Dragonflies and CoFlow Technology

Dean Sigler Biomimicry, Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

A Different Approach to Regional Aerial Mobility Dr. Gecheng Zha sees a relationship between dragonflies and his CoFlow technology.  Mimicking the look, and more importantly, the aerodynamics of the creature.  Director of the Aerodynamic and CFD Lab, University of Miami (UM), Zha is expanding his research into eVTOL (electric Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft, Martian exploration, and large scale sailing ships. His talk at the 2019 Sustainable Aviation Symposium at UC Berkeley was a revelation and his subsequent work shows the multiple directions in which his CoFlow technology can be applied. Urban and Regional Air Mobility CoFlow Jet does the improbable trick of pushing air over the wing, only to have it sucked in near the trailing edge, passed through an internal compressor and blown out through slots in the wing’s leading edge, creating a steady stream that increases the lift coefficient and lowers the drag coefficient.  Zha claims that this enables the use of battery power because the propulsors can …

Longer Aerial Commutes to Affordability

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Exurbs and Extended Range Urban Air Mobility (UAM) may be only a small part of electric aerial transport in the next decade.   Longer-range vehicles may enable longer aerial commutes to affordable country homes. Cities are becoming too expensive for most families, and examples abound of commuters traveling over 100 miles to and from work.  Two years ago in San Francisco, for instance, the cheapest home (a true “fixer-upper”) was listed at $699,900, a sum that used to include significant acreage and servants’ quarters.  A “typical” home price in SFO is over $1,400,000.  As a result, workers travel from places like Manteca, 76.4 miles downtown to downtown and one hour, 35 minutes in a car on a good day.  Manteca’s homes average less than $400,000. During the 2019 Sustainable Aviation Symposium at UC Berkeley’s Pauley Ballroom, Susan Dell ‘Osso, President of River Islands Development LLC, talked about Planning Sustainable Communities for California’s Future. She didn’t sell condos and single-family dwellings, but, …

Landing Zones for All Those eVTOLs (and eCSTOLs)

Dean Sigler Announcements, Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Siting  and Building Considerations at the 2019 SAS As we see an inrush of capital to finance new electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) machines and now electric Conventional Short Take Off and Landing (eCSTOL) machines, we are on the cusp of seeing newly envisioned landing zones for these machines.  With the departure of Uber from the aerial scene, we probably won’t see the grandiose platforms the firm promoted. Your editor poked fun at these visions in his talk at the 2019 Sustainable Aviation Symposium at UC Berkeley, doubting that urban centers would welcome hundreds of arrivals and departures overhead day and night. Luckily, presenters who had worked on real-world re-imaginings of Uber’s grander vision helped talk your editor down.  Byron Thurber, an ARUP architect, discussed “A Practical and Sustainable Transit Hub for Urban Air Mobility –the Uber Elevate Skyport.”  Following LEEDS, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design criteria, the sustainable building would retrofit an existing parking garage at …