OT: Trans-Atlantic Model Airplane

[Loser]

http://tam.plannet21.com/

[EvilGenius4ABetterTomorro]

Now hamsters can flee the land of Richard Gere!
It is cool though.

[Gryphin]

I'm skeptical:

How much would enough fule weigh to do that?
How much space would it take up?

I used to sell Radio Control modle aircraft equipmtnet. (about 25 years ago)
Granted things could have changed but:
At the time enough fule to stay airborn for 20 minutes at slow speed was 8 to 10 ounces.

I could be way off here.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

i fail to see how it could be controlled. a computer could not deal with random situations very well. and it would be in the newspapers.

[Fyron]

A simple satellite uplink (very small and lightweight these days... cell phone anyone?) would provide all the mechanism needed to issue orders to the plane from anywhere. GPS does wonders. And, you can get really, really small and lightweight cameras too, so they could see where it was going (mostly so they can see if it is going to crash into a passing ship or something).

[ August 15, 2003, 23:09: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Jack Simth]

Actually, you could have a computer controlling it.
The controls would take:
1) Electronic Altimeter
2) Electronic Level Monitor
3) Electronic Compass
4) GPS
5) A processor (A simple Z80 would suffice), RAM, flashed ROM, a battery
6) Override control (for landing/takeoff)

Then just code things to follow a few simple rules:
1) If not on line towards destination (determined by GPS and Compass), turn approprietly.
2) If below a particular altitude, go up.
3) If above a particular altitude, level out.
4) If not within a particular margin of level, level out.
5) If Radio Control is on, follow that, suspending the above rules.

You'd want it to fly fairly high to avoid boats and waves, but low enough to avoid other aircraft. You'd also want to plan it for when the weather would be good. Or you could control it via satelite and camera, as Fyron suggested.

[Baron Munchausen]

It does sound like quite a technical challenge, but think about it. If a commercial airliner can carry 300-400 people and several tons of baggage across the Atlantic with current technology then why can't a model plane make it with zero cargo? It's just that no one has put much effort into implementing 'state of the art' technology in a model plane before. I saw an article on slashdot a few weeks ago about some guy in Australia claiming he could build a 'homebrew' cruise missile for $5,000 or so. I think we 'civilians' have not been paying attention to where the technology is going.

[ August 16, 2003, 01:54: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[minipol]

The us army has unmanned reconnaisance airplanes too, don't they?

[narf poit chez BOOM]

that still leaves the fuel.

yes, they do. including a big drone that runs of solar power that could cross an ocean. saw a documentary on nova.

[ August 16, 2003, 04:08: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Fyron]

The plane could have been powered by solar panels. Or just some batteries. Modern types of batteries have very long charge times now. Probably a combination of the two.