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Old 21st October 2011 | 08:53
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BackPacker
 
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Amsterdam
Lots of rambling and personal frustration going on. The fundamental design may be sound though, but the devil is in the details... Cooling, lubrication, ...

His comparison to the jet engine is wrong, I believe. A propellor-driven aircraft will not be able to reach a speed higher than approximately mach 0.6 due to mach tip effect. Unless a radical new propellor were to be designed that is efficient and quiet at supersonic speeds. A jet engine is good for at least mach 0.8. So the power-to-weight ratio is not the only reason for switching from propellors to jet engines. But he makes it look like this could potentially replace all the jet engines of the world.
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