:07 PM:
But I'm getting further off topic.* Gliders are nice.* They don't need no steenkin' engines.

Alright! Back to Basics: bungey launch! Or is it still OK to use electric motors? No steenk there.
--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

On 3/7/2021 6:08 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Moshe Braner wrote on 3/7/2021 2:07 PM:
But I'm getting further off topic.Â* Gliders are nice.Â* They don't need
no steenkin' engines.

Alright! Back to Basics: bungey launch! Or is it still OK to use
electric motors? No steenk there.

Lighten up, Eric and others. I was just saying that in gliders we don't
need to be dragged cross-country by a locomotive. I have nothing
against launching by some motorized thing or another.

And back to the topic, we have some people who believe all the hype from
Saint Elon about new batteries etc, and others who are more skeptical.
But we all revel in what has been achieved in electric glider launching
and sustaining, and hope for more. It's a lot more feasible than
electric air transport.

Personally I think that dragging an expensive battery pack along in
every glider is inefficient use of resources. But then you may say the
same about dragging equally, if not more, expensive composite structures
around the sky. We do what we have to do to achieve our aerial dance
performances. Then we land, and like any performance art, it's all gone
poof, into the past. We only do it because we love it.

Moshe Braner wrote on 3/7/2021 6:04 PM:
Personally I think that dragging an expensive battery pack along in every glider is inefficient
use of resources.* But then you may say the same about dragging equally, if not more, expensive
composite structures around the sky.* We do what we have to do to achieve our aerial dance
performances.* Then we land, and like any performance art, it's all gone poof, into the past.
We only do it because we love it.

I think having towplanes sit idle on the ground Monday through Friday is an inefficient use of
resources; ditto for tow planes sitting idle in poor weather, while I'm 100 miles away, looking
at growing cumulus.

But, I agree with the basic point that sharing the launch system is a more efficient use of
resources, and a way to do that with a self-launcher is a partnership, especially with partners
that have different or flexible schedules. Electric self-launchers seem particularly
well-suited to partnerships, with their easier use of the motor.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

On 3/8/2021 8:41 AM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Moshe Braner wrote on 3/7/2021 6:04 PM:
Personally I think that dragging an expensive battery pack along in
every glider is inefficient use of resources.Â* But then you may say
the same about dragging equally, if not more, expensive composite
structures around the sky.Â* We do what we have to do to achieve our
aerial dance performances.Â* Then we land, and like any performance
art, it's all gone poof, into the past. We only do it because we love it.

I think having towplanes sit idle on the ground Monday through Friday is
an inefficient use of resources; ditto for tow planes sitting idle in
poor weather, while I'm 100 miles away, looking at growing cumulus.

But, I agree with the basic point that sharing the launch system is a
more efficient use of resources, and a way to do that with a
self-launcher is a partnership, especially with partners that have
different or flexible schedules. Electric self-launchers seem
particularly well-suited to partnerships, with their easier use of the
motor.

If battery packs were standardized and removable (better for charging
anyway), then could also share them between gliders. Of course on the
day when the weather is really good everybody will be competing for the
use of the shared battery. Plug several shared standard batteries into
the electric winch on that day? ("Blue Sky" thinking here...)