Thinking out loud

Im just throwing some brain matter around thinking about the solar panal and battery problems, While having a chat with Leigh last night we were discusing charging Liops at the feild and the pain it is with multiple backs and carrying around large "charge batteries" etc etc, when Leigh came up with

A wind mill geni, after all its always bloody windy at the feild!

So ive had a look round and see that there are a huge variaty availible on the market that the guys on boats use, and we were thinking a bank of batties to use for feild charging always toped up and fence charge no longer an issue!

http://www.omniinstruments.co.uk/products/product/wind.id160.html link is to a few examples and im sure Andy will love spec`ing one up for our needs

So any thoughts on this??

M

Only one how would you stop it being nicked?

It's always nice to dream, someone has to maintain it, it's not cheap either. What is your business case for the club to buy that, if you had to buy a new battery for the fence every year it would take 11.5 years to get to the same amount as the basic windmill, if you flew proper stuff with a proper engine & charged you rx packs at home what's the problem.

We could always get a steam powered generator at the field, we could use the excess steam for cooking poached eggs, frothy coffees etc, you got to have a laugh & get real.

I would vote against it at a meeting.

Just checked something else have you see the size of the tower needed to fit one, it would surely need planning permission & Henry's agreement.

good counter argument Rich, as i said just thinking out loud idea was there to be quashed

no worries just my thoughts, good idea all the same, can't knock someone for trying to come up with a solution

and i do fly proper airplanes they just fall apart alot lol

Mayby its a back burner for the feild were going to buy

M

Ha Ha

I think that's something that should be realised & bin it

Wooooaaaahhh!! Throwing brain matter around is dangerous business!

I'm all for a decent power source at the field, be that sourced from sun, wind, steam, water, wherever. A wind turbine does seem like a nice solution, but as already mentioned, there is a cost to bear. You could just compare the cost of it against replacing leisure batteries, you could offset a little bit of cost by asking for a donation to the club funds everytime somebody wanted to use a bit of power to charge a pack or jump start their car

However, there are a couple of big points that would go against it (again already mentioned). Firstly is the cost. Secondly is getting permission from Mr Landowner for a big erection in his field (guffaw!). Thirdly is preventing it from being stolen/vandalised etc.

I would vote for it, but I strongly suspect it would never be implemented, certainly not until (if?) we obtain our own site. I mean, We aren't even allowed to put a container on site are we?

If (when) I get a replacement for the electric Edge, I concluded that the best source of power for charging big packs at the field, would be a little generator of some sort. Even my love of electrickery can't stop me agreeing with Rich, and doing away with the battery packs, and putting a petrol motor in the airframe! That said, if there was a "club" generator available, then that would be something wouldn't it?

Cheers
Andy

The generator is a viable option, the only downside is where would it be kept, who would look after it, whatever happens when you need it, it wouldn't start or somebody else has it.

A big piece just hit me on the back of the head (brain matter that is) you can't have much left now Mark.

Hit the nail on the head there Rich, it is another option that will ultimately be doomed to failure, until we either have a club "hut" of some sort on site, or our own site to do as we please...

It is always coming back to the "if we had our own site...." line isn't it?

Cheers
Andy

All these ideas to charge up battery packs for people to fly electric....can we have an oil refinery on the field to produce some fuel for the ic boys????

I actually have a Yamaha generator here from agaes ago - little used and free to the club if you want it.

thats a generous offer Tim, now somone throw in a pad lock and were in business

M

bob im sure i saw you flying an edf and an electric glider, so surely this would benefit you too

Agreed with mark very generous tim, well done that man

This came about after mark and i, shooting the breeze last night, were pondering the 8pm rule. now i know its been relaxed this year to 9pm on thursdays and fridays, but im sure most will agree that last year was a pretty shoddy one. i know the weather didnt help us much either. the turnout wasnt brilliant and the whole relaxed feel to whiling away a lazy evening with a few flights and some barbecue burgers was all but gone.

Fact is that many of the club members cant get to the field to fly before roughly 6pm on a weekday evening and thats if they get a wriggle on. So that gives you 2 hours flying time, including setting up etc.

