Today's Class Session

[The.Black.Templar]

The other day I elaborated that in certain conditions when a helicopter looses power or fuel, they just don't fall to the ground like a rock.

Today I wanna share with you what happens when an airplanes electricity sources are cut off.

There are different sources of electricity in a plan, these are batteries, auxillary power and the jet engines. These power sources have shortfalls e.g. the batteries do not have a long working life, the auxillary power, is only allowed to function when on the ground and ofcourse the jet engines are susceptible to failures as well.

So what happens when all electricity sources mentioned above fail? That is when the Ram air turbine kicks in. when activated the ram air turbine comes out from underneath the cockpit or underneath the wings and it starts to turn using wind power, just like a wind turbine.

Now you know!

 

[Ole Waru]

Nice, why don’t we have electric aircrafts like we have electric cars

 

[emali]

when activated the ram air turbine

how is it activated if there is no power supply?

 

[The.Black.Templar]

Nice, why don’t we have electric aircrafts like we have electric cars

They are there, but not for commercial purposes yet

 

[The.Black.Templar]

how is it activated if there is no power supply?

it can be done manually through a spring pusher or through battery power

 

[Burner]

Nice, why don’t we have electric aircrafts like we have electric cars

presumably the power required to provide enough lift and thrust for something as big as manned plane, so far exceed what we are capable of producing.
Electric cars are usually made of materials lighter than your ordinary cars and the fact that they have wheels to roll on the ground make it easier to move. For a plane you essentially have to lift all the weight off the ground, a task far harder to do.

 

[Cazorla]

Mbona inakaa ndogo hivo ?

 

[The.Black.Templar]

Mbona inakaa ndogo hivo ?

sio ndogo hivo sana, look at the wheel also for comparison in the first picture

 

[kimondio]

now i know and if the turbine got damage or knock by bird, what will happen

 

[The.Black.Templar]

now i know and if the turbine got damage or knock by bird, what will happen

that would be a near impossibility, but if it did happen, then the plane would be ferked!

 

[Ule Msee]

For clarity, this turbine is to supply electricity inside the plane, not to propel it, right?

 

[Mawaya]

it can be done manually through a spring pusher or through battery power

But you said it's for a situation where all other power supplies have failed including batteries.

 

[The.Black.Templar]

For clarity, this turbine is to supply electricity inside the plane, not to propel it, right?

yes, the cockpit instruments and hydraulics specifically!

 

[The.Black.Templar]

But you said it's for a situation where all other power supplies have failed including batteries.

yes, that is where the manual mechanism comes into play

 

[stanmwa]

Thanks for the info. Ram air turbine actually exists.

 

[MbitikaZetu]

If there is an alternative power supply to the chopper incase of sudden failure when overhead, why do they crash and blow up in flames?

 

[The.Black.Templar]

If there is an alternative power supply to the chopper incase of sudden failure when overhead, why do they crash and blow up in flames?

You are asking about a chopper? If a well trained pilot is at the helm lack of power or even fuel would not be a huge problem, they can easily use gravity and use the free rotors to bring it to a near clean landing...in good conditions