Projekt samolotu do przemieszczenia gigantycznych łopat turbin wiatrowych

Handout rendering showsWindRunner, a new plane being developed by Colorado-based energy startup Radia. The 108-m (356-ft) long Radia Windrunner is designed to transport cargo too big for the road, to short, semi-prepared airstrips on rough terrain. It would dwarf the majestic 84-m (275-ft) long Antonov An-225 Mriya, which is sadly no longer with us. With the notable exception of the Large Hadron Collider, there's really no machine in history with single parts larger than today's mammoth wind turbines. Some offshore turbines, for example, are being built with blades more than 140 m (459 ft) long. One of the reasons why they're not getting to this scale on dry land is that it's damn near impossible to move blades this size on the road. Size really matters in wind power, where the swept area of your turbine is the key factor in how much energy you can harvest. The tips of the blades sweep a larger area than the sections closest to the hub, so there's a disproportionate area gain to be made for every bit of length you add. If onshore wind could start using blades nearly the size of what's being used offshore, more wind energy could be harvested at lower cost. Thus, the idea of the Radia Windrunner – a transport solution you could design an entire turbine manufacturing operation around, and indeed one that wind farms would need to factor into their plans from day dot, because it's totally focused on moving absolutely colossal turbine blades. Courtesy of Radia via ABACAPRESS.COM