Steam Driven Aircraft?
Some questions are easier than others and the other evening one came in from a Midwestern Gentleman who asked have there been any innovations in steam powered aircraft since 1935? Yes, that is a difficult question even for an Online Think Tank.
Steam Driven Aircraft? Well I know that NASA and the USAF Research Lab was building a nuclear aircraft so it could fly unlimited time spans without fuel, so I imagine that the nuclear power would have created steam to propel the plane, that would have been in the 1960s or early 1970s.
You know with new materials will make steam driven aircraft feasible. Carbon Nano-Tube construction would allow for it. Also there have been fuel cell aircraft full size at Boeing down to a small little UAV with NASA. Fuel Cells put out a lot of heat in the conversion process right. Wonder if you could use that power too? Combo.
Of course with aircraft water weighs 8.2 lbs per gallon of course. You could use the India studies and make water out of the air, in an aircraft fairly easy, condensation from low pressure areas around the wings and fuselage, collect it and then you have water without having to carry it very far? But if the ambient temperature is too low (2 degrees per thousand feet) then the more you have to heat it up the more energy required?
If you go too high the water would be ice and thus pretty much un-collectable. Maybe you could use harmonic to break the ice or help heat the steam. I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington
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