So why not make a seperate door for the wind-generator?
Open it drop the wind mill and close it, to reduce drag.
If you loose power and battery (..worst case - sh** never happens alone...),
you don't want all the drag you describe below, until you are ready to
land....

Thomas J.


----- Original Message -----
From: "BillDube@killacycle.com" <billdube@killacycle.com>
To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 4:50 PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Thoughts on an Alternate Alternator


> It occurred to me that for those among us with retractable gear, a
> wind-powered alternator might be an interesting approach to a back-up
power
> source.
>
> You could rig the standard wind-powered generator/alternator (like
> Ward-Aero) to the gear leg of a retractable landing gear. When you deploy
> the gear, the generator is put in the wind and produces power. When you
> retract the gear, the generator is tucked away and is not producing drag.
>
> The back-up generator would be on-line during the most critical portions
> of the flight, during take-off and landing. You could deploy the generator
> during flight by simply dropping the gear if there were a problem with the
> primary generator.
>
> Alternatively, if you are considering some sort of custom air brake,
> perhaps you could incorporate a wind generator in it.
>
> Hmm, with the increasing number of all-electric airplanes out there, a
> combo air brake back-up alternator might sell pretty well.
>
> Just a thought,
>
> Bill Dube'
>
>
> --
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