TurbineCMS

Archive for September, 2011

In the final analysis, there are two ways that you can get the benefit of wind energy on your property – purchase a wind turbine from a dealer and let them do all the work or, purchase a set of wind generator plans on the Internet and do the project yourself. There will be a vast difference in the amount of money you spend if you choose to do one over the other.

The reason for that is manufactures build a tremendous margin in for themselves, of course. Therefore, if you are willing to fill that gap and do the parts selection, purchasing, and assembly, you can keep the manufacturers profit for yourself.

The bottom line is you can construct a wind turbine for thousands of dollars less if you do it yourself. The problem is that it takes a lot of time and energy. If you have that and you’re the type of person who likes to do projects around the house, you will have no problem at all building your own wind generator from a set of plans.

That being said, there’s the easy way and the hard way, just like with everything else. These are the two basic options you have if you want to build your own wind generator from a set of plans:

* Guides with video and audio instruction – products like Earth4Energy offer video explanations for how to build turbine. They actually show someone building a turbine from the start of the project to its finish. This is a great way to study and learn to see if you can see yourself doing such a thing. There are many other sources out there for this variety of instruction and they cost anywhere from $20 to $100. This is a terrific way to go about building your turbine because you can refer back to the instructions and see where you might run into problems and also how to fix them.

* Traditional plans and diagrams – this is by far the cheapest way to go because you can get a set of plans for under $10! However, this leaves you with the majority of the conceptualizing and assembling the materials that you will need. Also, you have to go on a bit of scavenger hunt to find the parts that you have to have to build turbine.

Whichever way you go, getting either video or hard copy wind generator plans is by far the cheapest way to produce wind energy at your home.

If speed is what you are looking for from radio controlled flying, an RC jet plane will deliver the goods. For looks, sound and blazing performance, there is nothing in the RC world quite like a scale model gas turbine jet. Gas turbines are also among the most expensive of all RC airplanes and entail a very steep learning curve. With prices for the engine alone running $1000 and up, you not only need many hours of flying practice under your belt but deep pockets as well to go the gas turbine route.

If you really have your heart set on flying a RC jet plane, there are alternatives to gas turbine models that involve less expense and do not require advanced flight skills. Available as electric or glow engine models, pusher jets are actually powered by propellers that are situated at the rear of the plane. Less realistic looking (and sounding) than turbine jets, they are also not as fast but are far more stable and forgiving and make a good choice for beginners who want to start out on a RC jet plane.

If you are past the beginner stage with RC airplanes and ready to move into jets, electric ducted fan (EDF) models are much closer to the real thing than pusher jets. Still not as fast as turbines, they also cost less and can be flown by pilots with intermediate level skills. Also available in glow-driven (GDF) models, ducted fan jet planes can be purchased Almost Ready to Fly (ARF) or Ready to Fly and provide good training if your ultimate goal is a gas turbine RC jet plane.

Flying radio controlled or RC toy planes is one of the most favorite playthings of the RC toy hobbyists. It enables them to pilot their own craft as it skims over treetops and perform somersaults in the air. In the past, propeller driven toy airplanes dominate the playing field where these RC toy enthusiasts gather. Nowadays, electric and glow ducted fan powered jets are starting to take a slice of the RC pie. Nevertheless, it would seem to appear that the greatest development yet in RC technology, the gas turbine powered toy jet, is just around the corner, waiting for the right time for it to grab the center stage and bring forth a new era in RC toy planes.

Gas turbine powered RC toy jets is starting to become the ultimate plaything for the big boys. Not only does it look and sound like a real jet engine turbine, it also has a great thrust power which could lift huge airplanes off the ground. Just imagine lifting a scaled down version of the F-14 Tomcat measuring almost two meters in width and a body length of more than three and a half meters from nose-tip to tail with twin gas turbine engines, just slightly bigger than your fist, powering the huge frame. This is the most exciting development yet for RC toy planes!

However, just like any great development, it also comes with several downsides. Obviously, the greatest downside would be the cost of the gas turbines themselves. The cheapest one, apparently, is pegged at a minimum of two thousand five hundred dollars per engine. The price does not include any additional components needed in order for this engine to run. This particular gas turbine engine is measured only at around one inch in diameter at its widest and about two inches in length. If you were to power an airframe like the one described earlier, you might need to have four of these engines. If you were to include all other necessary components, the cost could easily run up to more than fifteen thousand dollars for a single plane.

Another downside to the gas turbine powered RC toy jets is that it is also extremely expensive to fly. This would come as no surprise since it takes a huge amount of money for real airplanes to fly, right? Gas turbine powered toy jets, apparently are not an exception since each engine can consume ten ounces of fuel in less than five minutes. So in order to play with these types of toys, you have to be financially prepared to face the staggering costs.

Gas turbine powered RC toy jets are truly the ultimate playthings that anyone would love to have. Bear in mind, however, that these types of toys are only for those serious enthusiasts who know what they are dealing with. But when it comes down to total satisfaction and enjoyment, nothing beats gas turbine powered RC toy jets.