Cardboard Carriers in Peace and War

Dean Sigler Electric Aircraft Materials, SAS, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Recent news items herald the incredible return on investment the Ukrainian army is getting from its use of small cardboard aircraft.  These literally boxy bombers are doing in Russian aircraft and possibly tanks with surprising capability.   They may have had an initial inspiration in 2017. Everfly, Otherlab, and Star Simpson At the 2017 Sustainable Aviation Symposium in San Francisco, Star Simpson of Everfly, an affiliate of Otherlab, showed off a cardboard drone intended for humanitarian missions. Read about the craft, its many acronym-related affiliations, and its missions here. Ukrainians and Their Cardboard Air Force On a less humane, but equally important mission, an Australian version of the “pizza-box” technology is wreaking havoc on the Russian Air Force and even Russian tanks. The Sydney (Australia) Daily Herald reported on August 29, “Australian-made cardboard drones have been reportedly used to help bomb a Russian airfield as the Ukrainian military steps up its attacks on Russian territory.” According to the report, Sypaq drones …

Three Solar-Powered Cars Show a Possible Tech Path for Airplanes

Dean Sigler Batteries, Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

In the next decade, your new car may not only be electric or hybrid, but solar powered.  A speaker from an Italian auto firm told a symposium your editor attended five years ago that solar roofs on cars could provide up to 30 free kilometers for an electric car each day.  That 18 miles would be a gift indeed, but at least three innovators are working toward making that an underachievement. Sono Motors and their Sion Sono Motors, headquartered in Munich, Germany, used crowdfunding to build their prototype and publicize their five-seat, partially solar powered vehicle – Sion.  Sion comprises several surprising elements, including polycarbonate shielded solar cells integrated into the simple, wedge-shaped body design, an interior air-cleaning system based on living plants, and an ingenious group of communications and charging systems. To keep the cost within the 16,000 euros promised in their fundraising campaign, the designers left out the 30 kilowatt battery, good for 250 kilometers (155 miles).  This …

EAS IX: Pete Lynn’s Tethered wing aircraft

Dean Sigler Electric Aircraft Materials, Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

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 …