AVIATION'S NEW ERA
Chapter 8. Economic and Social Impact
The Towed Platform technology brings forth the powerful combination of: a) enabling significant increases in flight efficiency, b) a robust and high-speed airframe, c) high surface areas for photovoltaic cells, and d) low-cost single-board (e.g., photovoltaic cells on a thin battery structure) construction methods. These technologies are able to leapfrog air transit to efficiencies at 3X to 18X alternatives, the latter being relative to VTOL, and provide for solar-powered aviation including 24/7 pseudo satellites.
The technologies as lumped by direct impact and indirect impact are:
Global sales are identified for select markets in a manner to avoid overlap (e.g., liquid fuels market is considered included in transit market). That annual marker for the few where global sales have been identified total is $23.55 trillion per year, with an emphasis that this is an underestimate since only select industries were considered. Transit, communications, energy, and online shopping markets emerge at annual over $5 trillion per year, each.
“The Third Technology” (Chapter 7) is an airfoil technology with implications past aircraft airframes, including: wind turbines, jet engines [including electric jet engines], propellers, and fans.
As far as disruptions go, the Towed Platform technology is a 10 on the Richter scale. In view of the Eta Glider having already demonstrated that >3X increase in flight efficiency are possible and that airliners and that airliners are on par with the most efficient of contemporary modes of transit, the 3X to 18X increase in efficiency is not a pipedream. The key advances brought by Towed Platform technology, versus the Eta glider, are a high-speed and robust airframe that is capable of even higher L/D than the Eta Gliders base airfoil.
Corrections to $20 Trillion per Year – The $5 trillion per year on transit inherently includes most liquid fuels, vehicle manufacturing, vehicle maintenance, and related service; and so, those sectors are not added to the annual total. The communications and internet ($5 trillion per year) has little overlap with transit. Part of utilities’ energy ($6 trillion per year) is used for manufacturing for the transportation vehicles and other infrastructure; however, most is not an overlap. Competitive advantages on online retail reside in delivery, which has an overlap with transportation. A corrected total of these sectors is about $16 trillion per year.
Remaining major sectors that were not considered include: a) agriculture and forestry, b) building materials and construction, c) health care, d) tourism, e) education, and f) first responders. The impact of improved transit on these includes: a) use of chemical application in agriculture versus tillage, b) ambulatory services with emphasis on improved/faster access that alleviates the need for many hospitals, c) faster/improved access to tourist locations, and d) improve surveillance using drones for first responders. The bottom line is that these additional applications top off the $16 trillion to about $20 trillion per year. The bottom line is that these additional applications top off the $16 trillion to about $20 trillion per year.
As a benchmark, the global consumer market is $49 trillion with the USA leading at $17 trillion per year.
Will it work? The evidence is overwhelming that it will work and prototypes are under development.
The Towed Platform technology brings forth the powerful combination of: a) enabling significant increases in flight efficiency, b) a robust and high-speed airframe, c) high surface areas for photovoltaic cells, and d) low-cost single-board (e.g., photovoltaic cells on a thin battery structure) construction methods. These technologies are able to leapfrog air transit to efficiencies at 3X to 18X alternatives, the latter being relative to VTOL, and provide for solar-powered aviation including 24/7 pseudo satellites.
The technologies as lumped by direct impact and indirect impact are:
- Air transit ($800 billion, annually for passenger with jet fuel at 12% of liquid fuels; Total transit industry estimated at about $5 trillion.)
- Rail Transit
- Ship/Barge Transit
- Bus/Truck Transit
- [Air] Taxi Transit
- Communications and Internet Technology, HAPS/HALE ($5.2 trillion for internet, $1.7 trillion telecom market)
- Other Satellite Technologies (HAPS/HALE)
- Space Access
- DOD (weapons, transit, reconnasance, drones} ($0.45 trillion for global defense market)
- Energy (solar energy harvesting, $6 trillion for global utilities market)
- Restaurant (food delivery)
- Online Shopping ($5.2 trillion, e-retail sales}
- Tourism (airborne cruise ships, improved access to lodges/cruise ships)
- Hydrogen Production/Delivery {solar powered production)
- Atmospheric Decarbonization
- Airborne Chemical Industries (e.g. ammonia production)
Global sales are identified for select markets in a manner to avoid overlap (e.g., liquid fuels market is considered included in transit market). That annual marker for the few where global sales have been identified total is $23.55 trillion per year, with an emphasis that this is an underestimate since only select industries were considered. Transit, communications, energy, and online shopping markets emerge at annual over $5 trillion per year, each.
“The Third Technology” (Chapter 7) is an airfoil technology with implications past aircraft airframes, including: wind turbines, jet engines [including electric jet engines], propellers, and fans.
As far as disruptions go, the Towed Platform technology is a 10 on the Richter scale. In view of the Eta Glider having already demonstrated that >3X increase in flight efficiency are possible and that airliners and that airliners are on par with the most efficient of contemporary modes of transit, the 3X to 18X increase in efficiency is not a pipedream. The key advances brought by Towed Platform technology, versus the Eta glider, are a high-speed and robust airframe that is capable of even higher L/D than the Eta Gliders base airfoil.
Corrections to $20 Trillion per Year – The $5 trillion per year on transit inherently includes most liquid fuels, vehicle manufacturing, vehicle maintenance, and related service; and so, those sectors are not added to the annual total. The communications and internet ($5 trillion per year) has little overlap with transit. Part of utilities’ energy ($6 trillion per year) is used for manufacturing for the transportation vehicles and other infrastructure; however, most is not an overlap. Competitive advantages on online retail reside in delivery, which has an overlap with transportation. A corrected total of these sectors is about $16 trillion per year.
Remaining major sectors that were not considered include: a) agriculture and forestry, b) building materials and construction, c) health care, d) tourism, e) education, and f) first responders. The impact of improved transit on these includes: a) use of chemical application in agriculture versus tillage, b) ambulatory services with emphasis on improved/faster access that alleviates the need for many hospitals, c) faster/improved access to tourist locations, and d) improve surveillance using drones for first responders. The bottom line is that these additional applications top off the $16 trillion to about $20 trillion per year. The bottom line is that these additional applications top off the $16 trillion to about $20 trillion per year.
As a benchmark, the global consumer market is $49 trillion with the USA leading at $17 trillion per year.
Will it work? The evidence is overwhelming that it will work and prototypes are under development.