tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post7891035873002320165..comments2024-03-28T18:32:43.699-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: Stealth technology hits the wind power industryPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-48080404417898392262017-01-04T13:50:13.499-06:002017-01-04T13:50:13.499-06:00. . . a full 'stealth helicopter' can'...<i> . . . a full 'stealth helicopter' can't be far away . . . </i><br />What if you equipped one with a Gatling gun, maybe get Roy Scheider to fly it?urbane legendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12699110758399432397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-31511568383599534202017-01-03T19:00:02.129-06:002017-01-03T19:00:02.129-06:00Regarding avoiding collision with windmills. Fligh...Regarding avoiding collision with windmills. Flight Management Systems (FMS) produced by Garmin, UNS or Trimble have a 3D map in their database. The aircraft's GPS systems are constantly providing the exact latitude and longitude and altitude along with speed, course and vertical speed (climb or descent) to the FMS which is comparing the aircraft's position in the sky and the projected course with the 3D map to ensure you won't fly into a mountain, skyscraper, bridge or windmill. One of the views that the pilot can select on his screen is Synthetic Vision (that's Garmin's term) that displays the terrain and obstacles just like a flight simulator for your PC. Anything coloured red is what you're going to crash into if you don't change your course. I've looked over the pilot's shoulder the last time I was up in one of our G1000 equipped King Airs, it was pretty impressive. Google 'garmin synthetic vision' and watch the videos.<br /><br />If you have FMS installed in your aircraft, you have to subscribe to the Obstacle Database which is updated every 4 weeks since people are constantly erecting things like windmills. The subscription is over $1,000 a year, IIRC, but if you don't subscribe your FMS will mulishly refuse to let you input your waypoints. <br /><br />Al_in_Ottawa<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-40926774340759086552017-01-03T18:11:06.464-06:002017-01-03T18:11:06.464-06:00So do we weaponize it? Stealth high speed fans to ...So do we weaponize it? Stealth high speed fans to knock aircraft / missiles out of the sky? Ought to be good for at least a short story.Thomas Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05701283200252131890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-41470371836206567442017-01-03T17:48:08.494-06:002017-01-03T17:48:08.494-06:00We have a whole world of problems that need to be ...We have a whole world of problems that need to be solved, and they pick one that's solving itself thru attrition due to economic infeasibility.<br /><br />Spend the money educating the public on new nuclear reactor designs like the traveling wave reactor. <br /><br />More environmental stupidity - solar roads. <br /><br />Spend the money on more efficient photovoltaic panels - useful for a home install. I think we're a long stretch from industrial capacity usage.<br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00391535113209714025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-58088817932107929672017-01-03T17:31:21.195-06:002017-01-03T17:31:21.195-06:00Perpignan also happens to be home to an infamous F...Perpignan also happens to be home to an infamous French prison ...<br /><br />It's likely that the French authorities thought that someone might grow massive stones and decide to spring someone out of "Le Trou", figuring that the radar signature of their stolen helicopter would be disguised by the radar footprint of the windmills.<br /><br />All I want is to be able to see the YouTube video of the break-out. :-)<br /><br />Post Alley Crackpotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-5381959907805049192017-01-03T16:55:39.554-06:002017-01-03T16:55:39.554-06:00Sig is correct, and that one doesn't get solve...Sig is correct, and that one doesn't get solved by making them stealth! Re running into them, that's what charts are for, along with keeping them current!!! Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-79199517819544393722017-01-03T15:58:37.793-06:002017-01-03T15:58:37.793-06:00and I'm curious - wouldn't the "Absor...and I'm curious - wouldn't the "Absorption" of the radio waves still disrupt weather radar? Wouldn't they create a dead zone in your sweep where you wouldn't see the weather behind the turbines?Chris.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10731881933744231216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-39356907007627460732017-01-03T13:28:16.766-06:002017-01-03T13:28:16.766-06:00What Kristopher said. And they are death on migrat...What Kristopher said. And they are death on migrating birds. And there appears to be no good way to dismantle and recycle them when they fail, so they are abandoned (see Hawaii's Big Island for an example). Those are the problems that need to be solved. Wind power is one of those things that just doesn't scale up well. <br /><br />LittleRed1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-27818234349646326292017-01-03T12:42:45.509-06:002017-01-03T12:42:45.509-06:00The real problem is that wind turbines do not prod...The real problem is that wind turbines do not produce enough power to pay for themselves and their own maint. And the power they produce is dirty, and causes havoc with the AC power grid.<br /><br />Liquid-salt nuclear plants are a better solution.Kristophrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08370888276707569365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-89422332175519226622017-01-03T11:59:52.112-06:002017-01-03T11:59:52.112-06:00These guys are solving the wrong problem. The pro...These guys are solving the wrong problem. The problem to the weather radars isn't that the turbines are 400' tall and look like they are. Any radar that's worth a damn can categorize a structure like a tower as clutter and ignore it. The problem is that the wind turbines produce turbulence that shows up on weather radar. And it really would be a problem if the aircraft flew into it. They didn't change the way the turbines ruin the downstream air flow, they just hid the rotating part. <br /><br />And the analogy of making a 400' tall radar look like it's 4' tall is just incomprehensible. Radar doesn't really react to height, it reacts to reflecting area. Do the writers mean the turbines disappear behind the horizon when the radar is that much closer? I suspect they're trying to talk about radar cross section, which is measured like area (square feet or meters or centimeters, etc.) <br /><br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.com