Dave Walters

Presentations…

 

The Revolution in Electric Flight.—  POSTPONED

 

Thursday 28th February 2008, 6:45pm for 7:30pm.

 

Dave will talk about the fundamental science of flight from how things work to the future of electric aircraft.

 

The talk will cover the following:

 

· How wings work: Bernoulli’s principle, Aerofoil sections, Tip Vortices, Aspect ratio, Lift vs. drag. Control surfaces, the radio link, and how the servos get their signals.

· Stable flight: The importance of the positions of the centre of pressure & the centre of gravity. How to calculate the CG position. How to verify it with test flying.

· Materials.

· Efficiency: How Volts * Amps equates to propeller torque * RPM. The importance of choosing the right prop diameter and pitch for the stall speed of the aircraft & the power available.

· Flight Duration.

· The Revolution: Brushless motors and Lithium Polymer batteries. Electronic speed controls, and Battery Eliminator Circuits (BECS).

· Manned flight.

· Comparison of energy density of petrol and batteries.

· In flight video.

· The future.

Weather permitting, there will be an outdoor flying display of model electric aircraft, failing that an indoor display of small fixed wing aircraft. 

 

There will also be a competition at the end to see who can fly a paper dart the furthest — the winner gets a bottle of wine.

 

Download the poster for the event here.

Biography…

 

Dave Walters of Robotas Technologies Ltd

Dave is a Chartered Engineer, and leads his company in the design, manufacture and sale of specialist assembly equipment for electronics and light mechanical industries. 

He is a model aircraft enthusiast and spends a great deal of time experimenting with novel ideas in highly efficient electric aircraft construction and design.  He’s even built a flying estate agent sign from a real estate agent sign!!  Electric powered, of course.

Dave has a passion for all engineering science and the promotion of the engineering profession.

Dartford

Dave with his new toy —
a giant spud gun he’s making

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