XPost: sci.electronics.design, sci.physics, sci.space.policy   
   From: ham789@netzero.net   
      
   On 11/7/2016 1:46 PM, jimp@specsol.spam.sux.com wrote:   
   > In sci.physics Phil Hobbs  wrote:   
   >> On 11/07/2016 01:37 PM, jimp@specsol.spam.sux.com wrote:   
   >>> In sci.physics Robert Clark  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>    
   >>>   
   >>>> If you know of a means to provide 50,000 V at *lightweight* then you will   
   >>>> have solved the problem of an independently flying lifter, using the   
   >>>> macrosized wires currently used. You would need about a power to weight   
   >>>> ratio for the power source of better than 1 watt per gram, while being   
   able   
   >>>> to provide these ca. 50,000 V voltages.   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   Bob Clark   
   >>>   
   >>> Trivial; look at any camera flash unit built in the last several decades.   
   >>>   
   >>> However you have totally missed the point; voltage and the weight of the   
   >>> converter is irrelevant as it is the total power that determines the   
   >>> weight of it all.   
   >>>   
   >>> BTW, here are some real world power to weight ratios:   
   >>>   
   >>> Boeing 777 engine 10 kW/kg   
   >>   1985 Chevy Celebrity 300 W/kg <-- So for a 1000 kg car, that's 402   
   >> horsepower?  Sign me up! ;)   
   >>   
   >> Cheers   
   >>   
   >> Phil Hobbs   
   >   
   > No, that is the power to weight ratio of the engine, not the power to   
   > weight ratio of the car.   
   >   
   >   
   Power is a red herring.  What's important is the total energy produced   
   by the   
   engine AND the fuel supply.   
   It doesn't get the least bit interesting until the engine can lift   
   itself and a FULL tank of whatever powers it AND the vehicle AND the   
   payload to reach the destination.   
   I can't imagine that ever happening 1000 feet off the ground on this ole   
   earth at a cost anywhere near the cost of other forms of transportation.   
      
   Stick it in space where you have solar or nuclear energy and you don't   
   care how   
   long it takes to get there or what it costs and you have something.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)