Pete Lynn delivered a talk at the 2015 Electric Aircraft Symposium on tethered wing aircraft that could provide long-range transport for large-scale cargo (Pete envisions shipping containers) and VTOL operation – electric flying trucks. He works at Otherlab, a wildly inventive operation at the historic Schoenstein Organ Factory, identified as San Francisco Landmark #99 and located in the Inner Mission District. The group works with extremes of technology and design, “attracting research funding for early and risky ideas in areas such as ‘programmable matter’, robotics, solar energy, wind energy, energy storage, computational and advanced manufacturing, medical devices and more. These non-dilutive investments allow us de-risk the very early exploratory phase of our projects.” Pete cautions, however, that despite his work on things like pneumatic robots for Otherlab, the ideas expressed at EAS IX are his own and not necessarily those of his employer. The system trades top speed for extremely light weight in the lifting structure. This allows hoisting a weight much …
A Very Long Towline
John Carpinelli has a lofty vision, borne on gossamer threads that would pull giant cargo planes into the heights. We’re familiar with the rapid ascent of a sailplane on a winch tow, pitching up into a fighter-like climb and dropping off the towline at some predetermined altitude. What if the tow ropes were attached to a large, electrically-propelled airplane, pulling a heavy jet transport to a point several kilometers above its launch? It’s not as wild-eyed as it sounds – at least according to the CleanTech Open organizers. The Cleantech Open is an organization looking to find, fund and foster startup companies in green industries, and chose Electric Takeoff, Carpinelli’s firm, as a semifinalist in the Transportation category in their recent competition. Basing his work at least partially on the “bucket drop” technique created by missionary pilot and martyr Nate Saint, Carpinelli has the advantage of a degree in electrical engineering and the historical work of others who took the …
A Matter of Great Faith
A technique used by jungle aviation missionaries over 50 years ago may provide an answer to aerial delivery problems such as dropping water on the current radioactive fires in Japan, according to Gaylord Olson, a Princeton, New Jersey reader of the CAFE Blog. Nate Saint was a Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot and missionary to the Auca Indians in the Ecuadorian jungle when he and four others were killed in 1956 by members of the tribe. Life Magazine published a 10-page article on the group’s martyrdom, and two movies depicted their lives and last hours. Saint was also an inventive soul, who may have know about early patents for a system he called the “bucket drop,” a method for delivering equipment and supplies to the floor below a rain forest canopy. In the video, Saint’s son Steve demonstrates the technique. Researchers at Mississippi State University adapted the technique to two-aircraft use, as described in a 1983 paper by Francis M. Wilson, …