ercsim
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And a fair bit of weight, right?
You are absolutely right. Hydraulics are definitely much heavier than electric powered actuators.
And a fair bit of weight, right?
you still need an APU for Hydraulics. You are not going to be moving the control surfaces for atmospheric flight on battery power alone. And least you shouldn't.
When I said about the APU being uneccesary for certain things like the bay doors, radiators, and the airlock, I was thinking of the Space Shuttle, which uses AC power for those things (well the airlock is actually totally manual, but the APDS is AC powered.), but the Shuttle does use APUs for gimbals, for control surfaces, and the gear.
Lets address this issue, from an engineering point of view then.
First of all, shuttle was designed in 1971. It ain't exactly current, even as compared to today's standard.
In 1993, NASA has already started its development on the usage of electric actuators on flight control surfaces.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/NewsReleases/1998/98-84_pf.html
Plus, this is an article of the general myths on electric actuators
http://www.thomsonlinear.com/promos/actuators-MOH/Debunking_Myths_of_Electric_Actuators.pdf
This is an article on the possible usage electrical actuators on flight control surfaces.
http://www.is.northropgrumman.com/about/ngtr_journal/assets/TRJ-2000/FW/00FW_Botten.pdf
*Sorry, I am an EE engineer, so of course I would promote the use of FBW (fly by wire) and PBW (power by wire)*
edit: and oh yeah, XR2 is suppose to be a vessel in the near future, we should make use of technologies that is currently in research which will be introduced commercially in the next 20 years or so. We have a naquahdiah reactor, but we are still running on hydraulic actuators? Time to move on, electric actuators ftw.
Like I've been saying, I don't really care if its hydraulic or electric. It could be either, it could be both. From my POV It's not worth getting bogged down in a debate about... Some interesting points all round though, perhaps we should say that everyone is right and leave it at that
I agree. The one thing I always wanted in the XR2 was a autopilot similar to the DG. But I too thought it was a great ship to fly.
What's wrong with the current XR2 AP?
It still allows you to hold a fixed AoA and the ability to change it on the fly in coarse or fine increments.
Why does XR2 need to have AP exactly like the DG?
What's wrong with the current XR2 AP?
It still allows you to hold a fixed AoA and the ability to change it on the fly in coarse or fine increments.
Why does XR2 need to have AP exactly like the DG?
...Windshield wipers...
Mmm... Orbiter has always been lacking with lower atmospheric flight. Perhaps I'm spoiled with x-plane.