| Topic for open discussion: AWE
Regulatory Realms
|
|
Send
AWE notes and topic replies to editor@upperwindpower.com
|
| ?next? |
| Aug. 15, 2020, post by Dave Santos Re Tallak's statement: "regulations are moot until you know what the AWE you are dealing with will look like" It is a mistake to regard Aviation Regulations as an afterthought in AWE. Nor are they a burdensome nuisance somehow to avoid. Like the rules of Chess or Go, they are highly evolved, and make Aviation work. Aviation Safety is not just about direct risk to human life or property, it is a primary economic driver, in the form of Insurability. It is mostly known what AWE "will look like." At small scale, a variety of drone-like and glider-like possibilities exist, but at largest scale, only pure power-kite sail-like wing forms in lattice arrays are possible. Already, if one strays too far from what an optimal power kite looks like, it is going to fail. Similar constraints apply to lattice topologies. Optimal AWES designs will best match Aviation Regulations and Insurability needs. They will be the least dangerous and most reliable for the power. They will not be excessively massive at high velocity. They will self-kill inside of their scope, when they fail, by a many-connected topology. They will have inherent robust crashworthiness. Not everyone knows these facts yet. AWES architectures will be proposed and developed that are not safe nor insurable enough. There will be a Darwinian shake-out of these "hopefull monsters" in AWE. There will be no real difference between what is Insurable and what can meet Regulations. There will be no major waivers of Regulations. ====== Eight
years later, TACO remains the most authoritative document concerning
FAA FARs and AWE. In the AWE Community, JoeF and I have the longest and
most in-depth experience with Aviation Safety Culture, and Kites, with
well over a century between us, and TACO naturally reflects that
depth.
Those
players in AWE who are currently covering up mishap data, in deference
to Venture Capital Interests, are on the wrong path. Censorship has no
place in a Safety Culture. Its quite lucky no one has been badly hurt
or killed yet in AWE.
The major lesson to take to heart is that there are "no short-cuts" in Aviation Safety. It is absolutely critical to keep flight safety uppermost in mind at every step of large-scale AWES design and testing.
|