In my view promoting the electric flying by providing some means of charging could extend everyones flying day. it could save you being stuck if your glow battery dies. or your rx pack or whatever needs charging. it could be used to keep a spare fence battery constantly charged and at the field.

We have a fantastic site and while there are some restrictions on what we can keep on the field, should we just sit back and ignore the needs of many of the flyers, new and established?

Get your thinkin caps on boys thers far too many progressive ideas being canned for the sake of bloody mindedness and obstinance.

Guess my brand of humour didn`t work? , Nothing wrong with progression Leigh, it`s nice to see all kinds of flying and if the club can provide facillities to aid and encourage people I`m all for it. Major concern is that if a very large roller can be removed from the field, a jenny secured with chain and padlock I would think have little chance of survival, but if someone is prepared to take the gamble...

Perhaps we could pay Scottish Power to run us a line into the field

Whats wrong with using your car battery?

Some of the electric flyers are now using setups that will very quickly flatten said car battery and are faced with the inconvenience of generators or very large leisure batteries

Because with the pretty hefty recharge figures being used on a lot of stuff these days, you will be unbable to start your car shortly after. For instance 8 X A1213 cells on a fast charge ( 15 minutes ) needs almost 260 watts of power. Having the charger connected whilst keeping the engine running is not good paractice as some chargers object to the high and uneven voltage supplied by the alternator.

your dead right about the security aspect bob. i dont think padlocking it to somthing will be enough.

sorry bob not meaning to bite your head off im sure there some flyers who would seriously take that kind of stance. in some ways its justified. on the other hand maybe the club could fund top notch silencers for everyones ic models so we could fly after 8pm

Thanks for the headups. Just to add that after my recommending abolishing all the flying time restrictions next year (2010), the committee are going to review it towards the end of the year. Hopefully that should have given the complainant and the council more than suffiecient time to satisfy, not forgetting that it is the noise legislation/MBFA guidlines that says we shouldn't fly after 7PM. We have had no further complaints since the restrictions were forced upon us.

I already have silencers that emit noise below the recommended BMFA guidelines, this is not where the noise generates the highest Db levels, the higher noise levels are emitted from the front of the aeroplane this includes intake noise, propeller noise & exhaust noise, combining to give a higher reading than from any other point on the aircraft as noise checks have proven.

Aircraft that haven't been noise checked at Rhyl flying site are;

EDF powered models
Electricaly driven propellers
Electricaly driven rotor blades

But now we are going from a discussion for a reliable battery charging source to having a discussion on what denotes a noisey model & what the club should fund or not as the case maybe.

If a member wants to fly electric then surely it's the flyers responsibility to provide a source to recharge the batteries, similarly if a member wants to fly I.C. powered models bring you own fuel.

noise issue aside, all models have batteries in, besides free flight. if its possible why not provide for those who would use the facilities? If we can figure out a good way to keep and maintain a charging source im all for it.

perhaps since the jenny is a donation from Tim there should be a kitty for fuel for the generator, chuck in a few pence if you use it if you dont thgen please yourself. that way its all donation based - no drain on club resources.

The safety issue is the main boggle i see. i think that if the tea leaves know its there then they will have a go. perhaps stowing it, over the fence in a metal box not unlike the box thats there already there. if it dosent look like anything special they wont notoce or bother. afterall the electric fence isnt nicked very often and thats gotta be worth a lot more than a little jenny. oh and the barbie is still there

Small petrol generators are now almost totally banned from public markets and showgrounds on both safety and insurance grounds being particularly prone to fires when being re-fueled when hot. Then as already mentioned there's the security issue. Above all else why should one section of flyers i.e. those who fly large electric models be pencilled in for help in re-fuelling their models, nobody suggests buying me some unleaded for my large scale aerobat. I'm quite happy to keep my electrics charged from my 12V gellcell as I have done previously. If you wish to go down the large electric model route surely it's down to you to make your own charging arrangements. If Tim wishes to hand this genny over to the guys that wish to use it then it should be their responsibility to a) run and maintain it b) store it. Finally it would be in my view incumbent on the committee to grant permission for the genny on the field on account of the already mentioned safety and insurance questions. Sorry if I'm coming across as a wet blanket here, not my intention I can assure you