Post-apocalyptic takeoff. How to fly from an abandoned airport?
Gentleman Aviator
Given possible EMP problems and other modern electickery, why not go lo-tech with the "vintage" vehicle for starters (pun intended) and then onto vintage aircraft. I rather like the idea of the "power chain" started with a hand-cranked Morris Minor.
Why not go the whole hog with a flying boat out of a museum - no probs finding somewhere to land that - just go for Sydney Harbour!
Why not go the whole hog with a flying boat out of a museum - no probs finding somewhere to land that - just go for Sydney Harbour!
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Given that every house in the neighbourhood seems to be covered in the damn things, I'd be looking for some photovoltaic cells (solar panels), a length of wire and a good pair of wire cutters plus a few decent sized batteries.... must be possible to reconfigure the panels and charge the batteries up this way?
But you can't just land on Australia can you, you need the 2 miles of concrete or hard compacted 'bush' if you want to walk away. Would the IRS platforms work after weeks of being powered down and dont you need to know where you are starting from in precise terms too?
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you need the 2 miles of concrete or hard compacted 'bush' if you want to walk away.
Your real problem are the zombies. They're gonna get you.
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SINCE it is a work of fiction, you can invent an airliner with just enough range and have it have starters like the old canberra bomber.
Museum and too exotic a/c will not work, as, first, the characters cannot travel too far to find them (so called zombies ARE a problem), and second, I guess a museum plane need something more than just fueling to get ready to fly.
As for navigation, Charles Lindbergh did this
Moreover, GPS should still work - nothing happened with the sats.I don't think spare batteries will work after several months. At least my car battery (1 year old) needs recharging after several weeks even being disconnected from the car.
If B777's APU can be air-started, I think that's all we need. However, we still have to refuel it (it has some fuel to start, but not to fly to Australia). How to use it as a power source for a truck? I know where to connect the wires to jump start a car by another car, but not by a jet liner
Tapping electricity from an APU in order to start a truck is a rather hard task and certainly not done with basic tools.
Depending on the APU in question, expect it to provide 400hz/115V three-phase AC into the aircrafts systems. First of all, how will You get it out? Maybe via an one-phase vacuum cleaner outlet in the galley, but this will definitely not bear the load of a car starter without blowing fuses. Otherwise, there typically are no power outlets on an aircraft. And once You have the power lines plugged in and leading out of the aircraft, You will need to have the AC transformed to 28V and rectified so You can feed the power into a car starter.
So I would suggest ditching this approach and going the other way round. First of all get as many trucks or small emergency Diesel generators to run as You like, then, with the batteries refilled, start up a GPU to power up the aircraft. That done, getting the APU to run and using that to start the main engines is easy.
In the course of this, You will easily get a fuel truck to run in order to fuel up the aircraft. If You do not, the long way would be via buckets. Fill a bucket on the "dead" fuel truck, carry it up to the overwing fuelling ports of the aircraft and then dump it into the tanks preferrably via a fuel funnel containing a filter mesh. Again, wash, rinse and repeat as long as needed.
Depending on the APU in question, expect it to provide 400hz/115V three-phase AC into the aircrafts systems. First of all, how will You get it out? Maybe via an one-phase vacuum cleaner outlet in the galley, but this will definitely not bear the load of a car starter without blowing fuses. Otherwise, there typically are no power outlets on an aircraft. And once You have the power lines plugged in and leading out of the aircraft, You will need to have the AC transformed to 28V and rectified so You can feed the power into a car starter.
So I would suggest ditching this approach and going the other way round. First of all get as many trucks or small emergency Diesel generators to run as You like, then, with the batteries refilled, start up a GPU to power up the aircraft. That done, getting the APU to run and using that to start the main engines is easy.
In the course of this, You will easily get a fuel truck to run in order to fuel up the aircraft. If You do not, the long way would be via buckets. Fill a bucket on the "dead" fuel truck, carry it up to the overwing fuelling ports of the aircraft and then dump it into the tanks preferrably via a fuel funnel containing a filter mesh. Again, wash, rinse and repeat as long as needed.
Moreover, GPS should still work - nothing happened with the sats.
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First of all get as many trucks or small emergency Diesel generators to run as You like, then, with the batteries refilled,
I think there should be some emergency generators in a big airport, but I am not sure, and I don't think they can be hand-started. A hospital definitely has emergency power, but again, I don't think it can be hand-started...
the GPS constellation needs constant calibration to maintain its accuracy, so don't be too quick-draw about that. Might even be a plot point- taking off thinking the GPS is good, only to find yourself hundreds of miles off course when you get to Aus....
A properly maintained small generator (5 kW) will start easily after a couple of months. With a stabilizer in the fuel and a half dozen pulls on its cord, mine started after siting for a year in storage. From there its trickle chargers or maybe even a rapid charger to get cars and trucks running.
EMP won't be a problem for electronics that is powered down when the pulse strikes. Its not the EMP energy itself that breaks down solid state devices, its the normal power source that does the damage after the pulse field exceeds the insulation withstand voltage of solid state junctions. That said, many engine controllers are continuously powered even when the vehicle is turned off to maintain processor state information. Things like cockpit clocks are also hot off the battery and may have to be changed.
EMP won't be a problem for electronics that is powered down when the pulse strikes. Its not the EMP energy itself that breaks down solid state devices, its the normal power source that does the damage after the pulse field exceeds the insulation withstand voltage of solid state junctions. That said, many engine controllers are continuously powered even when the vehicle is turned off to maintain processor state information. Things like cockpit clocks are also hot off the battery and may have to be changed.
