http://sciencemuseumdiscovery.com/blogs/collections/jet-powered-jaguars/ Discover the Science Museum's collections Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:19:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://sciencemuseumdiscovery.com/blogs/collections/jet-powered-jaguars/comment-page-1/#comment-276 Marcus de Mowbray Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:34:36 +0000 http://sciencemuseumdiscovery.com/blogs/collections/?p=1480#comment-276 I have long known about the time delay of jet engines making them unsuitable for normal cars, but using a small turbine to drive a generator seems so blindingly obvious, I cannot believe it has not been suggested before. Model jet engines are getting very impressive, and would not have to be that much bigger to power a decent generator. One problem with battery and compressed air designs is that a heater for Winter is either impossible, or uses up too much available power. My Heinkel-Trojan bubble car does not have a proper heater, but I do not use it every day. Commuters need a heater in cold weather, a fact which some transport and design pundits over-look, but a jet-based system could also use surplus heat to provide this. I have long known about the time delay of jet engines making them unsuitable for normal cars, but using a small turbine to drive a generator seems so blindingly obvious, I cannot believe it has not been suggested before. Model jet engines are getting very impressive, and would not have to be that much bigger to power a decent generator.
One problem with battery and compressed air designs is that a heater for Winter is either impossible, or uses up too much available power. My Heinkel-Trojan bubble car does not have a proper heater, but I do not use it every day. Commuters need a heater in cold weather, a fact which some transport and design pundits over-look, but a jet-based system could also use surplus heat to provide this.

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